Karna (Sanskrit: कर्ण written Karṇa in IAST transliteration) is one of the central figures in Hindu epic Mahabharata. He was the first son of Kunti, and was thus half brother to the Pandavas, and the eldest of them. Although Duryodhana of the Kauravas appoint him king of Anga, his role in the legend far exceeds the importance of a king. He fought for the Kauravas in the great battle at Kurukshetra. He is India's first 'tragic hero'.[1]. As such, the name Karna (and various other spellings) is a common Indian first name.
Birth
The princess Kunti, while young attended to the sage Durvasa for a full year, while he was a guest at her father's palace. The sage was pleased with her service and so he granted her a boon whereby she could call upon any of the gods through a mantra and the god would grant her a son equal to the god in splendour. Unsure of whether the boon would actually be granted, Kunti, while still an unmarried young girl, decided to test the mantra and called upon Lord Surya, the Hindu deity of the sun. When Surya appeared before her, she was completely overawed. Bound by the power of the mantra, Surya granted her a son as radiant and strong as his father, although she did not want a child. Through his divine power, Kunti retains her virginity and honor. Thus Karna was born. As Surya's son, Karna is born with an armour ('Kavacha') and a pair of earrings ('Kundala') which are dipped in Amrit the nectar of immortality.
Kunti was now in the embarrassing position of being an unwed mother. Unable to face the world with her divine child, she placed Karna in a basket and floated him down a river with his jewelry, praying fervently that he would be kept safe.[2][1]
Upbringing
The child Karna was borne down the river and picked up by King Dhritarashtra's charioteer, Adhiratha, a suta. Karna was raised by him and his wife Radha (not the same Radha who was Lord Krishna's Companion at Mathura) as their son and named Vasusena (born with wealth), due to his natural set of armour and earrings. They knew something of his parentage by the jewellery he was found with, and never hid from him the fact that he was not their biological child. He was also known as Radheya because of the name of his mother Radha. His younger brother, Shon, was born to Adiratha and Radha after Karna's arrival.
The bond between Karna and his foster family was one of pure love, respect and affection despite the lack of blood relationship. Adhiratha was honored by Karna in front of all the warrior kind, and Karna lovingly performed his duties as a son and brother within his foster family, despite his rise as king of Anga and the eventual revelation of his true birth. Karna is an inspiration for today's generation.
Karna also had a brother named Kshon, the son of Adhiratha & Radha. Karna was not aware of the origin of Kavach & Kundal. He used to inquire from his mother as to why only he had Kavach and Kundal while Kshon did not.
Karna found about the true nature of the Kavach & Kundal one day while he was playing with a bow & arrow. No matter how hard he tried, Karna was unable to harm himself.
Training
As he grew into adulthood, Karna sought to be a warrior. He correspondingly moved to Hastinapura. He approached Dronacharya, who at that time had established his school and was training the Kuru princes, requesting admission into his school. Drona refused to teach him, as he was a 'sutaputra' or the son of a charioteer. Karna realized his caste would continue to be a barrier in his quest for knowledge. He decided eventually to approach Parashurama, the Incarnation of the Supreme Personality of Godhead Krishna, Who had decided to impart the highest military knowledge to the brahmanas only. Karna approaches Parashurama in the guise of a brahmana and gets admitted into his school. Karna is described as a diligent student, whose attention and concentration mirrored Arjuna's. Parashurama trained him, to the point where he declared him his equal in the arts of war and fighting. During his stay in Dashavatar Parashurama's hermitage, Karna befriended many Rakshasas, Yakshas, Gandharvas and Nagas.(Some of these tribes used to reside in the North and North Eastern part of the subcontinent.
As Karna's training came to completion, Parashurama learnt the truth about Karna's origin. One afternoon, when he was tired, he requested Karna to bring a pillow for him, so he may sleep outside in the shade. Karna instead offered him his lap as a pillow. While Parashurama was asleep, a wasp came by, and alighting on Karna's thigh, bit him. Despite the pain, Karna did not move as it would disturb his Guru. The insect bit deep into Karna's leg, causing blood to flow out, the warmth and feel of which woke up Parashurama. He deduced at once that Karna was a kshatriya as only a warrior could withstand such pain without flinching. He cursed Karna, stating that when he requires an astra (divine weapon) the most, he would be unable to recall its incantations. Radheya pleaded with him, upon which Parashurama told him, in a mollified tone, that while his curse was irrevocable, Karna would eventually achieve what he is chasing after - fame. He foretold that Karna's name would become immortal.
