Karna
Karna (
Sanskrit: कर्ण written
Karṇa in
IAST transliteration) (also known as Karan) 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 anoints 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.
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Karna at war in Kurukshetra, and his wheel is stuck because of his curse |
The princess
Kunti, while young looked after the sage Durvasa for a full year. 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. But that son of the Sun was Karna, born with divine armour and earrings that would ensure his protection.
Kunti was now in the embarrassing position of being an unwed mother. Although still a virgin, how was she to explain having a child? Unable to face the world with her divine child, she placed Karna in a basket and floated him down a river with his jewellery (the story of
Moses bears a strong similarity to this), praying fervently that he would be kept safe.
The child Karna was borne down the river and picked up by the a charioteer, Adhiratha, a suta, which is a mix of the Bramhin and Khatriya. He was raised by him and his wife Radha (
not the same Radha who was Lord
Krishna's Consort) 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 sought to be a great warrior. Hence he moved to Hastinapura along with his younger brother and father. There he learned and mastered all the skills studying in Drona's academy, albeit not with the princes, as he was considered to be of low caste. He was a master of every craft; archery, however, was his speciality. At the time when the Pandavas were banished to the woods for 14 years, Duryodhana asked Karna to learn to wield the
Brahmastra, one of the mightiest weapons known. Only a few people knew this including Drona, Arjuna, Bhishma and Ashwathama (son of Drona). He first approached
Drona, teacher of the
Pandavas and
Kauravas, but Drona refused to teach him because of his low caste. He later asked
Parashurama, another great teacher, to teach him the art of warfare especially the
Brahmashtra Parashurama would not teach
Kshatriyas, a warrior caste, because of his hatred for them as they killed his father. Hence, in his quest for knowledge, Karna was compelled to lie about his caste and claim that he was a
Brahmin.
Once, when Parashurama was sleeping with his head on Karna's lap, an asura (demon) appeared in the form of a stinging worm and burrowed into Karna's thigh. This caused Karna's thigh to bleed and he felt acute pain, but refused to move at all so his teacher could rest and would not wake up. The warm blood trickling from the thigh woke up Parashurama, who on seeing the blood, immediately divined that Karna was not a Brahmin as he claimed, and believed that only a Kshatriya could bear such pain. Karna confessed that he had lied, and a furious Parashurama cursed Karna for his guile and deception that his knowledge would fail him when he needed it the most. Fortunately for Karna, Parasurama did not take any drastic direct action against him. Earlier, in the environs of Mahendra mountain, the abode of Parasurama, another Brahmin had cursed Karna that he would be killed when he was helpless, because Karna accidentally killed the Brahmin's favourite cow.
A tournament was held to determine the greatest skilled warrior after completion of teaching by Drona. The
Kauravas were jealous of the Pandavas from their childhood. In the contest,
Arjuna emerged as the best and
Duryodhana feared him. At that time Karna entered the arena and challenged Arjuna and equalled all his feats. To establish a clear winner, Karna challenged Arjuna to single combat, a form of war where the loser could only get killed. But Drona, teacher of the princes, refused to let Arjuna take part as the contest was supposed to be held between warriors of equal castes. At this, Duryodhana, eldest of the Kauravas, gifted Karna the throne of Anga (today's Bhagalpur in Bihar), so that Karna would be a king and thus eligible to participate in the contest. The established a great loyalty to Duryodhana in Karna; however, the contest of single combat did not materialise.
During the Pandavas' exile, Karna took upon himself the task of establishing Duryodhana as the World's Emperor. Karna commanded an army to different parts of the country to subjugate kings and made them swear allegiance to Duryodhana, King of
Hastinapura or die in battle. While Karna succeeded in all the battles, subjugating even the allies of the Pandavas, the conquest was not permanent.
*Encounter with
Kunti:The
Pandavas and the
Kauravas were cousins who competed for the throne of Hastinapura. Eventually, this led to a war. Before the war,
Kunti, mother of Karna and the Pandavas, approached Karna and asked him to join the Pandavas and she would pronounce that he was the rightful heir to the throne of Hastinapura. However, Karna refused her offer because she had abandoned him and refused to recognize his birth-right for over fourteen years after the warrior competition, He said that since Duryodhana had always been loyal to him, his loyalty lay with the Kauravas. Kunti then asked him to promise not to kill her five sons. Karna promised her that at the end of the war she will have five sons left and Kunti went back happy. The subtility in this promise is the fact Kunti had six sons (including himself), hence if he ever faced any Pandava brother in combat, he would spare his life, except for Arjuna, because Karna was one of the few warriors who could compete with Arjuna, and they shared a bitter personal rivalry.
