Mahabharata Character Guides - Karna - Free Sample
Mahabharata Character Guides - Karna - Free Sample
Mahabharata Character Guides - Karna - Free Sample
Sharath Komarraju
Contents
Introduction
Biography of Karna
How was Karna born?
Why was Karna cursed?
Was Karna better than Arjuna?
Why does Karna hate Arjuna?
Why and when does Karna remove his armour?
Why does Karna refuse to leave Duryodhana?
Why did Krishna offer Draupadi to Karna?
Why does Karna abuse Draupadi?
Why did Bhishma and Karna Quarrel?
Was Karna good or bad?
Was Karna killed fairly?
Was Karna a coward?
Karna and Duryodhana: What was their friendship like?
Why does Karna kill Abhimanyu?
Why did Karna go to hell?
Why did Karna dislike the Pandavas?
Why did Kunti abandon Karna?
Why does Indra approach Karna?
Why did Bhishma not allow Karna to fight?
Why was Karna cursed by Parashurama?
Why did Karna suffer so much?
Was Karna a student of Drona?
Was Karna a Pandava?
Was Karna a Kshatriya?
Was Karna a Maharatha?
Was Karna jealous of Arjuna?
Was Karna more powerful than Bhishma?
Was Karna stronger than Bhima?
Was Karna unlucky?
Was Karna in love with Draupadi?
Was Karna the greatest warrior?
Was Karna defeated by Drupada?
Was Karna defeated by Abhimanyu?
Was Karna defeated in Virata Parva?
What was Karna famous for?
Was Karna involved in Draupadi Vastraharan?
Is Karna the real hero of the Mahabharata?
Is Karna overrated?
How old was Karna when he died?
Karna and Arjuna: The Story of their Relationship
Introduction
Karna is the first son of Kunti, the mother of the Pandavas in the
Mahabharata. Kunti bears him out of wedlock, before her marriage to Pandu.
Fearing social censure, she abandons him soon after his birth.
The baby Karna is found and raised by a charioteer named Adiratha, and his
wife Radha.
He is also a close friend of Duryodhana, the eldest of the hundred sons of
Dhritarashtra who are together called the Kauravas. Duryodhana is the story’s
prime antagonist, and Karna becomes his prime ally in his machinations against
the Pandavas.
Karna is depicted throughout the Mahabharata as a character conflicted
about his identity. His behaviour is multi-faceted and often contradictory – from
cruel to generous, from brave to cowardly, from loyal to ungrateful.
In this guide, we will cover everything you need to know about Karna.
-----------------
Did you know that this guide to Karna is only one of the 52 books that make
up the Mammoth Mahabharata Book Set?
If you like this book, you will thoroughly enjoy the rest of the books in the
set as well.
6000+ pages. 200+ hours of reading material.
Delve into the magical world of Vedic India today.
Check out the Mammoth Mahabharata Book Set page to learn more.
-----------------
Biography of Karna
Birth
Abandonment
The son that is born to Surya and Pritha is said to be adorned with natural
armour and earrings that emit a golden glow. These are called kavacha (for
‘armour’) kundalas (for ‘earrings’).
The kavacha kundalas of Karna are meant to make him invincible in battle.
As long as he wears these, no weapon can penetrate his skin.
Surya of course leaves as soon as Karna is born, and Pritha is left to deal
with the baby on her own. News of the princess having become pregnant before
her marriage is bound to cause scandal, so Pritha exercises the only choice she
has – of abandoning her son.
She calls for a waiting woman and asks her to put the boy inside a basket,
and to let it slide downstream on the Yamuna. The basket is then found by a
childless charioteer named Adiratha, who takes it to his wife Radha.
Together, they give him the name Vasusena (‘he who is born of wealth’), and
undertake to raise him themselves.
Kunti and Karna’s paths diverge at this moment. From here, Kunti goes
onto become queen to Pandu and mother to the five Pandavas. Karna begins his
new life as a poor man’s son.
Despite being a charioteer’s son, Karna does not spend much of his early life
learning his father’s trade. Adiratha and Radha presumably tell him quite early
on that he is adopted, because right from a young age he begins to seek ways to
move up the social ladder.
His first teacher, by all accounts, is Sage Parashurama. But with him, Karna
knows that he cannot pretend to be a Kshatriya (because Parashurama is a sworn
enemy of the Kshatriya race).
Karna disguises himself, therefore, as a Brahmin, and presents himself
before the sage. ‘I am a poor Brahmin youth, Holy One,’ he says. ‘I wish to learn
the art and craft of using weapons.’
Parashurama is only too glad to take the young man under his wing, and
treats him much like a son. But one day, owing to a worm that stings Karna on
the thigh, Parashurama guesses that his young ward is not a Brahmin.
For this, he curses Karna. ‘In the very moment you need these skills most,’
he says, ‘you will forget them.’
Dronacharya
It is important to note that by the time the Kuru princes are showing off
their skills, Karna has already finished his training under Parashurama. Though
he was cursed by the sage, all his skills and weapons are intact.
If we consider Yudhishthir to be around sixteen at this time, we can
arbitrarily place Karna’s age at eighteen. (Please note that the Mahabharata does
not give us actual ages of characters – we’re often left making educated guesses.
So if you say Karna is nineteen or twenty one, I am not going to argue.)
At the announcement of the graduation ceremony, Karna might have
thought to himself: If I have any chance of upgrading my status, this is it.
Because if he presents himself as a challenger to one of the princes and gives a
good account of himself, it is entirely possible that he will be given employment
in the king’s army.
So his strategy would be to appear at the ceremony and match the skills of
the most feted of the Kuru princes.
By this time, Drona’s infatuation with Arjuna is common knowledge in the
city. Rumours also abound that Arjuna is the best archer among them all. So it
becomes natural for Karna to aim to emulate all of Arjuna’s feats.
As it turns out, though, the trip yields much richer dividends for Karna than
he anticipates. Not only does he turn heads by matching every one of Arjuna’s
skills with the bow, he also earns the friendship of Duryodhana – who crowns
him king of Anga.
For someone who was hoping to earn a position in the army as a best-case
scenario, this is an embarrassment of riches.
But the manner in which he secures this status is a bit convoluted: when he
finishes his show of prowess, Kripacharya (Drona’s brother-in-law, the Kuru
princes’ first teacher) asks Karna to reveal the details of his birth.
Whether this is intended to be an insult or whether Kripa was just following
standard social norms, we don’t know. The important thing is that Karna
perceives this as an insult. And hesitates to answer.
Spotting this, Duryodhana rises to the support of this new warrior and says,
‘It doesn’t matter what this man’s birth is. If he needs to be someone in order to
display his skill, I shall make him king of Anga.’
And right there, in the middle of the arena, Duryodhana crowns Karna king.
Loyalty to Duryodhana
At this point, a question may occur to us: why does Duryodhana bestow
upon a virtual stranger such a lavish gift?
One possible reason is that Duryodhana is simply a noble soul who does not
like seeing injustice of this sort meted out to the unfortunate. By this theory,
Duryodhana has a streak of magnanimity in him, of which this particular act is
proof.
A more plausible reason, I think, is that Duryodhana – even in the few
moments of watching Karna – understands that this young man will likely grow
up to be the only warrior that will possess the skill to match Arjuna.
Since Bhima and Arjuna are the main pillars of Yudhishthir’s strength, and
since Duryodhana fancies himself as the foil to Bhima, he may have thought that
if he plays the game carefully enough, he can mould Karna into Arjuna’s nemesis.
We know that at the moment of Karna’s arrival, Duryodhana and his
brothers are in the process of walking out of the arena in disgust as Arjuna’s
performance draws raucous praise from everyone. So we know that the kernel of
jealousy is already present in Duryodhana’s heart.
As for Karna, this is the moment that seals his friendship with Duryodhana.
To be sure, this is not an equal friendship; this is a friendship between a pauper
and his benefactor. It is characterized by loyalty, sycophancy and fear more than
the usual bonds of trust and love that define friendship in its purest form.
Ridicule by Bhimasena
It is at this point that Adiratha, Karna’s adopted father, enters the arena and
blesses his son with tears in his eyes. Assuming this to mean that Karna is a mere
son of a charioteer, Bhimasena, in a tone of voice intended to ridicule, says out
loud enough for everyone to hear:
‘So you are a Sutaputra! As befits your race, you should drop these weapons
and pick up the whip, so that one day you might become an accomplished
charioteer like your father. You deserve the kingdom of Anga as much as a dog
deserves to taste the butter placed in front of the sacrificial fire.’
Duryodhana once again rises to his new friend’s defense. ‘Cast an eye upon
this youth!’ he says. ‘Look at the splendour of his ornaments, his armour – can
anyone doubt that he is of high birth?’
Duryodhana here makes a reference to Karna’s scars that have ostensibly
been left behind after he peeled off his natural armour. This suggests that the
visit by Indra to weaken Karna against Arjuna happens before his arrival at the
graduation ceremony.
In any case, by this time, the sun begins to set, and the battle between Karna
and Arjuna does not come to pass after all. Duryodhana leads Karna away, and
the people of Hastinapur leave for their homes as well.
At Draupadi’s Swayamvara
It is often puzzling to work out exactly why Karna considers Arjuna his
prime enemy.
At the beginning, before his arrival at the graduation, it is understandable
that Karna views Arjuna as his main target to emulate. Only by matching the skill
of the ‘best of Drona’s pupils’ can he hope to catch the eye of the public.
But after his appointment as the king of Anga, there is precious little that
happens to justify the hatred he professes to feel for Arjuna. Yes, he loses a battle
to him at Draupadi’s swayamvara. But that’s hardly a reason for hate. After all,
everyone who fights against Arjuna in any kind of battle loses to him.
So, what gives? I can only imagine that Karna takes this mantle of being the
designated Arjuna-killer from Duryodhana. Powered by his loyalty toward
Duryodhana, and his eagerness to please him, Karna is always vocally signaling
his intent to kill Arjuna.
If there is anyone that Karna personally despises, it must be Draupadi
because of the humiliation she causes him by rejecting him. Karna avenges this
(or so he thinks) during the dice game, but in return he earns the wrath of
Arjuna.
From that moment onward, Karna becomes Arjuna’s enemy number one.
The Gandharvas
Karna gets another chance to showcase his ability as warrior and loyalty as
friend during the final year of the Pandavas’ exile.
Duryodhana goes to Kamyaka – partly on Karna’s encouragement – in
order to ridicule the Pandavas for their miserable plight. But he locks horns with
a group of Gandharvas and gets taken captive by them.
Karna does not attempt to free his king. Indeed, he flees the scene the
moment he realizes just how dire the situation is. It requires a rescue act by
Arjuna and Bhima to save Duryodhana’s life.
This is another example of a situation in which Karna’s skills are
desperately needed – but he is found wanting.
However, immediately after returning from the forest after having been
rescued by Arjuna, Duryodhana resolves to conquer the world – like Yudhishthir
before him – and perform the Rajasuya.
He enlists the help of Karna to subjugate all the known kingdoms. This
time, Karna steps up to the plate.
In an expedition of conquest and diplomacy that extends in all four
directions, Karna establishes the supremacy of Duryodhana in all the great
kingdoms.
Coming as it does so close at the heels of a cowardly act, one may wonder
why Karna is so keen to run away when faced by Gandharvas – and yet perform
the task so admirably when fighting other kings.
Alas, no explanations are forthcoming from the text itself. It is possible that
when faced by Gandharvas, Karna thought that he would never be a match for
them. Also, in that incident, he would have had to fight alone, with only a small
division of the Kuru army for support.
On the other hand, during his expedition, he would have had the full force
of Duryodhana’s army behind him. He would have also carried with him
messages bearing the names of Bhishma and Drona in an official capacity.
In other words, the kings whom Karna visited during this quest would have
received him as an emissary of the Kuru house, not as an individual warrior. This
would have caused at least some of these kingdoms to fold without fighting – not
because they were afraid of Karna but because of the thrust of Kuru’s name.
Would Karna have been the same warrior without the Kuru army behind
him? Would he still have the skills to defeat the likes of Bhagadatta in a single
man-to-man combat?
Evidence says no.
Karna gets another opportunity to put one across Arjuna during the cattle
raiding that happens at the end of the Virata Parva. Duryodhana, Karna, Kripa,
Drona and Bhishma attack the kingdom of Matsya with the intention of stealing
their cattle. They also have some army with them.
But Arjuna single-handedly fights them off and defends Virata’s kingdom.
One may argue here that this is not just Karna’s inadequacy. After all,
Drona, Bhishma and Kripa also lose to Arjuna on this day. We may excuse Karna
saying that he simply ran into a hero at the top of his game on this day.
Still, for someone who insists on being known as Arjuna’s equal, this is
another single combat that Karna loses. And it is not even a close call.
Generosity to Indra
Karna’s given name is Vasusena. He comes to be known as Karna after it
becomes common knowledge that he has peeled off his natural armour and
earrings.
Indra’s motivations here are quite clear: as father to Arjuna, he wishes to
protect his son from his most fervent enemy. What is not clear is why Karna –
despite being warned by Surya that the Brahmin who is going to visit him is
actually Indra in disguise – insists on giving away the one thing that makes him
powerful enough to match Arjuna.
The ostensible reason is that Karna is a man given to generosity, especially
to Brahmins. If a Brahmin asks him for something, he will not refuse.
So he gives up the kavacha kundalas, and Indra gleefully accepts them. In
return, Indra is magnanimous enough to give Karna a dart that is powerful
enough to kill anyone – including Arjuna.