Another legend has Karna shooting an arrow at what he perceived to be a wild animal. It turned out that he had instead committed the great sin of killing a cow, which belonged to a brahmana. Incensed, the brahmana put a great curse on Karna. The curse stated that when Karna would fight the most crucial battle of his life with his greatest enemy, the wheels of his Ratha, the heavily armoured battle chariot, would get stuck in the mud, making the Ratha immobile and turning Karna into a sitting duck for his enemy.
Cursed twice over, Karna returns to his home. He does not tell his family about the curses, merely that his training is complete. Eventually, he decides to seek out a position at the court in Hastinapura.
King of Anga and Friendship with Duryodhana
Drona held a tournament at Hastinapura, to display the skills of the Kuru princes, whose training was also complete. Arjuna emerges in this tournament as a particularly gifted archer. Karna challenged Arjuna to a duel. Drona, however refuses Karna his duel, asking first for his clan and kingdom - according to the rules, only a prince may challenge Arjuna who is a prince of the Kuru house. Duryodhana, the oldest of the Kauravas, offers Karna the throne of Anga (today's Bhagalpur in Bihar), so that Karna would be a king and thus be eligible to participate in the contest. This act is considered one of the few truly noble actions carried out by Duryodhana. When Karna, who is emotionally overcome at this, asks him what he can do to repay him, Duryodhana tells him all he wants is his friendship. "I want your heart" he tells Karna, to which Karna says it is already his.
This event establishes key relationships in the Mahabharata, namely, the strong bond between Duryodhana and Karna, the intense rivalry between Karna and Arjuna, and the enmity in general between the Pandavas as a whole and Karna.
Karna is spoken as a loyal and true friend to Duryodhana. While he was later party to the infamous game of dice to please Duryodhana, he was opposed to it to begin with. Karna disliked Shakuni, and advised Duryodhana continuously to use his prowess and skill to defeat his enemies, rather than deceit and trickery. When the attempt to kill the Pandavas in the house of lac fails, Karna chides Duryodhana in his despondence, telling him the ways of cowards are doomed to failure and exhorting him to be a warrior and obtain what he wants through valour.
As a king, warrior and friend of Duryodhana, Karna became part of the Hastinapura court. He went on to repeat Bheeshma's actions in bringing the princesses of Kashi to Duryodhana as wives, appearing at the Kashi court, seizing the princesses, and challenging the kings and princes to take them from him if they can.
Another story goes that Karna aided Duryodhana in marrying the princess of Chitragandha(not to be confused with Princess Chitrangada of Manipur). In her swayamvar, the princess rejected Duryodhana and was going to garland some other king when the eldest son of Dhritarasthra forcibly lifted and carried her away. The other kings present at the swayamvar pursued Duryodhana. However, Karna defeated them single-handedly.Among the kings present in the princess of Chitragandha's swayamvar were Jarasandha, Shishupala, Dantavakra and Rukmi.
As a token of his appreciation of Karna's valour, Jarasandha is said to have gifted Karna a portion of Magadha (modern day Bihar)
Military Campaign
During the Pandavas' exile, Karna took upon himself the task of establishing Duryodhana as the World Emperor. Karna commanded an army to different parts of the country to subjugate kings and made them swear allegiance to Duryodhana, the king of Hastinapura or else die in battle. While Karna succeeded in all the battles, subjugating even the allies of the Pandavas, the conquest was not permanent. In this military adventure, Karna is stated to have waged wars and reduced to submission numerous tribes including those of the Kambojas, the Shakas, the Kekayas, the Avantyas, the Gandharas, the Madarakas, the Trigartas, the Tanganas, the Panchalas, the Videhas, the Suhmas, the Angas, the Vangas, the Nishadas, the Kalingas, the Vatsa, theAshmakas, the Rishikas (i.e south-western Rishikas located in Maharashtra) and numerous others including mlecchas and the forest tribes (MBH 8.8.18-20).
