Karna the Great Giver

There is a fine story about Karna. He was applying oil from a jewelled cup to his head, preliminary to his bath. Karna had taken the oil in his right hand and rubbed it well into his hair, when Krishna appeared and Karna rose to revere him. He said He had come to demand the cup from him as a gift!

 ” I am surprised that You, the master of the universe, have a desire for this paltry thing but who am I to ask you questions? Here is the cup. I gift it to you,” he said, and placed it in the Lord’s right hand with his left hand. Krishna took him to task for that error in Dharma, offering a gift with the left hand. But Karna said,” Pardon me, O Lord! My right hand is smeared with oil. I was afraid, that if I take the time to wash the hand and make it fit to give the cup, my wayward mind, which now had agreed to the gift, might discover some argument not to accede to your request. I might therefore be deprived of the unique good fortune, by the fickle mind with which I am burdened. This is the reason why I acted immediately and passed it on to you, regardless of the breach of  a rule of etiquette. Please sympathise with me and pardon me, ” Karna pleaded. Karna knew that the mind is unsteady. But as Krishna advised Arjuna, it can be tamed by detachment and discipline.