But there is a catch. Karna can use this dart only once. After this one use, it
will return to Indra.
So in essence, Karna trades the armour of invincibility for a devastating
weapon that can only be used once. During the war, Krishna tricks him into using
the Vasava dart on Ghatotkacha, thus freeing Arjuna from danger.
One other aspect of the Karna story is how little Bhishma thinks of him. We
must note that Bhishma’s complaint with Karna is not that he is a Sutaputra, but
that he is a braggart with nothing to show for his tall claims.
Karna, for his part, does not back down when confronted by Bhishma like
this. A humbler man might take the grandsire’s criticism on the chin and strive to
prove him wrong, but Karna throws insults back at Bhishma. His chief grouse is
that Bhishma has always been partial to the Pandavas – which, we should
remember, is also Duryodhana’s pet peeve.
(This is the other confusing side to Karna’s character: the reader is never
sure whether his words are his own or if he is speaking as Duryodhana’s proxy.)
As ill fortune would have it, Bhishma and Karna have their most serious
run-in on the eve of the Mahabharata war. Bhishma goes to the extent of telling
Duryodhana that he will not fight in the war at the same time as Karna.
(Is this desirable behavior on Bhishma’s part? I’d argue not. But perhaps he
does this on purpose, to keep Karna out of action so that Arjuna is protected.)
In this moment, with Bhishma throwing down the gauntlet, Karna has the
choice of setting aside his ego for the sake of his friendship with Duryodhana. He
might have put up his hand and said, ‘You know what, I am sorry. Let’s put our
quarrel aside for Duryodhana’s good.’
But he doesn’t. He says, ‘The grandsire is right, O King. Either he fights or I
fight.’
And Duryodhana, placed in a predicament where he has to choose between
Bhishma and Karna, opts for the former. Karna, therefore, ends up sitting out the
first ten days of the war.
Finest Hour
Karna’s noblest moment, without a doubt, is when he rejects the bribe that
Krishna offers him for defecting on Duryodhana.
In a private conversation, Krishna reveals to Karna the truth of his birth. ‘If
you come to fight on the side of the Pandavas, Vasusena,’ he says, ‘you will be the
emperor of the world. The world will sing your praises. Yudhishthir and the other
Pandavas will become your slaves. And Draupadi will become your wife. She will
bear your sons, who will become kings after you.’
This is just about everything that Karna has always wanted: status as king,
brother, husband and father. But he says no, deducing correctly that the world
will look upon all his unearned rewards with scorn.
‘I was born a Sutaputra, O Krishna,’ he says in a memorable line. ‘And I
shall die a Sutaputra.’
This is Karna embracing his identity – and recognizing that a man cannot
shed the weight of his past as easily as Krishna is suggesting. Arjuna will forever
be his enemy. Draupadi will forever hate him after that day at the dice game.
Besides, there is also the small matter of being loyal to Duryodhana.
Incidentally, this is one of the rare instances where the reader gets to
glimpse Karna in private, without the presence of Duryodhana. So if there is
anything to the theory that Karna often speaks as Duryodhana’s proxy, we may
consider this that rare moment where he speaks his mind with Krishna.
Promise to Kunti
Soon after Krishna tries and fails to lure Karna over to the Pandava side,
Kunti tries to do it as well.
Her method is less diplomatic than Krishna’s. She hopes to win over Karna
emotionally, by claiming herself as his birth mother. ‘Must I see my sons fight
one another in this war?’ she asks him, as if he has had anything to do with her
choices.
Karna is wise to this. He explains that while she may have given birth to
him, it is Radha the wife of Adiratha that fed and raised him. ‘I am the son of
Radha,’ he says. ‘You’re not a mother to me – because you did everything to me
that a mother shouldn’t.’
Still, Kunti comes away from this encounter with a bit of a victory, because
Karna’s propensity to be generous gets the better of him. Without her asking, he
gives her a promise.
‘Even if I have opportunity to do so, my lady,’ he says, ‘I shall not kill any of
your other sons except Arjuna. So regardless of how the war ends, you will still
have five sons at the end of it.’
This is, of course, tacit admission by Karna that though he does not
acknowledge Kunti as his mother, he does acknowledge the fact that she thinks of
him as her son. And that he is willing to make an allowance for that.
But – this conflicts with his promise of loyalty to Duryodhana. For all the
accusations leveled at Bhishma for being partial, it is Karna who ends up pulling
his punches during the war.
Karna’s entry into the war coincides with the appointment of Drona as the
commander of Duryodhana’s forces.
While the first ten days with Bhishma at the helm saw cautious, protracted
fighting, Drona brings with him a streak of mercilessness that goes well with
Karna’s fighting style.
Karna finds himself in a number of key situations in the war. Here are a few
of them:
He plays an important role in the killing of Abhimanyu, by breaking the
bow of the son of Subhadra by shooting at him from behind.
He kills Ghatotkacha during the battle at midnight by using the Vasava
dart that Indra gave him.
On four separate occasions, he wins battles against Yudhishthir, Bhima,
Nakula and Sahadeva – but he spares their lives to honour his promise to
Kunti.
On the flip side, he gets into an argument with Kripa, who seems to take on
the mantle of ‘Karna-needler’ from Bhishma. This angers Ashwatthama, who gets
into a war of words with Karna. The two heroes almost come to blows before
being separated by Duryodhana.
On the evening of the sixteenth day of battle, Karna tells Duryodhana that
the only factor separating him from Arjuna was the quality of their respective
charioteers. While Arjuna has Krishna, he, Karna, has some unnamed Suta
manning his steeds.
‘If only you can persuade Shalya to drive my vehicle tomorrow, O King,’ he
says, ‘I shall become Arjuna’s equal.’
Whether Karna truly believes this or whether he is merely posturing for
Duryodhana’s benefit is touch to discern. But if we take these words at face value,
we have to ask: what of the day Arjuna defeated you in the garb of Brihannala,
with Uttara Kumara as charioteer?
Duryodhana, of course, does not ask his friend this question. Even if he had,
Karna would probably have said, ‘Arjuna was fighting to defend his master’s
kingdom, O King, while we were merely looking to steal some cattle. The stakes
are different now.’
In any case, Duryodhana gets Shalya to perform the role of charioteer for
Karna on the eighteenth day.
But if Karna hopes that Shalya will be to him what Krishna is to Arjuna, he
is to be severely disappointed. While Krishna guides, mentors, provokes, advises
and helps Arjuna, all Shalya does is to taunt and discourage Karna.
By the end of the seventeenth day, Karna is wishing that he had fought with
his regular charioteer.
Recognition in Death
Karna’s death is not accompanied by flower rains or divine voices. But a few
days later, when Yudhishthir and his brothers are paying their respects to the
dead on the banks of the Ganga, Kunti tells them of the secret that she has been
carrying.
The Pandavas are distraught at this knowledge. Yudhishthir in particular is
horrified that victory in this war has required them to kill their own elder brother.
After a few minutes of grief, the Pandavas honour Karna as the first
Pandava.
Two Karnas
Karna has captured the imagination of storytellers down the years. Popular
culture tends to focus on the ‘tragic hero’ aspect of his story, dramatizing his
abandonment, his suffering, his ill luck, and all the injustices that are meted out
to him.
But the Mahabharata also gives us a glimpse of another Karna: a vile
braggart, a bully, a man with all bluster and no substance, and someone who
allows false loyalty to Duryodhana cloud his judgement on what is right and what
isn’t.
Karna is therefore a mess of contradictions: he is generous yet selfish,
cowardly yet brave, noble yet cruel, proud of his identity yet eager to escape it.
As readers, we may be frustrated by this. We may be forgiven to ask: who is
Karna, really? Is he one of the good guys or one of the villains? Is he Kunti’s
firstborn, Arjuna’s equal, Yudhishthir’s elder brother, the rightful king of
Hastinapur? Or is he Duryodhana’s wicked henchman, Draupadi’s rejected
suitor, a mouse of a man who runs away from battles, an upstart?
The answer of course, is that he can be – and is – all of the above.
We must resist the idea that Karna is all good, but equally, we must not
vilify him as a monster either. Any portrayal of him that does just one of the two
is being lazy, and it does an injustice to the most human of all the Mahabharata
characters.
-----------------
Did you know that this guide to Karna is only one of the 52 books that make
up the Mammoth Mahabharata Book Set?
If you like this book, you will thoroughly enjoy the rest of the books in the
set as well.
6000+ pages. 200+ hours of reading material.
Delve into the magical world of Vedic India today.
Check out the Mammoth Mahabharata Book Set page to learn more.
-----------------
How was Karna born?
Short answer: Using a magical incantation gifted her by Sage Durvasa, Kunti
bears Karna out of wedlock, before her marriage to Pandu. Fearing social
censure, she abandons him soon after his birth. The baby Karna is found and
raised by a charioteer named Adiratha, and his wife Radha. Karna therefore
grows up as a member of the ‘Suta’ caste, and earns the derogatory moniker:
Sutaputra.
Durvasa’s Boon
Abandonment
The son that is born to Surya and Pritha is said to be adorned with natural
armour and earrings that emit a golden glow. These are called kavacha (for
‘armour’) kundalas (for ‘earrings’).
The kavacha kundalas of Karna are meant to make him invincible in battle.
As long as he wears these, no weapon can penetrate his skin.
Surya of course leaves as soon as Karna is born, and Pritha is left to deal
with the baby on her own. News of the princess having become pregnant before
her marriage is bound to cause scandal, so Pritha exercises the only choice she
has – of abandoning her son.
She calls for a waiting woman and asks her to put the boy inside a basket,
and to let it slide downstream on the Yamuna. The basket is then found by a
childless charioteer named Adiratha, who takes it to his wife Radha.
Together, they give him the name Vasusena (‘he who is born of wealth’), and
undertake to raise him themselves.
Kunti and Karna’s paths diverge at this moment. From here, Kunti goes
onto become queen to Pandu and mother to the five Pandavas. Karna begins his
new life as a poor man’s son.
The nature of Kunti’s union with Surya has become the subject of some
speculation. Specifically: did Surya and Kunti unite sexually, in the manner or
mortals? And did Kunti carry Karna through a full-term pregnancy?
Or was their union of a spiritual nature and the boy born instantaneously?
Instantaneous births happen elsewhere in the Mahabharata: when
Parashara seduces Satyavati on a fog-covered island on the Yamuna, their son
Dwaipayana is brought forth in a matter of hours, and he grows to maturity on
the same day.
There is also the concept of ‘returning a woman’s virginity’ after getting her
pregnant. Parashara assures Satyavati that she will remain a virgin after giving
birth to their son. (By this we must assume that the woman’s hymen will grow
back.)
A similar sort of arrangement might have been at work in Kunti’s case as
well.
However, we know that in the cases of Yudhishthir, Bhima and Arjuna, the
births are separated from one another by a year. So the implication is that Kunti
carries each of the three boys to term in her womb. (Though this is by no means
certain. She may just have waited a year after each delivery to ease the burden of
child-rearing.)
Using these two incidents as illustrative examples, we can surmise that (a)
the union of Kunti with Surya was a sexual one, (b) Kunti has her virginity
returned to her after her delivery, and (c) she carries the boy in her womb to
term.
So the birth of Karna happens, in reality, ten months or so after Durvasa
leaves the palace of Kuntibhoja. Which leads us to ask another logical question.
If one wears the hat of rationality and rejects the notion of gods and demons
in the Mahabharata universe, one may be forgiven for asking whether Karna is
the father of Sage Durvasa himself.
Circumstantial evidence points squarely at him. With Kunti attending to
him throughout his visit, he certainly had access to her. Besides, the balance of
power tilted in his direction. If he propositioned the princess, she could hardly
bring herself to reject him.
(The most she might have done is ask for assurance that her ‘virginity’
would remain intact. And Sage Durvasa would grant it readily.)
In this scenario, the entire fable – of a magical chant, summoning of gods,
and having sons by them – is only a contrivance to ensure that Kunti remains
virginal in the eyes of the world.
The story may have been suggested by Durvasa to Kuntibhoja. Or the king –
with all the resources of propaganda at his disposal – might have come up with it
himself. After all, if we agree that Kunti carried Karna to full term, the king would
have certainly known of his daughter’s illegitimate union with Durvasa.
The birth of Karna is often depicted as Kunti’s secret alone. The image in
the average reader’s mind is of a girl carrying the burden of separation and pain
deep in her heart. She is a lone sufferer.
In films and plays, Kunti herself places the basket containing Karna on the
river’s surface. The implication is that no one else in Kuntibhoja’s palace knows
of this.
But if we accept the premise that Kunti carried Karna to full term, this is
impossible. Even if by some elaborate ruse the pregnancy is kept secret, when it
comes time for her to deliver the baby, a nurse’s presence is inevitable.
More reasonably, we may assume that Kuntibhoja knows about his
daughter’s pregnancy right from the moment signs of it becomes visible. And
knowing that Durvasa is the likely father, he is left with no choice but to keep it
all under wraps.
For those in the know, Kuntibhoja furnishes them with a fantastic story
concerning gods and magical chants. This is to ensure that even if the secret is
spilled, Kunti’s ‘virginity’ remains intact and her prospects wouldn’t unduly
suffer.
As for the baby? What other option does the king have but to abandon it?
One may argue that he could have been more humane about it – perhaps he
could have sent for a poor couple and given the baby to them to rear – but the
most important thing to do was to sever all links between the baby and Kunti.
Conclusion
Now you know everything about the birth of Karna. Summing up:
Karna is born to Kunti out of wedlock, before her marriage.