He had conquered many of the Central Asian countries. This was one of the reason why there is references of most of the foreigners like Yavanas(Greeks)etc.. who has praticipated in that ancient war on the side of Duryodhana. Mahabharata actually means Greater India.
Generosity
Karna held the River Ganga & the Sun in very high esteem. Daily before sunrise, he used to go to the bank of the Ganga and stay there till the afternoon. He felt very good, calm & energetic under rays.
Karna is most famous for his generosity, which was said to surpass that of the gods. Following his appointment as king, he took an oath : Anyone who approached him with a request at midday, when he would worship the Sun, would go away with his request fulfilled. He would never let anyone leave empty-handed. This practice contributed to Karna's fame as well as to his downfall, as Indra and Kunti took advantage of it.
Several stories are told as to Karna's generosity. Krishna always used to say good talks about Karna in front of Arjuna, Arjuna felt jealous for that as Arjuna used to say that there is not nay intelligent person other than Yudhishthira. So one night both Krishna & Arjuna went to take a test of both kings as who is more intelligent & full of dignity. That night full of heavy Rain. First they went to the Palace of Yudhishthara & said that they need dry sandalwood for some yagya. Yudhishthiara told to his servants get sandalwood for these Yogies, but they did n`t find dry sandalwood anywhere.So Yudhishthira apologiesed for the unavailability of wood. Later on, they went to Karna`s palace, and asked for sandalwood. Karna said due to heavy rain he would`nt be able to obtaine dry sandalwood for them. He picked up his bow & arrow and broke his very expensive & beautiful sandalwood doors. Karna said as I am a King, it will not be a problem for me to made these doors again, therefore, you can take this wood.
This legendary generosity also led him to give off his precious earrings and armor to Indra, even though he knew that it would cost him his life. He knew that Indra would take advantage of his generousity, as the Sun, father of him, warned him previously about Indra's plan. When Karna gave Indra his earrings and armor, he asked in return the Ekpurushghatini Astra, or sometimes referred as Vasabi Shakti, a devine weapon which can be used only once and will surely kill one enemy, to kill Arjuna in the battlefield. Similarly, he promised Kunti that he would spare the lives of all her children except Arjuna, who he recognized as his only equal in Battle.
The Swayamvara of Draupadi
When Duryodhana heard about some swayamwara is going on in Panchaal.He thought that he would easily won this swayamwara & bring Yagyasena (Dropadi). But when He got to know about the condition of swayamwara, he confirmed himself that he won`t be able to hit the arrow in the eye of fish while aiming at fish by looking in water.So he decided to take Karna, who was a great archer and would be easily able to fulfill the challenge, with him & ten other brothers including Dushashan.
When No other fighter including Duryodhan was able to hit the eye of fish, Karna prepared to hit that but before he could do that Draupadi stopped him (Previously told by Lord Shri Krishna)that she would not marry to a Suta Putra. Karna, furious over the insult, storms out of the assembly of challengers. The Pandavas were also present in the svayamvara, disguised as brahmanas. Arjuna then wins the contest easily. The other kings, upset that a 'brahmana' had won the top prize in the royal contest, attacked the Pandavas. Duryodhana had identified these brahamanas as Pandavas and he told Karna that the brahmana is really Arjuna. Karna just picked up a bow & started fighting with Arjuna, they fought till the availability of single arrow there. So after that Lord Shri Krishna stopped them, as he was only respectful for both of them. However, Bhima and Arjuna easily defeated them all. Following the revelation of the Pandavas' identity, Karna's feelings of rivalry towards Arjuna further intensify.
During this war, Karna later find out that his Son Sudamen has died, he was only Six yrs old.
The Game of Dice
Karna was very very happy with Shakuni's plan to defeat the Pandavas by trickery and deceit. He never preferred the valourous way of battle instead and many times cajoled Duryodhana to choose that path. However Duryodhana, more a warrior than politician, did feel too confident about his chances against Bhima and Arjuna in open battle, and went along with Shakuni's idea of using bravery. Due to his obligation and bond of friendship with Duryodhana, Karna was forced to condone the misdeeds of the Kauravas. Thus by prolonged association with the wicked and evil-minded, the high-born and noble-hearted Karna eventually brought about his own ruin.
