And assuming from ascetic power the form of a
handsome Brahmana versed in the _Vedas_, Surya sweetly said unto Karna
these words for his benefit, 'O son, do thou O Karna, listen to these
words of mine, O thou foremost of truthful persons! O mighty-armed one,
I tell thee to-day from affection, what is for thy great good! With the
object, O Karna, of obtaining thy ear-rings, Sakra, moved by the desire
of benefiting the sons of Pandu, will come unto thee, disguised as a
Brahmana! He, as well as all the world, knoweth thy character, viz.,
that when solicited by pious people, thou givest away but never takest
in gift! Thou, O son, givest unto Brahmanas wealth or any other thing
that is asked of thee and never refusest anything to anybody. Knowing
thee to be such, the subduer himself of Paka will come to beg of thee
thy ear-rings and coat of mail. When he beggeth the ear-rings of thee,
it behoveth thee not to give them away, but to gratify him with sweet
speeches to the best of thy power. Even this, is for thy supreme good!
While asking thee for the ear-rings, thou shalt, with various reasons,
repeatedly refuse Purandara who is desirous of obtaining them, offering
him, instead, various other kinds of wealth, such as gems and women and
kine, and citing various precedents. If thou, O Karna, givest away thy
beautiful ear-rings born with thee, thy life being shortened, thou wilt
meet with death! Arrayed in thy mail and ear-rings, thou wilt, O
bestower of honours, be incapable of being slain by foes in battle! Do
thou lay to heart these words of mine! Both these jewelled ornaments
have sprung from _Amrita_.
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