His father, according to the official version of events, is the sun god, Surya.
Kunti summons him out of curiosity using a magical chant given her by
Sage Durvasa.
Whether Karna is a full-term baby or an ‘instantaneous’ one is up for
debate. But evidence from other similar events suggests the former.
The decision to abandon Karna was likely not taken by Kunti alone.
Kuntibhoja and other elders of his court almost certainly had a say in it.
Some rational theorists posit that the true father of Kunti is not Surya but
Durvasa. If one is to reject all magic in the Mahabharata, this is a
reasonable assumption given the circumstances.
Why was Karna cursed?
Short answer: During his youth, Karna earns curses on three separate
occasions: first, Parashurama curses him that his Brahmastra will fail him;
second, Bhumi the Earth goddess curses him that she will swallow his chariot
wheel at an important moment; third, a Brahmin curses him for the sin of killing
a cow that his weapons and pride will fail him when he needs them most.
Parashurama
As a young boy, in a bid to escape the confines of his Suta caste, Karna
resolves to learn the skill of weapon-wielding from Sage Parashurama.
It is well known at this time that Parashurama only trains Brahmin boys, so
Karna disguises himself as a Brahmin and approaches the sage. The latter is
taken in by Karna’s impressive appearance and accepts him as a disciple.
For a long time Karna manages to conceal the truth, but toward the end of
his tenure, an incident happens that blows his cover.
One afternoon, Parashurama rests his head on Karna’s thigh under a tree
and falls asleep. The boy sits erect and unmoving in order not to disturb his
teacher’s nap. But in a short while, a worm (a bee or a leech in some versions)
appears out of nowhere and begins to sting Karna on the thigh.
Karna flinches at the first contact of the insect on his skin, but after that,
despite the bleeding and the pain, he remains still. Only after Parashurama wakes
up does he notice that his student is pale and tense.
Parashurama sees the worm clinging to Karna’s thigh, and immediately kills
it with an incantation. Turning to Karna he says, ‘No Brahmin can have such
incredible tolerance for pain. I have no doubt that you’re a Kshatriya in disguise!’
(Ironically, Parashurama sees through Karna’s disguise but thinks that he is
a Kshatriya. And because of his long-standing quarrel with Kshatriyas, he is
moved to curse Karna.)
‘Because you have lied to your preceptor,’ says Parashurama, ‘all that you
have learned from me will forsake you when you most need it.’
On a different occasion, while wandering for the sake of practicing with his
bow, Vijaya, Karna finds a spot deep in a forest where he shoots a number of
fierce arrows at trees and shrubs.
During that time, he accidentally strikes and killed a calf belonging to a
Brahmin. He curses Karna that his chariot-wheel will sink to the earth in the
midst of an important battle, and that I will be struck by the same fear that had
consumed that poor animal when it breathed its last.
Karna gives him a number of cows, and he also wishes to placate the man’s
anger by means of other gifts. But the Brahmin, though he accepts what Karna
gives him, says that he cannot take back his word. ‘Give in to the dictates of your
fate, Karna,’ he says. ‘That is your atonement for killing my calf.’
Though it is not explicitly mentioned, it appears that this incident with the
Brahmin occurs after Karna becomes king of Anga. Yet another unfortunate event
happens during this time, which angers Bhumi the Earth goddess.
Once, when Karna is riding around the city of Anga in his chariot, his
charioteer accidentally runs into a walking woman carrying a pot of oil. The
collision causes the woman to drop her pot, and by the time Karna descends to
the ground, all the oil has already spilled onto the earth.
With the intention of salvaging as much oil as possible, Karna picks up the
moist earth and squeezes dry with his hands, causing the oil to drip back into the
pot. Such is the strength in his fingers that he manages to half-fill the pot with oil.
This pleases the walking woman who had been hit, and Karna asks her to
come by the royal palace to collect the remaining oil that had been lost.
But this act of being squeezed by Karna’s hands hurts and angers Bhumi.
On the one hand there is the sheer physical discomfort of being handled like that
by a man. On the other there is the matter of disrespect. Could Karna not have let
the oil go and compensate the woman for a whole potful?
So Bhumi also curses Karna. ‘For this insolence, O king,’ she says, ‘I shall
see to it that your chariot will not remain on firm ground during the most
important battle of your life.’
Cursed by Generosity
Cursed by Fate
Karna is also cursed by fate, which is the name we may give to all the forces
in the world that act upon a man without his permission. Despite his best
intentions and his most strenuous efforts, Karna finds that the walls erected
around him by destiny are way too high and torturous to scale.
For instance:
Karna is a born to a princess and a god. His is the most privileged of
births. By right, he should have grown up to be a king, a great warrior,
and a hero.
If the worm that had stung Karna on that afternoon under the tree had
chosen to do something else, Parashurama may not have cursed his
disciple. Karna would have given a better account of himself in the final
battle against Arjuna.
If he hadn’t been abandoned by Kunti, or if he had been abandoned in a
different way (by being fostered secretly at a nobleman’s house,
perhaps), Karna would not have struggled his whole life to find his
identity.
If Adiratha and Radha had chosen not to tell their son that he was
adopted, Karna may have found contentment and solace in being a
Sutaputra.
If Drona, Bhishma and Kripacharya had been kinder to him at the
graduation ceremony, his friendship with Duryodhana – and his
subsequent loyalty – would not have occurred. Perhaps then he would
have become friends with the Pandavas.
If Draupadi had not rejected him during her swayamvara, Karna would
perhaps not have been as hostile toward her during the events of the
dice game.
Of course, one might argue that Karna still had a choice of how he could
react to the situations in which he found himself. But the point stands that he was
not given much of a chance by the world to be what he might have been.
It is as if fate decreed at the moment of his birth that his life is going to be a
tragedy.
Conclusion
Now you know everything about the curses of Karna. Summing up:
As a young boy, during his time as Parashurama’s disciple, Karna
mistakenly drops his guard with his teacher and earns from him the curse
that he will always forget the lessons he had learned during the most
inopportune moments.
As a king, while practicing shooting in the forest one day, he accidentally
kills a calf belonging to a Brahmin, who tells him that his own death will be
as helpless and wretched as the calf’s.
On a different occasion as a king, Karna squeezes some spilled oil out of
the earth with such great pressure that Bhumi, the Earth goddess, curses
him for his insolence. Due to this, his chariot wheel sinks into the earth on
the seventeenth day of battle.
Karna’s own generosity often ends up as his curse – as in the promises he
makes to Kunti, Krishna, Duryodhana and Indra.
Lastly, Karna is cursed by fate itself. Despite being gifted by birth and
training, he is destined to live as a flawed hero who will die a failure.
Was Karna better than Arjuna?
Short answer: Karna is considered the only warrior that can match Arjuna’s
skill with bow and arrow. He gives proof of this during the graduation ceremony,
where he repeats all of Arjuna’s feats. However, as the story progresses, Arjuna
surpasses Karna comfortably. There is never an instance in the Mahabharata
where Karna actually defeats Arjuna.
At the beginning
When Karna is born, he is blessed with divine armor that makes his skin
impenetrable to all weapons. In addition, he also has natural earrings that suffuse
his face with a soft glow and gives him an ethereal appearance.
The armor and the earrings together are called kavacha-kundalas.
(‘Kavacha’ means ‘armor’, and ‘kundala’ means ‘earring’.)
With the kavacha-kundalas on, Karna may be considered the most powerful
defensive warrior in the world. If your skin is impenetrable, and if you’re capable
of being wounded, your aim and deftness of hand does not need to be out of the
world for you to win duels.
The kavacha-kundalas give him such an edge that Karna needed to be only a
passable shooter of arrows in order to become the strongest chariot-archer in the
world.
Karna, though, goes much further than passable. He trains under
Parashurama and learns the art of shooting all the main celestial weapons.
Parashurama is so impressed with his ward that he gifts him the Vijaya, a bow he
has received from Shiva.
So at the moment of Karna’s graduation from Parashurama’s hermitage –
with the Vijaya slung around his shoulder and the knowledge of wonderful
weapons coursing through his mind – Karna is no doubt the most skillful archer
in the world.
At the Graduation Ceremony
Now we arrive at the graduation ceremony, where the reader catches his
first glimpse of Karna. It should be noted that in this scene, Duryodhana
describes the young man saying, ‘Look at the scars on his body left behind after
he had peeled off his armor!’
This suggests that by this time, Karna has already been paid a visit by Indra,
and that he has already given away his kavacha-kundalas.
However, there are other passages that suggest that this is not the case. For
instance, his earrings are described as two little suns which bathe his face in an
incandescent light.
So there is some doubt as to whether Karna – by the time he appears at the
graduation ceremony – has the kavacha-kundalas or not.
But that matter aside, Karna proceeds to perform all of Arjuna’s feats
himself, proving himself to be at least as good as the prince.
We may conclude, therefore, that at the time of the graduation ceremony,
Karna is at least as skillful as Arjuna with respect to the bow and arrow.
We must also remember that skill at shooting a target is not quite the same
as skill at fighting a real live opponent. While Karna has shown himself to be a
match at shooting targets (both moving and otherwise), he is yet to prove his
battle skills.
Battle Skills
Soon after the graduation ceremony, Drona puts the Kuru princes through a
proper test. While the ceremony was about displaying some tricks for the crowd’s
benefit, now he wants them to actually invade Panchala and bring back King
Drupada as prisoner.
In this battle, Arjuna – and his four brothers – proves himself as a strong
all-round warrior who can be trusted upon in a live battlefield.
Karna also gets this same opportunity: he is part of Duryodhana’s army
which has first go at fulfilling Drona’s quest. But this army gets routed by the
Panchalas.
This is yet another data point which tells us that at this point in the story,
Karna is severely undercooked when it comes to real life battle situations, though
he can hold his own in controlled environments like tournaments and
ceremonies.
At Draupadi’s Swayamvara
About thirteen years pass after Draupadi’s swayamvara before the Pandavas
and Karna ‘meet’ again. In this interval, Yudhishthir becomes emperor of the
world, and Arjuna goes on a twelve-year exile.
In these thirteen years, Karna is presumably ruling over Anga as king. By all
accounts he is a wise and generous ruler, well-loved by his subjects. But the
responsibilities of being king must have come in the way of his practice of
archery.
Arjuna, on the other hand, is free from all worldly distractions during his
exile. Yes, he gets married three times and has three sons during this period, but
it is not a stretch to suggest that he would have had much more time and clarity
of mind to stay in touch with his weapons than did Karna.
Arjuna has also been given the Gandiva and two quivers brimming with
celestial arrows during the burning of Khandava.
So by the time of the dice game, we can peg Arjuna significantly ahead of
Karna in terms of skill. Karna may have caught up on worldly wisdom, though, by
virtue of his being king.
Twelve more years pass after the dice game, during which Karna resumes
being king of Anga. The Pandavas retreat into the forest to serve the terms of
their exile.
Consider the relative journeys of Karna and Arjuna during these twelve
years. Arjuna spends much of this time collecting divine weapons and performing
quests. He acquires the Pashupatastra and the Brahmastra. He defeats the
Nivatakavachas and frees Hiranyapuri from captivity.
In Amaravati, all the gods of the pantheon – from Varuna to Yama – shower
him with extremely powerful weapons. Arjuna also has enough time to practice
these skills, knowing that they are going to prove invaluable in getting their
kingdom back.
What about Karna? After the Pandavas have been sent into exile, like
Duryodhana, Karna must have thought that they have dispensed with their
enemies for good. A bit of complacency must have set in. He would have become
more comfortable in his skin as ruler; after all, he has been king for almost
twenty five years.
Even if we allow that Karna has kept up with his archery and weapons
practice, Arjuna is by now miles ahead.
But Karna refuses to acknowledge this fact. Whether he truly believes his
words is up for debate, but he continues to harp on that he is the only warrior in
the world that can take on and kill Arjuna.
With the likes of Bhishma and Drona – who were actually stronger than
Arjuna at the start of the Pandavas’ exile – admitting that they themselves can
no longer match Arjuna, here is Karna bragging away.
If anything, this stubborn refusal to see the truth prompts Bhishma to mock
him, and their quarrel results in Karna boycotting the first ten days of war.
Where does this come from? Probably from a place of fear. And from the
desperate need to go back to a time when things were different. Insisting that he
is still as good as Arjuna feels a lot better than admitting that Arjuna has
improved beyond recognition while he has not.
Despite everything that we have considered in the rest of this post, if Karna
had kept his kavacha-kundalas, would he still have had a good chance of beating
Arjuna?
He may have been able to withstand Arjuna’s power, because after all the
kavacha is said to be impenetrable. (Though one must ask: is it impenetrable
even to the likes of the Pashupatastra?) But in order to defeat Arjuna, Karna
would have had access to at least some weapons comparable to those in Arjuna’s
quiver.
In any case, Karna gives away the kavacha-kundalas to Indra, further
weakening his position. Incidentally, the fact that Indra makes this visit suggests
that he thinks Karna stands a reasonable chance against Arjuna with them.
Yes, in return he gets a weapon that will kill Arjuna, but it comes with a ‘use
once only’ condition. The Vasava dart therefore is a poor replacement for the
kavacha-kundalas.
The Charioteer
Arjuna gets even more gifts that add to his power. Hanuman, the brother of
Bhimasena, sits on top of Arjuna’s chariot and imbues it with the power of the
wind. The chariot itself is given to Arjuna by Agni during the burning of
Khandava.
Allied with the Gandiva and the two inexhaustible quivers, these two are
enough to make Arjuna invincible.