After Shakuni had won the game of dice by trickery, the Pandavas' queen Draupadi was dragged into the court by Duhsassana who attempted to strip her, incited by Karna, Duryodhana and his wicked brothers. When Draupadi's appeals for help went unheeded, even by the great Bhishma, she finally takes refuge of the Supreme Personality of Godhead Krishna and prayed fervently to the Lord for help. Krishna manifests His Omnipotence by covering her in an endless loop of sari cloth, thus protecting chaste Draupadi's honour. Duhssana collapses in exhaustion, his wicked efforts thwarted.
On the spot, Bhima vows that he will personally slaughter Duryodhana and his brothers in battle. Arjuna vows that he will kill Karna. Thus by wrong association, Karna became an accessory in the sinful acts of the Kauravas, and incurred the wrath of the divine and saintly Pandavas. As will be seen later on the battlefield of Kurukshetra, Krishna will recall Karna's active role in this incident, and also Bhishma's passive stance.
The Loss of his Armour
Indra, king of the gods (Devas) and father of Arjuna, realized that Karna would be invincible in battle as long as he had the golden armour suit and earrings that he was born with. During the Pandavas' exile, when war was imminent, Indra took it upon himself to weaken Karna. He decided to approach Karna as a poor brahmin during his mid-day worship. He knew of Karna's moral policy and that he would never refuse any request of a Brahmin or beggar at that time of the day. Karna's father, the Sun god Surya, informed Karna in a dream that Indra would disguise himself as a beggar and ask for Karna's armour and earrings as alms. Surya exhorted him not to give away his protection. Karna, who did not know that Surya was his father, does not heed the warning. As Surya had predicted, a disguised Indra approached Karna and asked for his kavacha (body armour) and kundala (earrings) as alms. Karna, despite knowing that the armour and earrings were his protection, readily gives them away. In fact, he cuts off his birthsuit armour and earrings from his body without flinching. Indra, struck by Karna's gesture, reciprocates by giving Karna the boon to use Indra's most powerful weapon, the Vasavi shakti, but only once.
Kunti and Karna
Kunti, fearing the war, approached Karna and revealed her identity as his mother to him. The two share a touching moment together, when she tells him to throw aside the name 'Radheya' and call himself 'Kaunteya' (Kunti's firstborn) instead, and he replies that that is what he has wanted all his life. Upon her requesting him to come with her however, a request that Surya himself reinforces from the sky, Karna refuses.
Karna owes Duryodhana too much. He tells Kunti, that, had she been willing to call him Kaunteya many years ago, when he appeared at the tournament, things might have been different, but now it is too late to do so. He is Duryodhana's friend first and foremost, and must fight the Pandavas. However, he promises her that he will not kill any of the five, save Arjuna. He and Arjuna have sworn to kill each other, and one of them must die. He tells Kunti she can only dream of six sons. She will always have five sons, either him or Arjuna.
Karna requests his mother to keep their relationship and his royal birth heritage a secret until his death. Only then she may reveal to the world that he was actually her first born. It is noteworthy that Karna denies to reveal this secret which makes him, the eldest of the Pandavas, rightful emperor.
The Great War: Kurukshetra
Before the start of the war, Bhisma, the commander-in-chief of the Kaurava force, does not pick Karna as one of his key generals and instead assigns him to a less significant position (to curb his undue hatred of the Pandavas). Insulted, Karna rebels against Bhishma, and refuses to fight under Bhishma's authority. He is aghast when Duryodhana does not intervene to reinstate him. Duryodhana, the austute politician that he is, knows fully well the advantage of having Bhishma on his side even though the grand patriarch of all the warriors, undefeated for several generations, has openly declared that the Pandavas are also dear to him and that he would not kill them.
Karna only enters the battlefield on the 11th day, after Bhishma was struck down the previous day.