*Encounter with
Indra:
Indra, king of the demi-gods (
Devas) and father of
Arjuna, realized that Karna's armour and earrings were impregnable, which in essence made him invincible in battle. He decides to approach Karna as a poor brahmin just before his daily bath. Krishna 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.
Surya, Karna's father and god of the Sun, informed Karna in a dream that
Indra would disguise himself as a beggar and ask for Karna's armour and earrings as alms. Karna did not know that
Surya was his father. As Surya had predicted, under Krishna's advice, a disguised Indra approached Karna and asked for his kavacha (body armour) and kundala (ear-rings) as alms. Karna knew that the armour and ear-rings rendered him practically invulnerabe, but nevertheless gave them away. Indra, struck by Karna's genuine kindness, offered Karna the ability to use Indra's most powerful weapon, the
shakti, but only once.
At one stage,
Krishna, tried to reason with Karna to win him over to the side of the Pandavas. The discussion, which took place as the two were leaving
Hastinapura after a failed peace mission, centered on the moral superiority of the Pandavas' cause. Though Krishna was aware of the kindness that Duryodhana had shown Karna, he argued that Karna had a higher duty, to follow him on the path of righteousness. When Karna suggested that such a path would be dishonorable, Krishna recounted the story of
Vibheeshana, a major character in the
Ramayana. Although a rakshasa and brother to the evil King
Ravana, Vibheeshana had chosen to follow
Rama, an earlier
avatar of Vishnu, after trying unsuccessfully to convince his brother to change his ways.
It is here that the extent of Karna's love is seen. Karna tells Krishna he knows that Duryodhana is wrong, and in supporting him he is doing the wrong thing and moreover, that he will certainly face death and defeat for it. But he resolves nevetheless to stick with him. He tells Krishna "All my life, I have been a sutaputra first and a warrior and king afterwards to the world. Duryodhana alone has seen me, not just as a warrior and king, but as his equal and friend first. Never has he seen me as a sutaputra. Now that this one friend of mine is need of a friend, do you expect me to desert him?"
One explanation offered in the epic of the inevitability of Karna's decision was that Karna's soul was possessed by
Naraka, an ancient demonic enemy of
Vishnu, and now sought to destroy Vishnu's
Avatara and his pious allies, the Pandavas.
A more down-to-earth explanation is seen in Karna himself. Karna has wanted fame and greatness all his life, and his 'birth' debarred him from being famed for his achievement. The only glory left for him is in self sacrifice - as carried out by his daily acts of charity, and eventually in his battle for Duryodhana.
The Mahabharata was the eighteen day war between the Pandavas and Kauravas at Kurukshetra. Karna was killed on the 17th day of battle by Arjuna, while serving as the Kuru commander.
Karna's Honor and Dishonor in Battle
During the course of the war, he encountered each Pandava prince, save Arjuna, defeated everyone of them and was capable of even killing them. This included
Yudhisthira, the eldest Pandava who claimed the right to rule Hastinapura, and
Bhima, who was the most physically powerful warrior of tremendous passion. However, Karna kept his promise he made to Kunti and spared their lives.
On the thirteenth day of the battle, Dronacharya (Drona) organized a special scheme of war called the
Chakravyuha. Only Krishna and Arjuna on the Pandavas' side knew how to break the scheme; however he was purposely taken away from the battle field by two kings on Duryodhana's side. However Abhimanyu, Arjuna's son had partial knowledge of the formation having heard it when he was in his mother's womb when Lord Krishna was narrating the Chakravyuha arrangement to his mother, but was interrupted before he could finish it. Hence he could enter the
Chakravyuha, but did not know how to exit it. No one that day was able to defeat Abhimanyu, who had entered the
Chakravyuha a circular arrangement of soldiers. 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 gang up on Abhimanyu as per the instructions of Drona. (Karna shot arrows that broke Abhimanyu's bow and the reins of his chariot, while the Kauravas ganged up on him. He did not kill Abhimanyu.)
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). Karna was forced to use the shakti weapon on Ghatotkacha. As Indra allowed Karna to use it only once, Karna was now without that weapon and his impregnable armour and earrings. Now Karna did not have a divine weapon that would definitely kill Arjuna and would have to rely on his skills and prowess.
On the fifteenth day of battle, Drona was killed, and Karna became commander-and-chief of the Kaurava forces.
On the seventeenth day of battle, Karna finally was given the opportunity to encounter Arjuna in combat. They were evenly matched during the spectacular combat.