But raising him to an unreachable point is the fact that Krishna becomes his
charioteer. As Bhishma and Drona repeatedly exclaim, ‘Who can withstand the
combined effect of Arjuna’s skill, the power of his weapons, the sturdiness of the
Gandiva, the chariot of Agni, the mast of Hanuman, and the strategic abilities
and wisdom of Krishna?’
And what does Karna have besides Parashurama’s bow?
Karna tries to redress the balance somewhat by enlisting the services of
Shalya as charioteer. But Shalya turns out to be a spy, and he ends up causing
Karna a whole lot of harm.
Death of Ghatotkacha
Despite everything, the one weapon that can tilt the scales in Karna’s favour
is the Vasava dart. If Karna manages to use it against Arjuna during their duel, it
will neutralize all of Arjuna’s advantages and kill him.
So the death of Ghatotkacha turns out to be a rather crucial event in the
Mahabharata war. In a moment of preoccupation, Karna kills the son of Bhima
with the Vasava dart. This elicits a yell of triumph from Krishna because at that
precise moment, the victory of Arjuna over Karna has become certain.
At this point on, therefore, Karna is absolutely no match for Arjuna. There is
simply no way for him to defeat his arch enemy.
Conclusion
The question of whether Karna is as skillful as Arjuna needs to be put in
proper context in order to be answered properly.
To begin with, Karna is definitely as skillful as Arjuna with technical
matters of archery – like marksmanship, steadiness of hand etc.
But Arjuna is more powerful than Karna when it comes to live battle
situations, as evidenced by the successful invasion of Panchala.
At the time of Draupadi’s swayamvara, the two warriors are about equally
matched.
In the twenty five years following the wedding of Draupadi, Arjuna
improves as an archer and a warrior almost beyond recognition. Karna’s
improvement – if present – is less drastic.
At the start of the war, the only edge that Karna has is the Vasava dart. In
all other respects, Arjuna is far superior.
The moment Karna uses his Vasava dart on Ghatotkacha, Arjuna becomes
invincible.
Why does Karna hate Arjuna?
Short answer: There are three reasons why Karna hates Arjuna: (1)
Professional jealousy because Arjuna is a better archer and warrior, (2) Rivalry
with respect to Draupadi, who rejects him and weds Arjuna, and (3) Loyalty to
Duryodhana who wishes him to defeat and kill Arjuna at all costs.
The rivalry between Karna and Arjuna begins when the former appears at
the graduation ceremony of the Kurus and – without bothering to introduce
himself – proceeds to repeat all of Arjuna’s prior feats successfully.
Karna’s appearance here is a surprise to everyone. Duryodhana and his
brothers are just about to leave the stadium in disgust when he arrives
unannounced. We can therefore conclude that it must have been Karna’s idea.
What did he hope to achieve by coming to the ceremony? He may have seen
this as his ticket up the socioeconomic ladder. By now he has already trained
under Parashurama and is a skilled archer. Now all he needs is a stage on which
to prove himself.
The graduation ceremony offers him that platform. Once he arrives, though,
how does he catch the eye and imagination of the spectators? What must he do to
create an indelible impression?
He knows already that Arjuna is considered the most skilled of all the Kuru
princes. He also knows that the ceremony will be used to showcase many of
Arjuna’s tricks with bow and arrow. He will be the apple of everyone’s eye.
For Karna, therefore, what better way to steal the spotlight than proving
himself a match for Dronacharya’s favourite disciple? They can’t help but notice
him then.
His gambit works. He does get noticed – by Duryodhana. Where he may
have been hoping for a job within Bhishma’s army at most, Duryodhana makes
him king, no less. Karna’s life changes overnight. From a Sutaputra, he becomes
king of Anga.
We must remember that Karna is around eighteen years old when this first
encounter happens. (Arjuna is around fourteen.) They’re only just boys.
As they grow older and as time passes, Arjuna improves at a much faster
rate than Karna. He is also blessed with more privilege: not only does he have the
advantage of being immersed in palace atmosphere, he also is never encumbered
by responsibilities such as earning a living or governing a kingdom.
Karna, on the other hand, lives as a poor man for the first eighteen years of
his life. Then he becomes king of Anga. In both situations, he is burdened by life
enough that he does not have the sufficient time and energy to keep up with
Arjuna.
Also, Arjuna is favoured by the gods. During the burning of Khandava, Agni
gives him two inexhaustible quivers and the Gandiva. During his exile, Shiva
gives him the Pashupatastra. During his visit to Amaravati, the gods gift him
several celestial gifts.
So in the thirty years or so that pass between the graduation ceremony and
the beginning of the Kurukshetra war, Arjuna is by far the most powerful warrior
in the world, whereas Karna is merely one of the atirathas.
Jealousy
Karna must have noted in the first instance that his battle skills are not up
to Arjuna’s standard. By the second occasion, he appears to have bridged the gap
and given Arjuna a good fight in single combat.
But by the third and fourth incidents, it is obvious to anyone watching that
Karna is no longer Arjuna’s equal. In fact, it is apparent that Arjuna is miles
ahead of everyone – Bhishma, Drona and Ashwatthama included.
During these twenty six years, Karna may have improved himself, but
Arjuna’s transformation from earthly to celestial warrior is so incredible that he
leaves everyone behind.
This must have caused a pang of envy in Karna’s heart, seeing how the
scales have tilted.
The biggest factor behind Karna’s hatred for Arjuna, though, is that
Duryodhana hates Arjuna. And as his humble subject, it is Karna’s duty to also
hate him.
Duryodhana has one reason and one reason only for helping Karna during
the graduation ceremony: and that is the hope that Karna will one day help him
kill Arjuna and therefore cripple the Pandavas fatally.
Duryodhana views himself as a reasonable foil for Bhima, but for Arjuna he
has no answer – until Karna appears. The eagerness with which he embraces
Karna betrays his desperation to strike up a friendship with the new entrant.
None of this is said out loud, but Karna realizes it. He also understands that
what exists between him and Duryodhana is not friendship. As a Sutaputra, he
knows that true friendship cannot exist between a benefactor and his ward.
The benefactor may sometimes call it friendship to be kind, but the ward
must never forget his place. Throughout the story, Karna therefore behaves as if
he is Duryodhana’s slave or servant.
Bhishma once berates Karna that he is not Duryodhana’s friend, that a true
friend would correct the princes’ wicked ways and guide him toward good.
Karna does not reply to the accusation, but if he did he would say that he is
Duryodhana’s follower, his subject, his supporter – and in those capacities he
does not have the right to correct his master. If Duryodhana says jump, Karna
sees it as his duty to ask, ‘How high?’
The more often Karna fights with Arjuna without success, or Arjuna
demonstrates his far superior skill against an opponent, Karna’s obsession with
defeating Arjuna intensifies.
Each time Arjuna shows up Karna, Karna bristles because he knows that
Duryodhana is watching too, and taking note of his ‘friend’ not living up to his
expectation.
By the time the Kurukshetra war approaches, Karna’s repeated claims about
‘certainly killing Arjuna’ are almost laughably pitiful. Indeed, Bhishma’s main
complaint against Karna is that for all his talk, he has failed repeatedly against
Arjuna – either directly or in a shared arena.
But what may not have struck Bhishma is the possibility that the losses have
caused Karna to overcompensate with words. The more he loses, the more it
becomes apparent to him that he is no longer equal to Arjuna, the more he feels
the need to be loud-mouthed.
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Special Ability
Having said all this, there is some substance to Karna’s bravado with
respect to Arjuna: he has the Vasava dart in his possession with which he can
certainly kill Arjuna.
For this to happen, though, he must: (a) Isolate Arjuna in single combat, (b)
gain enough of an ascendancy to have the time required to summon the Vasava
dart, and (c) have the presence of mind to use it.
He can also hurl the weapon at Arjuna when the latter is fighting someone
else, but someone of Karna’s love for righteousness would not do that.
It is this ability that Karna possesses that makes him Arjuna’s primary
threat during the Mahabharata war. The Vasava dart is the only weapon that
Arjuna cannot counter. Everything that Drona and Bhishma can throw at him,
Arjuna can manage just fine.
With this being the case, why don’t the Kauravas formulate a strategy with
Karna as their central piece? Why don’t they construct arrays specifically
designed to bring Karna face to face with Arjuna as often as possible?
As it turns out, they do. The Kauravas go to bed every night of the war
thinking of this very thing, but come the next morning, they forget about it
thanks to Krishna fogging their minds.
Therefore, in a strange way, Karna is justified in claiming that he is the only
one with the ability to kill Arjuna.
Conclusion
There you have it. Now you know the different reasons behind Karna’s
hatred of Arjuna.
Karna begins his journey by matching Arjuna’s skill with bow and arrow at
the graduation ceremony. Everyone in the world then sees them as
‘equals’.
But as time passes, Arjuna improves beyond recognition through a
combination of deliberate practice, experience and blessings from gods.
Karna’s improvement is less remarkable.
Karna also loses to Arjuna on several occasions. He also fails at certain
quests which Arjuna completes effortlessly immediately afterward.
All this makes Karna envious of Arjuna. Karna also resents Draupadi for
having rejected him publicly during her swayamvara. And he resents
Arjuna for having won her ‘unfairly’ – because he won only by disallowing
Karna from competing.
Karna’s loyalty to Duryodhana is by far the biggest factor causing him to
hate Arjuna. Because he sees himself as Duryodhana’s slave and subject,
he sees as his duty to hate whomever Duryodhana hates.
As Karna’s defeats to Arjuna become more and more frequent, his hatred
becomes more and more obsessive.
Why and when does Karna remove his
armour?
Karna is born of the union between Kunti – when she was an unwed
princess – and Surya the sun god. At birth, he has natural armor all over his body
(called ‘kavacha’) and earrings hanging of his ears (called ‘kundalas’).
Though the exact powers of the kavacha-kundalas are never explicitly
described in the story, it is often mentioned that they make Karna almost
invincible in battle.
If one has to guess, one might say that the kavacha is more like a thin
covering of mail all over his body that protects him from weapons. The kundalas
are more difficult to decipher. Do they have any magical properties? Perhaps they
allow the kavacha to heal after it has taken a battering?
In some descriptions of Karna, we’re told that his earrings ‘bathe his face in
a warm white glow’. Whether they do anything else besides that is not clear.
Visit by Indra
This is one of the most puzzling aspects of the Karna story: just when does
Indra take Karna’s kavacha-kundalas off him? There are two possibilities.
The first is that this incident happens just before the Mahabharata war
begins. That means that all through the story leading up to this, Karna has his
kavacha-kundalas in his possession.
But this raises a few questions:
If he had the kavacha-kundalas, why does Karna lose to Drupada during
the invasion of Panchala?
Why is Karna unable to easily defeat Arjuna at Draupadi’s swayamvara? At
this time, Arjuna himself is not the powerful warrior he will become later.
He is yet to receive any gifts from any gods.
Why does Karna flee from the battlefield when Duryodhana is captured by
Gandharvas? If the kavacha-kundalas make you invincible, should that
knowledge also not give you almost reckless amounts of courage?
Why does Karna lose to Arjuna during the defense of Matsya? Granted,
Arjuna is very powerful at this point, but with the kavacha-kundalas,
Karna should at least put up a fight.
Why does Karna acquire the name of Karna if the incident that will give
him that name has not yet happened? He should be called Vasusena until
the war begins. Instead, he is known as Karna right from the beginning.
One explanation for why Karna loses all those battles could be that the
kavacha-kundalas are not as powerful as people think. Maybe they provide one
level of protection against weapons, but he is by no means invincible because of
them. And he knows it.
But accepting this raises another question: if the kavacha-kundalas are not
that great, why does Indra bother to steal them from Karna?
At the Beginning?
The second possibility with this is that Karna gives away his armor and
earrings before he makes his first appearance at the graduation ceremony.
There is some supporting evidence for this notion. For instance:
He introduces himself to the royal assembly as Karna. Spectators at the
arena seem to already know him as the youth who had given away his
natural armor to a Brahmin.
During his speech in defense of Karna, Duryodhana points to the scars on
his body and says, ‘Behold the wounds left behind after he had cut himself
to fulfill a Brahmin’s wish. Can someone like this be low-born?’
If we accept this theory, all the questions raised in the previous section are
answered. Without the kavacha-kundalas, Karna is just a good warrior with one
special ability.
From the end of the graduation ceremony onward, Karna must have set his
sights on Arjuna as the target of his Vasava dart. This explains his general apathy
and cowardice in battle with other people but extreme confidence about being
able to kill Arjuna.
Note that this confidence would have struck an observer as false bravado –
especially if said observer does not know of the existence of the Vasava. So when
Bhishma asks, ‘If you can kill Arjuna, why did you run away from the
Gandharvas?’ the question strikes us as eminently fair.
Now, having come this far, we must also acknowledge that if we accept this
timeline of events, we’re left with one glaring question.
Namely: If Karna possesses the Vasava dart, why does he not use it during
his battle against Arjuna during Draupadi’s swayamvara or during the Virata
Parva?
The answer for the first is simple enough: Karna does not know at
Draupadi’s swayamvara that he is fighting Arjuna. But in the second instance, he
is on an actual battlefield, and Arjuna is fighting him from atop a single chariot
without disguise.
The only possibility that strikes me is that at this point in time, Karna does
not deem it worthwhile to use the Vasava on Arjuna. Perhaps he thinks of the
Pandavas as already beaten. Perhaps he thinks that since Arjuna has been found
out, the Pandavas will be sent back for twelve more years of exile.