Bhishma knew that Karna was Son of Kunti. (from Dhanraj Chakraborty book and many books on Karna)
The thirteenth day
On the thirteenth day of the battle, Dronacharya (Drona) organized a special formation for the phalanxes called the Chakravyuha/Padmavyuha. (Chakravyuh and Padmavyuha are 2 different military formations. While Chakravyuh denotes a circular arrangement, Padmavyuh means a lotus formation). Only Krishna and Arjuna on the Pandavas' side knew how to break the scheme; however both were purposely taken away from the battle field by two kings on Duryodhana's side. Abhimanyu, Arjuna's son had partial knowledge of the formation having heard it when he was in his mother's womb when Arjuna, his father, was narrating the Chakravyuha arrangement to his mother, Subhadra, but could not hear all the information as his mother fell asleep in Arjuna's lap. Hence he could enter the Chakravyuha, but did not know how to exit it. It was decided that Abhimanyu would lead the Pandavas into the Chakravyuha and then they would fight their way out. No one that day was able to defeat Abhimanyu, who had entered the Chakravyuha a circular arrangement of soldiers. But Jayadratha, a king in the Kaurava army, prevented the other Pandavas from entering the formation. Abhimanyu was left all alone in the middle of the enemy formation. Once inside, he fought valiantly and single handedly defeated almost all reputed generals of the Kauravas including Karna, Drona and Duryodhana. Duryodhana and Karna chose to assist to eliminate Abhimanyu as per the instructions of Drona. Karna shot arrows that broke Abhimanyu's bow and the reins of his chariot, while the Kauravas overwhelmed him. The battle ends with Abhimanyu's death. His father, Arjuna takes up a terrible pledge to kill Jayadratha the next day before the sunset, or he would sacrifice his own life by self-immolation.
The night of the 14th day
On the fourteenth day, the battle uncharacteristically spilled over into the night and Ghatotkacha, the half-asura son of the Pandava Bhima began decimating the Kaurava forces (Asuras became extraordinarily powerful at night). Duryodhana bravely stood and fought with him. But karna ran to save his life like a coward. Finally when ghatotkacha was about to kill Karna , he was was forced to use the Shakti weapon on Ghatotkacha. This had been granted to him by Indra as a mark of respect for his peerless generosity. However, Indra allowed Karna to use the weapon only once, after which it would return to Indra. Karna was now without that weapon and his impregnable armour and earrings. Now Karna did not have a divine weapon that was a serious threat to Arjuna and would have to rely primarily on his skills and prowess to take on Arjuna, who was equipped with a wider range of divine weaponry. Also arjuna was too much better an opponent for karna. karna's best chances were using shakti weapon to kill Arjuna. But now it was gone and karna knew that now no one can save him from the wrath of Arjuna. Killing karna was now just a matter of formality for Arjuna.
Death of Dronacharya
On the fifteenth day of battle, Dronacharya, the guru of the warriors on both sides, sacrifices his life and Karna is appointed as the commander-and-chief of the Kaurava forces. In individual confrontations on the battlefield, Karna defeats all the Pandavas, except Arjuna, but chooses to spare their lives, keeping his promise to his mother Kunti.
The Seventeenth day
On the seventeenth day of battle, the much anticipated confrontation between Karna and Arjuna finally takes place. They were evenly matched during the spectacular combat. Karna had been gifted a bow by Parashurama called Vijaya(pinakin), one designed by Vishwakarma himself. At Duryodhana's request, Shalya, who was a maternal uncle to Pandavas, reluctantly agreed to drive Karna's chariot, hence he had a charioteer to equal Krishna (Shalya had mastered the Ashwahridaya - "Art of Horses")
Without the Shakti weapon, Karna had no particular way to kill Arjuna. He had to rely upon his own garnered skill. In a wondrous, intense display of amazing archery, valour and courage, Karna and Arjuna engaged and exhausted all their brilliance, knowledge and passion. Karna devised an intelligent strategy based upon his personal prowess. He stunned Arjuna with a powerful volley of arrows that struck his chest. And the instant in which Arjuna was dazzled, Karna let loose another powerful volley intended at killing his powerful foe. King Shalya of Madra, Karna's charioteer (Shalya, who was the uncle of Nakula and Sahadeva, had been tricked into fighting on the Kaurava side, but had promised Yudhisthira that he would not allow Karna to kill Arjuna), told Karna to play safe by aiming the arrow at Arjuna's chest. However, Karna refused to heed that advice and aimed the arrow at Arjuna's head. But Lord Krishna came to his friend and devotee's rescue, plunging the chariot into the earth by his power, causing the fatal arrow to miss Arjuna by a few miserable inches and strike Arjuna's crown instead.