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 that struck his chest. And the instant in which Arjuna was dazzled, Karna let loose another powerful volley intended at killing his powerful foe. 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. Many consider this a major example of Karna's superiority to his younger brother, in skill at least. However it must be noted that on two seperate occaisions Arjuna had got the better of Karna in single combat without killing him - at Draupadi's swayamwar and then during the fight at the end of the 13 year vanvas period, when Arjuna single handedly fought the Kaurava warriors including Karna.
The TV Serial Mahabharata (by B. R. Chopra) also showed Karna sparing Arjuna another time in the battle when Arjuna had clearly lost but Karna pulled back his weapon realizing that his arrows would not reach Arjuna before sunset (sunset marking end of the day's battle). Later Duryodhana asked Karna about it, and Karna said that he would adhere to the rules as a commander so that the coming generations don't complain that Sutaputra Karna killed Kshatriya Arjuna by cheating. The authenticity of this event is disputed, though.
During the course of combat, one of the Karna's chariot wheels got stuck in loose soil. This was because of a curse put on Karna by the Brahmin. King Shalya was his charioteer, however Arjuna with his expert marksmanship had pinned Shalya on his seat with arrows. Ironically Shalya was Arjuna's maternal uncle. Hence Karna asked Arjuna to disengage in combat, while he got off his chariot and removed the wheel from the mud. Arjuna agreed. Then
Krishna instructed Arjuna to break the code of conduct and shoot Karna while he lifted his wheel out of the mud. Karna's wheel would not budge and the curse of Parashurama ensured that he could not recall the mantras for any of his astras. Arjuna was reminded of Karna's lack of mercy 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 arrow
Anjalika at a desperate Karna. An injured Karna fell on the ground, mortally wounded. But his test was still not over. Lord Krishna went over to him disguised as a mendicant and asked him for a "bhiksha" (alms). An injured Karna had nothing to give to the sadhu. Then he remembered he had a gold tooth. Even though he was in great pain he took it out, cleaned it and offered it to the Lord. Thus he became the only human to have give bhiksha to God Himself. Touched, Lord Krishna asked Karna to ask for a boon. To which he said "Please make my pyre on the most pure place on earth". He died after that. Lord Krishna being the supreme personality of godhead himself, made his pyre on his palm. Karna's combat with Arjuna fulfilled Parashurama's curse as well as the other Brahmin's curse on Karna.
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 laid a bane on all women that from then on, they would never be able to keep any secrets to themselves.
On the 18th day of battle, the Kauravas were vanquished. The climactic battle finally came to an end, and Yudhisthira after fulfilling the rituals and duties expected of a victorious prince, assumed the throne of Hastinapura.
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 terrifying courage, valor and honor, to rise to immortality in fame.
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.
Many scholars believes that Bhishma's decision to not to let fight Karna under his command was his affection towards Pandavas that if he himself and Karna would be appearing in the battle simultaneously Pandavas could never win it.However he gave his reason that he won't fight together with Karna who belonged to a lower caste due to his upbringing in a charioteer's home.
In an incident which took place during war between Karna and Arjuna that Arjuna's chariot hit by Karna's arrows and was displaced few meters behind and at that time Lord Krishna himself praised Karna for his feat. Arjuna, whose arrows had displaced Karna's chariot by several hundred meters, was shocked at Krishna's praise for Karna and question him. Krishna said "Arjuna, I myself who owns the whole weight of entire Universe is sitting on your chariot and your chariot is covered by the blessing of Lord Hanuman (Before beginning of war Lord Hanuman offered Bhima who was his brother as both were son of
Vayu(God of Air) to use flag of him and Krishna suggested Arjuna to mount Lord Hanuman's flag on his chariot) else your chariot would have gone revolving earth if you were alone on it.Also a very famous ancient book was written named "Karna Puran" (The epic about Karna )which explains the whole life including his significance and detailed clarification to incidences took place in Mahabharata.In Karna Puran Karna's ethics,morals and policies are depicted.This is unique that a whole epic is devoted to one character that is Karna.
Iliad
There are also strong parallels between Karna's involvement in the slaying of Abhimanyu, followed by Arjuna's slaying of Karna, and elements of the
Iliad, in which
Hector kills
Patroclus, only to be killed by
Achilles. The points of distinction being that Hector actually killed Patroclus whereas Karna disarmed Abhimanyu, but did not actually kill him. Hector believed that Patroclus was Achilles when he accepted the invitation to fight him, unlike Karna who knew who he was fighting with. However, these parallels are ususally discredited because of the stronger connection between the Iliad and the Ramayana.
Bible
*Sun set early on the day of his death. Compare with Jesus Christ
*Karna is born of a "virgin" birth through Kunti. This can be compared to the virgin birth of Jesus Christ. Karna also embodies the generosity and upright morality of the Christian Christ, and is also considered to be of a "low" birth, due to his upbringing.