Whatever the reason, Karna decides not to use his chief weapon on Arjuna
during the defense of Matsya’s cattle.
Of the two possibilities above, I find the first to be more problematic than
the second. Several incidents pop up during the story that are simply not
reconcilable with an invincible Karna.
With the second possibility – that Karna gives up his armor when he is a
young man, before any of us see him – we only have to answer one minor
question: why does Karna not use the Vasava against Arjuna during the Virata
Parva?
All the other questions are answered. His failure against Drupada, his
cowardice against the Gandharvas, his battle against a disguised Arjuna, and the
mystery of his name – all of these are consistent with a Karna who is a decent
warrior but with one exceptional weapon tucked away in his armory to be used
just once against one special enemy.
So if you put a gun to my head and ask just when Karna becomes Karna, I’d
say during his early youth, some time before he appears at the Kuru graduation
ceremony.
Why does Karna refuse to leave
Duryodhana?
Short answer: In an attempt to make Karna fight on the Pandava side, Krishna
offers him the throne of Indraprastha if he leaves Duryodhana. But Karna
refuses. ‘Duryodhana gave me everything when I had nothing,’ he says. ‘Now that
he wants me by his side, I cannot forsake him out of greed for more wealth.’
Krishna’s Offer
Ethical Considerations
For a moment, let us consider that Karna does say yes to this, and goes to
fight on the side of the Pandavas.
Will the world see him as an opportunist? Will it consider him ungrateful to
Duryodhana and therefore immoral? Karna seems to think so. He says to
Krishna, ‘Duryodhana has allowed me to be a king and rule over Anga while not
moving beyond the confines of the Suta tribe. He gave me everything when I had
nothing. Now in his time of need, if I forsake him, what will the world say?’
What Karna calls the ‘world’ might not have had the same moral compass
that Karna imagines. Yuyutsu, for instance, forsakes Duryodhana and switches
over to the Pandava side just before the war. He does not attract any censure at
all.
Also, the ‘world’ has already passed judgement on Duryodhana as ‘bad’ and
the Pandavas as ‘good’. Indeed, whichever side Krishna fights on, we’re told, is
the ‘good’ side.
So if anything, Karna would have been lauded for having finally found his
conscience, and for having finally mustered the ‘courage’ to abandon the wicked
Duryodhana.
Karna’s Conscience
In making his decision to reject Krishna’s offer, therefore, Karna is not only
resisting his own temptations, but also the fact that in the eyes of the world,
forsaking Duryodhana is the moral choice.
It is only his own moral code that is telling him to stay with Duryodhana.
And it goes against every piece of advice that he has received on the subject.
He has heard celestials and elders and sages denounce Duryodhana as
wicked and unethical. He knows that Duryodhana is bound to lose the war. He
realizes that the world would not see it as wrong at all if he switched sides right
now.
And he would finally win the ultimate victory over Arjuna – who will serve
him as younger brother – and Draupadi – who will consent to have children with
him.
Despite all this, he is unable to accept the trade. Only because Karna’s
conscience does not allow it.
Personal Dharma
The Mahabharata often cites the ways of Dharma as subtle and ever-
changing. It also introduces us to the difference between absolute Dharma and
personal Dharma.
According to the tenets of absolute Dharma, Duryodhana is in the wrong.
Krishna alludes to this when he says, ‘I have come to Earth to establish Dharma
on firm footing again.’ He is stating that the war of Kurukshetra is between the
forces of good and evil. The Pandavas are ‘good’, the Kauravas are ‘evil’.
However, each person making up the story believes that he is in the right,
because applies his own personal rules of ethics to a given situation. For instance:
Bhishma believes it is ‘right’ to prefer the younger Pandu over the older
Dhritarashtra just because the latter is blind. Dhritarashtra and
Duryodhana believe that this is ‘wrong’.
Kunti believes it is ‘right’ for an unwed maiden to abandon her unwanted
child. Karna believes that it is ‘wrong’.
Ashwatthama believes that it is ‘wrong’ of Dhrishtadyumna to behead
Drona when he was meditating. Dhrishtadyumna believes that it is ‘right’.
And so on.
Similarly, Karna exercises his personal Dharma when Krishna presents him
with a choice. Duryodhana is wicked in an absolute sense. Karna acknowledges
this. In the coming war, the Pandavas are going to win. Karna acknowledges this.
The throne of Indraprastha and Hastinapur are going to be ruled by the eldest
surviving son of Pandu. Karna acknowledges this.
And yet, he does not believe that it is personally permissible for him to
forsake Duryodhana in time of his need. No matter how bad Duryodhana is to the
world at large, and to the Pandavas in particular, he has been a benefactor to
Karna. And Karna will never let that debt remain unpaid.
One other reason that Karna refuses Krishna’s offer is because it compels
Karna to disown not just Duryodhana but also his entire adopted identity as a
Sutaputra.
Consider this: at the beginning, Karna is depicted as being uncomfortable
with being called a charioteer’s son. Even at Draupadi’s swayamvara, he looks
around the hall and sighs when Draupadi insults him.
But between that incident and the start of the Kurukshetra war, thirty years
pass. During this time, Karna becomes king of Anga, and he embraces his
identity as a Sutaputra. He lives with Adiratha and Radha, his adoptive parents.
He marries a woman that Adiratha finds for him. He has sons who are raised as
Sutas.
By the time the Kurukshetra war is about the begin, Karna is in a contented
frame of mind, at peace with his dual role as a member of the Suta tribe and as
king of Anga. In both roles he has found fulfilment. He has succeeded in
marrying his adoptive community with his ambition of being a Kshatriya.
Now, if he says yes to Krishna, if he switches sides and fights on the
Pandavas’ side, what will happen to this little world he has built for himself?
He will have to renounce the Suta tribe – which has accepted him as his
own all these years, and in which he has earned a reputable position.
He will have to give up the throne of Anga – whose people have come to
love him as their king.
He will have to relegate Adiratha and Radha to secondary status below
Kunti.
His wife will take a lower position in the hierarchy to Draupadi.
His children will also be considered low-born compared to the children he
will have with Draupadi.
What all of this means essentially is that he will have to forsake his entire
adoptive family, community and life. He will have to give up people who love him
for who he is – Radha, Adiratha, his sons, his wife, his subjects – in favour of
people who have always hated him and will now only grudgingly accept him as
one of their own.
That is why Karna tells Krishna, ‘I was born a Sutaputra. I will die a
Sutaputra.’
And that is why he rejects Krishna’s offer to leave Duryodhana’s side at the
beginning of the Kurukshetra war.
Why did Krishna offer Draupadi to
Karna?
Short answer: As the Kurukshetra war is about to start, the only threat to
Arjuna’s life comes from Karna’s Vasava dart. Therefore, in order to protect
Arjuna’s life, Krishna attempts to lure Karna away from Duryodhana over to the
Pandava side. He promises Karna the throne of Indraprastha and Draupadi as
gifts if he fights with the Pandavas.
It is not clearly mentioned in the text exactly when Krishna comes to know
the truth about Karna. Some readers maintain that Krishna – since he is a god –
has always known about Karna and Kunti, but only chooses to reveal it at the last
moment.
But I think it is more reasonable to assume that Krishna – like everyone else
– is kept in the dark by Kunti. The secret remains hers alone, though it is later
implied that Vyasa is also privy to it.
The first time that Krishna comes to know about Karna’s birth appears to be
during his visit to Hastinapur in his capacity as peacemaker. He visits Vidura and
has lengthy conversations about this and that with Kunti.
(Though Kunti does not reveal her secret to Krishna here ‘on screen’, the
fact that Krishna immediately sets out to meet with Karna right afterward
suggests that she may have done so.)
Krishna’s Plan
Let’s imagine this scenario from Krishna’s point of view for a second.
You’ve come to Hastinapur with the express intention of making peace
between the Kauravas and the Pandavas. You have failed in the quest. (You’re not
overly surprised by this; in fact, you’ve already predicted that you would.)
For a while now you’ve been wondering how to ensure that the Pandavas
win this war with minimum damage. More than anything, you’re conscious of
protecting Arjuna – because without him, Bhishma and Drona will run amuck
and destroy the Panchala forces.
And the most fearsome threat Arjuna has in the battle is Karna.
Now, as you’re mulling these things over, just as you’re about to leave
Hastinapur, you come to know that Karna is actually Kunti’s firstborn. Suddenly,
you see a way of protecting Arjuna.
If Karna were to be told about this, you think, could he be persuaded to
switch side and fight for his ‘real’ family? You will of course know that Karna is
beholden to Duryodhana, so he will have to be given something in return.
Well, why not give him everything he has always deserved? If he had been
Kunti’s son all along, would he not have been the first in line to the throne of
Indraprastha? Indeed, would he not have been the official ‘husband’ of Draupadi?
Karna’s Answer
One interesting question that crops up here is whether Krishna would have
kept his promise had Karna accepted the bribe.
It is important to note here that Krishna makes this offer to Karna without
ever consulting the Pandavas. Indeed, even if he believes that the Pandavas
would willingly serve their elder brother, would Draupadi consent to get married
– a sixth time – to a man she herself rejected at her swayamvara?
Would she willingly bear sons to the man who called her a prostitute and
caused her to be disrobed in full view of a king’s assembly?
After her anger at being staked as a pawn in a dice game by Yudhishthir,
would she demurely accept being offered as a prize by Krishna to Karna?
And what of Arjuna, who made a vow that he would kill Karna or consign
himself to flames? Would he now make the difficult decision to kill himself
because Karna has turned out to be his brother?
Even if we trust Krishna’s ability to build consensus in this matter, we must
concede that it will be messy at best.
Which leads us to further question Krishna’s intentions. Did he, in fact,
mean to keep his promise to Karna at all? Or was he just making an offer with the
hope that Karna would accept, and then later see what is to be done if Karna
survives the war?
Or did he make the promise with no intention of every keeping it? We know
that Krishna is not above lying ‘for the right cause’. If he believes that lying to
Karna is necessary to defeat Duryodhana, he will do it with no compunction.
This raises an interesting question: Did Karna even believe that Krishna was
making an earnest offer?
When your enemy calls you for a private meeting and makes you a scarcely
believable promise predicated on you becoming a traitor to your lifelong
benefactor, you probably will consider the whole thing a farce.
It is of course possible that Karna considers all of Krishna’s words here lies:
his claim that Karna is Kunti’s son, his assurance that Karna will become king
after the war, and his promise that Draupadi will become Karna’s wife and bear
him sons.
All of this, Karna may have thought, is just Krishna trying his level best to
get him to defect. None of these words are binding; after all, Krishna can
orchestrate events such that he can deny the contract ever happened.
Also, what is to prevent Krishna and the Pandavas – after making full use of
his services in the war – from killing him?
Seen in this light, Karna’s refusal is not just moral and right, but also
prudent keeping in mind the reputation for treachery that Krishna has already
built for himself.
Conclusion
All in all, we can gather the following thoughts from this episode:
Krishna offers Draupadi to Karna as prize if Karna switches sides and
fights alongside the Pandavas against Duryodhana.
It is not clear, however, if Krishna intends to keep this promise or indeed
if he will be able to persuade the Pandavas and Draupadi to honour it.
It is possible that Karna doubts Krishna’s intentions in this scene – after
all, Krishna is Duryodhana’s mortal enemy, and any attempts at sweet-
talk on his part must be met with extreme suspicion.
Karna also would have taken Duryodhana’s stance on the matter: that the
Pandavas are the weaker side in this battle, and are therefore trying to
poach Karna by promising him the moon.
Why does Karna abuse Draupadi?
Short answer: Karna abuses Draupadi and calls her a prostitute during the dice
game. He does this as retaliation for the way in which she publicly humiliates and
rejects him at her swayamvara. Karna also performs the role of chief antagonist
against the Pandavas for Duryodhana, and so always needles them on his behalf.
Humiliation by Draupadi
After their chance encounter at the swayamvara, Draupadi and Karna rarely
have occasion to meet. They may have crossed paths at Yudhishthir’s Rajasuya,
but after that, for twelve years they live fairly separate lives – Draupadi as queen
of Indraprastha, and Karna as king of Anga.
During this time, Karna marries a girl (chosen for him by Adiratha, we’re
told), has sons with her, and by all accounts gives a good account of himself as
king. He garners a bit of a reputation as a just, generous man.
In this period, Draupadi has grown in stature too. Once a princess of
Panchala, she is now queen to the emperor of the world. Anga, one assumes, is
one of the many kingdoms that pay tribute to her husband. She is mother to five
sons – each born to one of her five husbands.
Both Karna and Draupadi, therefore, have grown in self-importance during
these twelve years. Karna, in his position as king, has become more comfortable
with dispensing justice, with speaking and with being heard and obeyed.
On the other hand, if Draupadi thought Karna beneath her at her
swayamvara, by now – with her own status having grown immeasurably – that
feeling will have only intensified.
Why Karna is present at the dice game is not explained in the text. Since it is
no short distance between Anga and Hastinapur, we may safely assume that
Duryodhana must have invited him.
And if he did, is it unreasonable to suppose that he gave him instructions to
behave in an abrasive manner toward the Pandavas?
Karna plays a vital role in escalating already roused tensions during the dice
game. After Yudhishthir has lost everything to Duryodhana, on his last turn to
roll, at Shakuni’s insistence, he pledges and loses Draupadi.
And Draupadi, true to the manner of one not used to being summoned
anywhere by anyone, sends back a message asking, ‘Did the king lose me first or
himself?’
This sets up a debate in court around whether Draupadi has or has not been
won.