During the course of combat, one of the Karna's chariot wheels got stuck in loose soil, apparently because of a curse put on Karna by BhooDevi(Mother Earth). Karna once squeezed a fist of mud to extract ghee which was accidentally dropped by a girl. (Bhoo Devi)Mother Earth angered by his act cursed him that his chariot's wheel will be stuck in loose soil when it is critical and crucial. King Shalya, who was his charioteer, refused to get down and remove the wheel from the mud . Hence Karna asked Arjuna to disengage in combat, while he got off his chariot and removed the wheel from the mud. Arjuna agreed. But Krishna recalled Karna's previous lapses in honourable conduct and ordered Arjuna to shoot at Karna while he was attempting to lift his wheel out of the mud. The chariot wheel remained stuck and the curse of Parashurama ensured that Karna could not recall the mantras necessary to unleash the more powerful weapons of mass destruction. Krishna reminds Arjuna of Karna's ruthlessness against Abhimanyu when Abhimanyu was similarly left without a chariot or weapons.
All of Arjuna's tears, pain and anger swelled up within him as he aimed the fatal shaft Anjalika at a desperate Karna and beheaded him.
After Karna's death
After Karna's death, Kunti informed the Pandavas that she was Karna's mother and that he was the eldest of the Pandavas. The Pandavas grieved for Karna. Yudhisthira, particularly, was incensed on hearing that his mother had kept secret from him and his brothers Karna's true identity, whom it would have been their duty in life to serve and revere as their elder, as his four brothers had served and revered him. He cursed all women, stating that henceforth they would never be able to keep a secret. This seems to be the case till today!
Karna remains a tragic figure for millions of Hindus and Indians to this day. He remains a brave hero, a courageous spirit who braved impossible odds in his whole life, and died with terrific courage, valor and honor, to rise to immortality in fame. He is especially famous for his generosity. He is the biggest example of a misdirected soul who despite his fine qualities was doomed for siding with the evil.
Contrast with Arjuna
There are many parallels between Arjuna and Karna. Both were master archers, and competed for Draupadi's hand. A deeper connection lies in the fact that the two felt strong ties to the Kaurava side, both through friendship and through blood. Karna's ride with Krishna is very similar to the Sacred Bhagavad Gita, in which Krishna reminded Arjuna of his duty. Their decisions, along with the consequences to themselves and their families, are used to emphasize the importance of following duty, as Krishna expounded.
Karna serves as an excellent example of a gifted, righteous and brave individual who was still doomed because of his loyalty towards the evil Duryodhana. Karna's blind affection for Duryodhana led him to, albeit unwillingly, assist his dear friend in all his immoral and unjust actions against the Pandavas. Karna was aware of Duryodhana's malacious plans against the Pandavas. Karna was also aware of his own imminent downfall for assisting the evil against the good. The blemish to his name is his treatment of Draupadi, and his role in the killing of the unarmed and outnumbered Abhimanyu.
Notes
- ^ This birth story bears close resemblance to other myths, sharing common motifs of virginal birth, divine conception, exposure to the river, and rearing by animals. For a detailed comparison of hero births, including Sargon, Moses, Karna, Oedipus, Paris, Telephus, Perseus, Romulus, Gilgamesh, Cyrus, Jesus, and others, reference:
Rank, Otto. The Myth of the Birth of the Hero. Vintage Books: New York, 1932.
Karna in Popular Culture
Movies about or involving Karna include Daana Veera Soora Karna (Telugu, 1977), Karna (Tamil, 1963, staring Shivaji Ganesan).
The Indian poet Sharanya Manivannan
a character named Karna, based and borrowed from the Mahabharata, but who she approaches as a female and self-archetype. She has called her approach a kind of
.
References
- Sawant, Shivaji (author), "Mrityunjaya". {English Version: "Mrityunjaya, the death conqueror: The story of Karna" - ISBN 81-7189-002-4}
- 'The Mahabharata' by Smt. Kamala Subramaniam, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan Press.
- Shri Krishna,T.V Serial by the Late Shri Ramanand Sagar.
- B.R.Chopra and Ravi Chopra's MAHABHARAT