Karna’s Accusation
Having come this far, Karna does not rest his case. He places an accusation
over Draupadi and calls her a prostitute. ‘Our scriptures declare,’ he says, ‘any
woman who takes five or more paramours in the course of her life is a whore. And
this woman has, in the eyes of the entire world, shamelessly wedded five
husbands.’
Of course, there are perfectly valid reasons for Draupadi having married all
five Pandavas. But there is also truth to the statement that Karna has referenced.
Scriptures of the time do seem to have made the declaration that no self-
respecting woman should take more than five sexual partners during the course
of her life.
This is the reason that Kunti gives Pandu for not using Durvasa’s
incantation after Arjuna’s birth. ‘I have already taken four paramours including
you, my lord,’ she says. ‘If I take one more, I shall be known in the world as
debased.’
(Of course, it’s quite another matter that Kunti has already become debased
in reality because she had already slept with Surya before her marriage. But no
one but her knew about that. As far as the world knew, she only had four lovers.)
Revenge?
One can argue both ways about whether Karna still burned with anger for
what Draupadi had done to him at her swayamvara. After all, twelve years have
passed. Did he still carry a grudge?
But then, Karna is precisely the sort of intense, brooding man that would
find it difficult to forgive anyone for a slight of that nature. It is entirely possible
that over all those years, Karna was biding his time, waiting for an opportunity to
humiliate Draupadi in much the same way as she had humiliated him.
You called me a Sutaputra, he may say, and I called you a whore.
Either way, it seems reasonable to assume that at least part of his
motivation for abusing Draupadi so ruthlessly stems from a desire to exact
vengeance for her past slight.
Much of Karna’s general antagonism toward the Pandavas arises out of his
desperate need to be seen as loyal to Duryodhana. Since we have already
established that Karna had no reason to be present at the dice game and had
probably been invited there by Duryodhana, it is not unreasonable to presume
that he was under further instructions to put on a boorish, uncouth act.
We know for certain that the dice game is planned by four people: Shakuni,
Duryodhana, Karna and Duhsasana. During Draupadi’s disrobing, all the main
antagonistic events are carried out by one of these four.
Even if Karna did not hate Draupadi enough to want her disrobed in public,
he would have had to play his part in order to please Duryodhana. And to please
Duryodhana is his life’s mission because Duryodhana has given him everything.
In Conclusion
Regardless of the truth about the motivations behind his actions, Karna’s
abuse of Draupadi – and the subsequent fallout – creates an unbridgeable fissure
between the Kuru cousins.
So far, despite cool relationships, they were able to co-exist in relative
harmony. But after this, after the Pandavas are sent to exile and robbed of their
wealth, there is no going back to peace.
The Pandavas make a series of vows during this scene, all of which they
fulfil during the war of Kurukshetra. The most visceral of these promises is
Bhimasena assuring everyone that he will one day tear open the chest of
Duhsasana and drink his blood.
Why did Bhishma and Karna Quarrel?
In Karna’s Defence
Having said this, there is some substance to Karna’s confidence in his ability
to kill Arjuna. He is the only warrior to possess a weapon for which Arjuna has no
counter. He has the Vasava dart, given to him by Indra.
His bragging, therefore, should not be seen as general vanity regarding his
prowess as a warrior. It should instead be seen as a specific statement of fact: he
is in fact the only hero on either side of the war that has a theoretical chance of
defeating Arjuna.
Bhishma and Drona, skilful as they are, do not possess any weapons that
may outsmart Arjuna. Karna, on the other hand, though not as skilful as Arjuna,
does have the one weapon that can kill Arjuna.
However, in all probability, Bhishma does not know of the existence of the
Vasava dart, so his irritation at Karna’s incessant bravado is understandable.
Bhishma’s Partiality?
But what if Bhishma did know Karna had the Vasava dart with him? After
all, during the battle of midnight, during which Karna eventually kills
Ghatotkacha, common soldiers of the Kuru army are heard exhorting Karna to
use his special weapon. So if they knew about it, chances are that Bhishma did
too.
If Bhishma knows about the Vasava and still picks a quarrel with Karna, his
intentions are no longer above question. If Bhishma were truly fighting on
Duryodhana’s side, he would have insisted that Karna be made commander of the
Kuru army, entrusted with the sole objective of engaging as often as possible with
Arjuna.
The responsibility of all the other warriors – bar none! – will be to provide
Karna with easy access to Arjuna, and then hope that in the many ensuing battles,
Karna will be able to find a moment to use his weapon.
This would have been the logical way to approach the matter. But Bhishma
takes the exact opposite approach, giving Duryodhana an ultimatum that either
he or Karna can fight on the battlefield at the same time.
‘The son of Radha and I hardly ever see eye to eye, my son,’ says Bhishma.
‘If we fight together, we will quarrel too often to be of any use to you.’
Protecting Arjuna
The reason that Bhishma gives for his inability to fight alongside Karna is a
laughable one. After all, Bhishma is fighting for Duryodhana himself, with whom
he has disagreed vehemently on many occasions in the past. Can he not put aside
his annoyance with Karna and take up the responsibility of commander for
Duryodhana’s sake?
He probably can. This is a man who once fought against his own preceptor
– Parashurama – in order not to dishonour a vow. He is not new to putting aside
emotions and attending to the matter at hand.
But the fact that he chooses not to do so in this case raises the possibility
that he is actively working to sabotage Duryodhana’s cause.
By giving Duryodhana an ultimatum, Bhishma ensures that he puts Karna
out of the battlefield for as long as he is ably fighting. That means that Arjuna’s
safety is secured.
Bhishma’s intention at this point – as it becomes apparent with his fighting
style later – is to draw out the battle for as long as he can and eliminate the army
of the Pandavas so that the war is brought to a halt. His plan is to force a
situation where the Pandavas are left without an army. But he also wishes that
none of the Pandavas are hurt during this process.
Reconciliation
Karna’s Response
Neither Duryodhana nor Karna, alas, are smart enough to see through the
grandsire’s manipulation. If they were, Duryodhana would have chosen Karna to
fight on the first day of the war instead of Bhishma.
Indeed, in Bhishma’s absence, he would have had more luck implementing
the ‘Kill Arjuna at all costs’ strategy with the help of Karna. He would have found
ample support from the likes of Drona, Ashwatthama and Bhagadatta.
For his part, even Karna could have swallowed his pride and begged for
Bhishma’s forgiveness. He could have contrived to at least be present on the
battlefield even if they were all led by Bhishma.
But Karna makes no such attempt. He tells Duryodhana that the grandsire
is right; it has to be either him or Bhishma.
It is possible that Karna is here offering Duryodhana a choice: with
Bhishma, you will get the most powerful regent of Hastinapur, the most
experienced General of his times, and a warrior without peer – but who is partial
to the enemy. With Karna, you will get perhaps not the best fighter in the world,
but someone who is not only able but also desperately eager to kill Arjuna.
And everyone knows this: Kill Arjuna and the war is won.
What if?
What if Duryodhana had responded differently to this choice given to him
by Karna? By siding with Bhishma and allowing Karna to sit out the war,
Duryodhana fails to give his friend a vote of confidence. In essence he is saying to
Karna, ‘You’re strong, but I’d rather have Bhishma fighting for me than you.’
But if Duryodhana had said to Bhishma instead: ‘Grandfather, for all your
ability I think your heart mourns for the sons of Pandu. I wish to ride out to battle
with a man by my side who I know is fighting for me.’
And if he had instead made Karna the first commander of the Kuru army?
What would have happened?
Bhishma would sit out the battle in this scenario, with the understanding
that he will enter the fray once Karna is either grievously injured or dead. The
rest of the Kuru army would have focused on Arjuna right from the beginning,
and would have employed formations that would encourage Karna and Arjuna to
face off against one another repeatedly.
This does not necessarily mean that they would succeed in killing Arjuna.
But at least they would give it their very best shot without holding back. And if
Karna loses his life while attempting to kill Arjuna, Bhishma can always
implement his ‘destroy their army’ plan later.
On the other hand, if Karna succeeds in killing Arjuna, the war is (just
about) over. Duryodhana has won.
As it Happened…
Impeccable Lineage
First of all, since the characters of the Mahabharata place much value on
this, we must acknowledge that Karna is of extremely high birth. Indeed, it may
not be a stretch to say that as human births go, it does not get more privileged
than this.
He is the son of a princess and a god. As the union of Kshatriya and celestial
stock, Karna is given the best possible start in life in terms of genes.
He is given the divine gift of kavacha-kundalas which make him an
invincible warrior – at least until he gives them away. Though he is raised as a
Suta, he does not look like a Suta, which means that he is able to disguise himself
successfully to train under Parashurama.
He is also told by his adoptive parents that he is not theirs, so Karna knows
that he is destined for bigger things.
Karna is thus dealt blow after blow by circumstances outside his control.
Having said this, Karna also makes some conscious choices which bring out
a mean streak – specifically against the Pandavas and Draupadi.
At the graduation ceremony, Karna appears for the first time in the story
and announces an intention to match all of Arjuna’s feats. Right from this
moment, he is often heard pitting himself against Arjuna in all respects.
Karna helps Duryodhana plan the events of Varanavata and the house of
wax.
At the dice game, Karna goes out of his way to insult and abuse Draupadi
to such an extent that the Pandava-Kaurava relationship is irrevocably
damaged.
During the exile, Karna encourages Duryodhana to go to the forest with
the only intention of ridiculing the Pandavas. When the plan backfires and
Duryodhana is captured by Gandharvas, Karna flees the battle.
(Here, we must note that it is never clear how much of Karna’s antagonism
toward the Pandavas is inborn and how much is mere pretension intended as
support for Duryodhana. But in at least two of the above instances, he performs
actions that goes above and beyond what might have expected of him as a friend.)
Karna does have one successful expedition of conquest against his name.
Soon after the incident with the Gandharvas, after their return to Hastinapur,
Karna sets out in Duryodhana’s name and establishes him as emperor to the
entire world.
During this tour, he battles with and defeats the likes of Drupada and
Bhagadatta, who are notably strong fighters.
However, the qualifying detail here is that Karna is not alone in this quest.
He fights at the head of the Kuru army. His success as a leader or commander
should not be taken as proof of his skill as a warrior.
Incidentally, during the Kurukshetra war, Karna gives a great account of
himself during the Karna Parva, when he gets to lead Duryodhana’s forces out
against the Pandavas. All his ‘heroic’ moments occur when he is commander.
This is yet another point in favour of the notion that Duryodhana should
have trusted Karna – and not Bhishma – to become his army’s first commander.
Generosity
During his private conversation with Krishna just before the war – the only
time we see Karna as himself, when he is not playing the role of Duryodhana’s
obnoxious henchman – he displays a sound mind. His words are laced with
wisdom and coherence.
He speaks to Krishna respectfully, and reveals his prediction that the
Kauravas are going to lose. He rejects Krishna’s offer and refuses to leave
Duryodhana’s side despite knowing that they will end up on the losing side of the
battle.
Later, when Kunti seeks him out and tries to win him over to the Pandava
side, Karna once again speaks with calm self-assurance. He forgives Kunti, gives
her a promise, and overall gives one the impression of being comfortable in his
skin.
Karna’s moral code is also a staunchly rigid one. In it, loyalty and support to
Duryodhana comes first. Loyalty to his adoptive parents, Radha and Adiratha,
comes second. Loyalty to his adoptive varna, the Sutas, come third.
In order to preserve these three tenets, he is willing to make any sacrifices,
and to break ethical boundaries in other ways. His personal moral code is, for
him, more important than general, overarching ideas of ‘right’ and ‘wrong’.
Ascension to Heaven
Conclusion
Short answer: Karna is killed by Arjuna just before sunset on the seventeenth
day of the Mahabharata war. Karna is off his chariot on the ground when Arjuna
shoots him. This has led some to suggest that the manner of his death is unfair.
But the rules of fairness agreed to by the two sides at the beginning of the war
have all long been broken. Within that context, Arjuna is within the bounds of
fair fight.
Shalya Refuses
Unjust Fighting
First of all, we must admit that according to the letter of the law, what
Arjuna did here is unfair.
At the beginning of the war, both sides have agreed to a collection of rules
that defined what is called ‘fair fight’ or ‘Dharma Yuddha’. In this contract, there
are such guidelines such as a warrior must only fight another warrior if he is of
‘equal station’, a warrior must not attack an enemy who has renounced his
weapons, and so on.
Included in the document is a rule that a chariot-warrior must not shoot at
his opponent if the latter is standing on his two feet.
If Arjuna had done this to Karna on the first day of the war, therefore, or if
we apply the rule without any thought given to context and precedent, then yes,
Arjuna and Krishna are in the wrong.
Krishna’s Explanation
At the end of the war, after being (unfairly) felled by Bhimasena,
Duryodhana accuses Krishna of having fought a morally corrupt war. ‘You have
killed Bhishma, Drona, Bhurishrava, Karna – and now me – by unfair means,
Krishna. This victory is not deserved!’
Krishna does not answer Duryodhana directly, but noticing that the prince’s
words are showing an effect on the demeanours of the Pandavas, he tells
Yudhishthir:
‘The army that Duryodhana assembled against you, O King, would have
been unassailable if we had fought with purely just means. But our scriptures
have said that when one’s foe is stronger than one, there is no dishonour in
adopting unfair methods.’
Thus, Krishna himself acknowledges that the manner of the Pandavas’
victory is less-than-fair. But he believes it is justified because the Pandavas have
been brought to their knees by Duryodhana also by unfair means.
When your enemy uses unjust methods, according to Krishna, there is
nothing wrong in matching them.
Was Karna a coward?
Short answer: At different parts of the story, Karna displays a distinct lack of
physical courage while fighting in battles. But equally, his generosity and wisdom
as king, and his continued loyalty to Duryodhana as friend, mark him out as
someone with incredible amounts of moral courage.
The easy answer to whether Karna is a coward is yes. During the final year
of the Pandavas’ exile, when Duryodhana is captured by Gandharvas and needs
rescuing, Karna flees the battlefield and hides in the forest until the Pandavas
have finished the job.
During his first meeting with Arjuna in a man-to-man fight (at Draupadi’s
swayamvara), Karna withdraws from battle citing that it is ‘improper’ for a
Kshatriya to fight a Brahmin with otherworldly powers. It is quite possible that
the true reason behind this forfeiture is Karna’s fear that he will lose – and
perhaps even die.
During the Mahabharata war, Karna flees the battle on more than one
occasion, not least against Abhimanyu.
All of these instances seem to suggest that yes, Karna is a coward. But of
course, here we’re only speaking of physical courage. If we expand the definition
of the word to include moral, emotional and spiritual elements, Karna is not
found as wanting.
But first, let’s speculate about reasons behind Karna’s cowardice. After all,
why is he so fearful?
Does Karna ever actually learn the art of defence to compensate for the loss
of his kavacha-kundalas? Evidence suggests that he does, at least in terms of skill.
In his first ever examination on the field of battle – during the Kuru
invasion of Panchala – he fails utterly. But a couple of years later, when he meets
Arjuna in single combat, he matches the Pandava blow for blow over the course
of a lengthy battle.
In this intervening time, therefore, Karna seems to have plugged some of
the gaps in his defensive skills. But what seems more difficult for him to master is
his mind: though he can train his body and muscles to adopt his more rounded
fighting style, his mind still seems fixated on the fact that he is no longer
invincible.
This notion is not unreasonable. Mental wounds inflicted in childhood leave
lasting scars. Most of us never fully liberate ourselves from them.
One must also note that this must have been a painful process for Karna.
Restructuring one’s entire style of fighting from scratch is easier when you’re
younger and still learning. But as an adult, to unlearn everything and put the
pieces together in a different way – especially without the guidance of a preceptor
– is excruciating.
While Karna has been busy with this, he loses ground to Arjuna who doesn’t
have to worry about such things.
Courage as Commander
On the other hand, Karna displays plenty of courage and skill when he is
leading or commanding armies. In such cases, one assumes again that his fear of
injury is removed by the presence of the army around him. And this allows him to
flex his skills to their fullest.
The certainty that nothing can happen to him seems to be the main
ingredient that Karna needs to fight at his best. Whether that assurance comes
from the Vasava dart or from the presence of plenty of bodyguards and soldiers
that surround him, without it he is reduced to a shadow of his potential self.
On two occasions in the Mahabharata, Karna distinguishes himself with
success while leading an army. First, he leads the Kuru army on an expedition of
conquest and makes Duryodhana an emperor. This happens, ironically, soon
after that debacle with the Gandharvas.
Then, during the two days that he serves as commander during the
Kurukshetra war, he performs many heroic deeds. Among other things, he wins
individual battles against each of the four Pandavas. No mean feat.
During this time, we must note that his Vasava dart is no longer with him.
So while he is almost invincible around other people, he is no longer so against
Arjuna.
Thus far in this article, we have examined only Karna’s physical courage.
But then, we must remember that other forms of courage too.
In his role as king of Anga, and in the reputation he builds for himself as a
wise and generous man, he exhibits a significant amount of emotional
courage. One needs to have near mastery over one’s emotions to be a
much-loved ruler of a kingdom.
In his insistence to loyalty – to Duryodhana despite everything, to Radha
and Adiratha, and to the Suta tribe for having reared him – Karna shows
himself to be a man of great moral courage.
In his self-awareness, in the predictions that he makes to Krishna about
the end of the war, in the knowledge that he displays of his own place in
the universe, and in the ease with which he forgives Kunti for having
abandoned him, we can see that Karna has plenty of spiritual courage.
Short answer: Karna and Duryodhana are often depicted as friends, but the
power imbalance between them is too large for friendship to develop. Karna sees
Duryodhana as his benefactor and his king, and himself as more of a slave.
Duryodhana considers Karna nothing more than a pawn with which to destroy
the Pandavas.
There is no explicit reason given for why Duryodhana rescues Karna from
his state of ridicule. The accepted notion is that Duryodhana has a noble side to
him that cannot see a member of the lower class – especially someone so skilled –
being discriminated against.
That can certainly be part of the reason, though Duryodhana exhibits this
largesse of heart rarely before this incident or since.
But certainly a big part of his motivation behind helping Karna is his idea
that this young man can be groomed to become Arjuna’s nemesis.
Also, Duryodhana would have been smart enough to realize that even
Bhishma cannot be relied upon to be stupid. There is a good possibility that
Bhishma will recruit Karna as a soldier or a leader of a division of the Kuru army.
Even though he does not speak during the ceremony, he will most likely make a
move right afterward.
Duryodhana is therefore eager to make his play immediately. He jumps to
Karna’s aid, gives a heartfelt speech about how class structures are immaterial
when deciding skill, and makes his new friend king of Anga.
Now. About that.
Friend or Slave?
It is possible that after years of backing Karna, his repeated failure to defeat
Arjuna has jaded Duryodhana. Still, his demeanour toward Karna is more of in
line with that of a master toward his slave than a friend.
Unconditional Support
Some of us may ask at this juncture: sure, Karna can do what Duryodhana
wants, but can he not advise him against acts that are clearly immoral?
But that, in Karna’s book, would be disobeying and disrespecting his king.
Only by offering his complete support and eagerness to serve at all times does
Karna think that he can repay Duryodhana’s debt.
This is where the relationship differs from friendship. We consider those
people our ‘true’ friends who occasionally tell us what we do not want to hear. But
neither Karna nor Duryodhana sees their association that way.
In Duryodhana’s view, Karna is a puppet that he has bought. In Karna’s
view, he must dance to all of Duryodhana’s tunes.
Why does Karna kill Abhimanyu?
Drona Promises
Abhimanyu is Isolated
First thing in the morning, the Samshaptakas pull Arjuna and Krishna away
to one edge of the battlefield, effectively keeping them engaged for the whole day.
Faced with the Chakravyuha, and concerned by the prospect of being
captured by Drona, Yudhishthir assigns the task of breaking into the formation to
the one warrior who knows how: Abhimanyu.
Abhimanyu accepts the quest, but also reminds Yudhishthir about his
limitation. ‘I know how to break it open, O King,’ he says. ‘But if I am trapped
inside, I will not know how to make my way out.’
Bhima assures Abhimanyu that will not happen. ‘I, Satyaki, Nakula and
Sahadeva will follow you closely, my son,’ he says. ‘Leave unto us the work of
keeping the Chakravyuha open after you enter it.’
Thus supported, a beaming Abhimanyu declares that he will perform feats
on this day that his father and uncle will recount with pride in years. He dashes in
his chariot toward Drona’s Chakravyuha, easily penetrating and disappearing
into the Kaurava ranks.
Bhima and the rest try their best to keep up, but standing in their path is
Jayadratha, the Saindhava king. He prevents Abhimanyu’s reinforcements from
entering the Chakravyuha.
The formation closes all around Abhimanyu, and he gets trapped.
Abhimanyu Rages
Karna’s Role
Adharma?
The killing of Abhimanyu is often cited – by characters in the story – later
in the war as an example of extreme Adharma. On the fourteenth day, Satyaki
uses this as an excuse to mercilessly slice Bhurishrava’s throat when the latter is
meditating.
Dhrishtadyumna then uses Satyaki as precedent to kill Drona when he
relinquishes his weapons.
(Both these acts will have consequences: Dhrishtadyumna meets his death
in the hands of a vengeful Ashwatthama, the son of Drona. Satyaki’s unholy act
becomes the reason for his fight with Kritavarma many years later, which leads to
the death of the Yadavas.)
However, after Abhimanyu is trapped inside the Chakravyuha, and after he
sheds all fear of death and begins to blaze forth in all directions like the sun, we
must remember that he is surrounded by enemy forces.
So it is only a matter of time before he is shot an arrow or two from behind
him. As for multiple atirathas teaming up to fight him, these many-to-one battles
happen regularly in the war. By themselves, these are not examples of Adharma.
Indeed, the Kaurava warriors do not kill Abhimanyu themselves. The son of
Duhsasana also does not take the easy route and shoot arrows at him. He
challenges him with a mace – as per the rules of war.
Short answer: Karna, in fact, does not go to hell. At the very end of the story,
after Yudhishthir has passed all his tests and gained entrance to the hall of Indra,
Karna is present there. This is an admission on part of the Mahabharata that
Karna’s sins were all committed at Duryodhana’s behest – and are therefore
pardonable.
Karna commits numerous deeds in his life that can be defined as ‘wicked’.
For instance:
He abuses Draupadi with unnecessary brutality during the dice game. It is
he who calls her a prostitute and suggests that she should be disrobed in
public.
He has a close hand in the planning of the events of Varanavata – where
Duryodhana constructs a palace of wax for the Pandavas and tries to burn
them alive.
He is the first of the Kaurava atirathas to take up the mantle of killing
Abhimanyu. He breaks the bow of Abhimanyu while shooting at him from
behind his chariot.
A Place in Heaven
A Period of Atonement
However, Karna does not get sent to heaven straight after his death. He is
first taken to hell for a short period of time in order to atone for his deeds.
To Yudhishthir, Indra explains: ‘Good people endure a short period in hell
as penance for their small number of wrongdoings. They are then taken to heaven
forever. Bad people, on the other hand, enjoy a short period in heaven as reward
for their small number of virtuous actions. They are then taken to hell forever.’
From the fact that Karna is present in Indra’s hall at the arrival of
Yudhishthir, we can surmise deduce that Karna – according to Indra – is one of
the ‘good people’.
We can also surmise that after his death, Karna is first taken to hell until all
the sins of his life have been washed away. These include his wronging of
Draupadi and the killing of Abhimanyu.
After that, he is taken to heaven where he will reside for the rest of eternity,
enjoying the fruits of all his virtuous deeds.
Reunion?
One wonders what the reunion between Karna and the Pandavas in heaven
must have been like. Is it awkward for them to reconcile with one another given
how bitter their enmity was on Earth?
The Pandavas did come to know soon after the war that Karna was their
elder brother. After that, they have had thirty six years in which to get used to the
idea that their killing of Karna was unfortunate. Perhaps that is enough time for a
new relationship to begin in heaven.
It is also possible that the denizens of heaven do not necessarily fraternize
with one another as do the people of Earth. Since heaven is beyond earthly
desires and fears, the people that populate it – one imagines – no longer concern
themselves with notions such as love and brotherhood.
In any case, Karna and the Pandavas have a happy enough reunion in
Indra’s hall. Also to be noted is the fact that Kunti is here too, so she is finally
able to see all of her sons together.
Why did Karna dislike the Pandavas?
Short answer: There are three reasons why Karna dislikes the Pandavas. One:
the Pandavas are the enemies of his benefactor, Duryodhana, so to show his
loyalty, he has to hate them too. Two: Bhima and Arjuna call him a Sutaputra at
the graduation ceremony. Three: the Pandavas represent the status and wealth
that Karna aspires to achieve.
Karna knows from the start that he is not the son of Adiratha and Radha.
He knows that he has been abandoned by his birth mother. From the story of how
Adiratha found him, he knows that his birth family is probably a rich one. From
the appearance of his earrings and armour, he knows that his parentage is at least
semi-divine.
Right from a young age, Karna’s deepest desire is to reclaim his ‘deserved
spot’ among Kshatriyas. He does not wish to go through life as a charioteer’s son.
He therefore trains under Parashurama. He goes to the graduation
ceremony with the intention of catching the eye of some Kuru elder or another
powerful man when he repeats all of Arjuna’s feats.
There is a good chance that Karna has spent a good amount of time and
effort planning his appearance at the graduation ceremony. During this process,
he would have understood Bhima and Arjuna to be the most powerful of the
Pandavas. And he would have deliberately chosen to emulate the most skilled of
the Kuru princes in order to showcase himself.
That sets up an immediate dynamic of competition between Karna and
Arjuna.
Being Insulted
After Karna’s successful performance at the graduation ceremony, there is
little chance that he and Arjuna will be friends.
At this stage, Arjuna is a vain prince who believes himself to be the best
archer in the world. And yet here is a second low-born youth in the kingdom
(after Ekalavya) to match his skill.
Arjuna is not known to react well when he discovers an archer as good as
he. He does not possess the requisite humility and good cheer that is needed to
embrace a potential competitor as friend.
(This is not to say he does not develop these qualities later; just that at this
point in the story, he does not have them.)
Bhima and Arjuna, therefore, both insult Karna and call him a Sutaputra,
implying that he is not fit to be present among them in that arena. None of the
Kuru elders admonish or stop the princes.
Kripa subtly supports Arjuna and Bhima by asking Karna to introduce
himself and his dynasty. This ensures that the relationship between Karna and
the Pandavas starts on the wrong foot.
Loyalty to Duryodhana
All the Kuru elders – even the supposed master strategists like Bhishma –
miss a trick at the graduation ceremony. It would have been more sensible to
invite Karna into the palace life of Hastinapur, by giving him employment in the
army perhaps, or even by keeping him around to groom into a possible warrior in
the future.
Instead, by being so eager to defend Arjuna’s vanity, the establishment gives
Duryodhana an opportunity to strike up a friendship with Karna. Duryodhana
jumps at this chance, because right in front of his very eyes he has been shown a
way by which Arjuna could be defeated.
Duryodhana thus supports Karna (purely out of selfish motivations, though
one cannot be certain about this), and makes him king of Anga right there at the
ceremony.
Their friendship is certainly an unequal one. Duryodhana gives Karna all
these material comforts, and the understanding is that Karna will remain loyal to
Duryodhana in return.
This loyalty forces Karna to appropriate all of Duryodhana’s loves and hates.
And because Duryodhana hates the Pandavas more than anything, Karna learns
to do so too.
Rejection by Draupadi
However, by the time the Kurukshetra war arrives, Karna has been ruling
Anga for more than twenty five years. He may have fervently desired wealth and
status of a Kshatriya when he was young, but now he is a middle-aged man who
has seen it all.
He remains close to his adoptive parents Adiratha and Radha during this
time. He gets married to a girl from the Suta caste, and he remains true to all the
dictates of his order.
In fact, Karna tells Krishna that he is thankful to Duryodhana for ‘having
allowed me to be king while remaining a Suta’.
He has children whom he raises not as kings but as Sutaputras. The man
who has railed during his younger life against the term has slowly come to
embrace it – so much so that he tells Krishna, ‘I was born a Sutaputra. I will die a
Sutaputra.’
At Peace
Karna also becomes a king in his own right during this period. He gains a
reputation as a generous and wise man among his subjects. He is well-loved, and
his kind treatment of underprivileged people in Anga becomes legendary.
In other words, Karna becomes more and more accepting of who he is. By
the time the war begins, he appears to be very comfortable in the life that he has
built for himself – with Duryodhana’s help but with his own personality as well.
Karna is in fact so at peace with himself that he is able to reject Krishna’s
invitation (to come rule Indraprastha as Draupadi’s husband) and remain true to
his values. All the things that Krishna offers him were once alluring to him, but
not anymore.
Later, when Kunti reveals herself to be his birth mother, Karna is able to
reject her too, and announce that he is the son of Adiratha and Radha.
Contrast this with the feeling of shame he feels when Adiratha publicly
embraces him at the graduation ceremony. Then, he wished he was someone
else’s son. Now, he proudly claims them as his parents.
At this late stage, all of his personal grudges against the Pandavas have
likely evaporated, and the only reason for him to fight against the sons of Pandu
is his loyalty to Duryodhana.
Why did Kunti abandon Karna?
Short answer: Kunti gives birth to Karna due to a misguided use of Durvasa’s
magical incantation to summon Surya, the sun god. Since Kunti is an unwed
maiden at the time, she requests Surya to leave without giving her a son. But he
replies that he cannot do so. Therefore, afraid of social censure, Kunti decides to
abandon her baby.
Durvasa’s Visit
Kunti is actually the biological daughter of King Shurasena, who rules over
the kingdom by the same name. She is the sister (younger or older, we do not
know; probably the former) of Vasudeva, who fathers Krishna with Devaki.
She is, however, given up to fostering at the house of Kuntibhoja, the king of
(the kingdom) Kunti. Her birth name is Pritha.
After her marriage, she comes to be known by the name of the kingdom
from which she hails. Everyone begins to call her Kunti.
Her life as princess of Kunti is quite uneventful except for when Sage
Durvasa visits Kuntibhoja. The king welcomes Durvasa with due honour, and
gives Kunti the task of attending to his every need.
Durvasa stays at the royal palace for a few months, and as he is about to go,
he leaves Kunti with a magical incantation. He is so pleased with the princess’s
devotion that he gives her the ability to bear sons with any god of her choosing.
She can summon as many gods as she wishes – one at a time – and have as
many children as she wants. All she has to do is recite the incantation.
Kunti’s Curiosity
As soon as Durvasa leaves, Kunti is overcome by excitement and curiosity. A
part of her is disbelieving: how could she, a mere mortal woman, summon a god
to have children with?
She wonders if the sage had been playing a prank on her. One morning,
while marvelling at the beauty of the morning sun, Kunti recites the mantra. In
no time at all, the sun god Surya stands before her in all his glory.
Surya refuses to leave without giving her a son. Through their union is born
Karna.
(There is a whole school of thought that the whole story of Kunti’s magic is
just a lie, and that Karna is Durvasa’s son. But we will ignore this theory for the
moment.)
Spiritual or Physical?
The actual mechanics of how Durvasa’s chant works is not explained with
clarity. Some assume that the union between Kunti and the gods is a physical
one, just like the union of any other man and woman. Others suggest that the act
is a spiritual one, and that Kunti does not lose her virginity as a result.
Some think that Kunti carried Karna to term; others say that Karna was
born immediately, on the same day of Surya’s visit.
One can argue both ways on this, but we know the following from the births
of the Pandavas:
They are all born a year apart from one another, which hints at the fact
that Kunti and Madri carried each foetus to term.
Kunti considers the four gods that fathered her children as paramours,
and cites that as the reason for not giving Pandu more sons. This suggests
that the union is a physical one.
Pregnancy
Kunti’s pregnancy could not have been a private matter. The princess of a
kingdom (or any woman for that matter) does not have the privacy to keep such a
thing as her pregnancy secret from everyone.
While it may not have been known to many, at least her closest confidants
would have known. Kuntibhoja himself would almost certainly have been given
the news.
So the decision of what to do with the infant after he is born would not have
been Kunti’s alone. All the people – especially her father – who knew of Kunti’s
secret would have had a say in it.
The most important factor to consider is this: Kuntibhoja would have been
keen to smother the secret completely so that it never returns to bother Kunti.
We should also remember that Kuntibhoja’s own reputation is at stake here.
King Shurasena would not be pleased if he knew that his daughter’s adoptive
father was so reckless as to allow her to become pregnant before her marriage.
Choices
The first two choices are better for the baby, because a link between him
and his birth family is not being completely severed. But they are also risky for
Kuntibhoja. With each new person knowing about Kunti’s unplanned pregnancy,
the risk of that knowledge reaching the wider public – and Shurasena –
increases.
Decision
Given all of the incumbent factors, there is only one choice open to
Kuntibhoja. He decides to abandon the child.
He arranges for the baby to be placed in a basket and left on the river. It is
clear that he intends for the boy to be found – because otherwise he could have
easily ordered to have him killed.
Sometimes this decision is portrayed as being Kunti’s alone. She is depicted
as being the person to let go of the basket on the river. We of course think of her
as being very emotional in this moment, tears streaming down her cheeks as she
stands and watches the basket disappear out of sight.
But we have no reason to believe it happened that way. For all we know, the
instructions would have come from Kuntibhoja, and the dirty deed might have
been completed by a waiting woman.
The child, at the time of abandonment, is unnamed. He is later found by a
charioteer named Adiratha and is given the name of Vasusena (‘he who is born of
wealth’). He comes to be later known as Karna, after he peels off his earrings and
armour.
Why does Indra approach Karna?
Short answer: Indra is in the enviable position of knowing right from the
beginning that the Kurukshetra war is inevitable. He knows that the only warrior
capable of and willing to kill Arjuna – his son – is Karna. Therefore, in order to
weaken Karna, Indra approaches him in the garb of a Brahmin and asks for his
divine armour and earrings.
The exact timing of Indra visit to Karna is debatable. One possibility is that
Karna is quite a young man – perhaps thirteen or fourteen – when this happens.
At such an impressionable age, Karna may have been too naïve to understand the
significance of what is being asked of him.
Here are a few facts:
By the time Karna appears at the graduation ceremony of the Kurus, he is
already known as ‘Karna’ – which means ‘peeler of self’.
Duryodhana points out his many scars and proclaims: ‘He gave away his
natural armour because a Brahmin asked for it. How can you call him
undeserving of being here?’
Throughout his life, Karna displays a distinct lack of physical courage
when faced with the prospect of battle. This is inconsistent with a person
who has impenetrable armour on him.
The Alternative
The alternative theory is that Indra visits Karna just before the Kurukshetra
war begins. This means that throughout his life up to that point, Karna actually
had his kavacha-kundalas with him.
This brings up multiple questions such as:
Why did Karna then lose to Arjuna on two separate occasions?
Why did Karna flee from the battlefield when Duryodhana is abducted by
Gandharvas and needed to be saved?
How did Karna lose the battle against Drupada when the Kuru princes
attack Panchala after their education is complete?
Of course, believing that Karna gave up his armour and earrings when he
was younger would mean that he has been in possession of the Vasava dart all
along. Why, then, did he not use it against Arjuna when he fights him at
Draupadi’s swayamvara? Or during the defence of Matsya?
Indra’s Motivation
Regardless of the timing of his visit, the motivation behind Indra’s visit is
quite straightforward. He wishes to protect Arjuna from Karna. This means by
implication that he believes that Karna – if he has his kavacha-kundalas – is
enough of a match for Arjuna, despite the fact that Arjuna has been blessed with
numerous divine weapons.
Indra does not appear before Karna as himself, though. He dons the guise of
a Brahmin because Karna has a reputation of never saying no to anything a
Brahmin asks.
Surya appears to Karna in a dream and warns him of Indra’s plan. He tells
Karna not to give away his kavacha-kundalas because that will weaken him
immeasurably.
Karna rejects this piece of advice. ‘If the king of the gods wants something
from me, and he is coming by himself to ask for it, there is no bigger honour. I
will not say no.’
It bears noting that Karna does not expect anything from Indra in return.
He gives the kavacha-kundalas as alms. Indra is then moved enough by Karna’s
nobility to grant him a gift.
Karna asks for the Vasava dart, which allows him to kill any warrior no
matter how powerful. This is a fair request from Karna: in return for giving up a
defensive power, he asks for an equivalent offensive power.
Indra does give Karna the weapon, but with a caveat: that Karna can use it
only once in his entire life. After that one use, the dart will return to Indra.
This is, of course, not a fair trade anymore. Indra is essentially
handicapping Karna forever by taking away his kavacha-kundalas, and in return
he is giving him one formidable weapon that can be used only once.
If we assume that this exchange happens early on in his life, then we can
expect Karna to be fearful of combat in general – because he is no longer
invincible – and yet confident of defeating Arjuna – because he is saving his
Vasava dart to kill him.
Killing Ghatotkacha
For the longest time, Karna keeps the Vasava dart in reserve to be used
against Arjuna. But on the night of the fourteenth day, with Ghatotkacha running
amuck, the Kaurava soldiers call out to him and implore him to use his weapon.
Karna does not want to, but he also cannot ignore the beseeching cries of
Duryodhana’s men. In a moment of perplexity, he pulls out the Vasava and hurls
it at Ghatotkacha.
The fall of Ghatotkacha compels Krishna to cry out in delight and to
proclaim: ‘Karna is no longer powerful enough to kill you, Arjuna. Now your
victory is certain.’
This also implies, of course, that until that point, Krishna was not sure that
a fight between Arjuna and Karna would end with victory going to the former.
Arjuna’s Nemesis
Karna is therefore rightly called Arjuna’s nemesis despite the fact that he is
not as powerful as Arjuna, and despite losing several battles that Arjuna goes on
to fight and win.
Before he gives up his kavacha-kundalas, Karna is a universally strong
warrior. He is near invincible against any enemy and any weapon.
But after Indra robs him of his armour, Karna turns into a warrior who is
still strong against other opponents, but not invincible against him. More than
anything, he is not confident of holding his own – hence the many instances of
his fleeing the battlefield.
At the same time, when facing Arjuna, Karna’s fears dissipate and his poise
returns. He knows that he has in his armoury the one weapon that can kill
Arjuna.
Despite Bhishma’s protestations to the contrary, therefore, Karna is still the
only warrior on both sides of the Kurukshetra war capable of defeating Arjuna.
And he is the only warrior that Krishna is trying to avoid fighting.
This lends further credence to the notion that it is Karna who should have
been made the first commander of Duryodhana’s army. But Bhishma sees to it
Karna is banished from fighting for the first ten days, thus once again protecting
Arjuna.
Why did Bhishma not allow Karna to
fight?
Short answer: As the start of the Mahabharata war is imminent, after Bhishma
is made commander, he tells Duryodhana that if he and Karna fight on the
battlefield at the same time, it will cause unnecessary quarrels and loss to the
Kuru cause. By thus removing Karna from action, Bhishma also protects Arjuna.
Bhishma’s Ultimatum
Just before the Mahabharata war begins, Duryodhana makes Bhishma the
first commander of his forces. This decision is a unanimous one: Bhishma has
been leading the Kuru army in all its wars since time immemorial.
Despite his misgivings about Bhishma’s will to fight the Pandavas,
Duryodhana may have hoped that Bhishma would rise to the occasion and
perform his duty as Hastinapur’s regent.
Bhishma’s first reaction is to (modestly) thank Duryodhana for giving him
the honour of leading the Kuru army. Then he makes a few remarks:
He reiterates that the Pandavas – especially Arjuna – are very tough to
defeat in battle. He reminds Duryodhana of the time in Matsya when
Arjuna fought all of them singlehandedly and prevailed. ‘But,’ he says, ‘I
will do my very best to win this war for you.’
He reminds Duryodhana that he will not fight against any warrior who
has once been or who is right now a woman. When a bemused
Duryodhana asks who he is referring to, Bhishma tells him Shikhandi’s
story.
Finally, Bhishma gives Duryodhana an ultimatum: that he will not fight
if Karna fights. ‘Only one of us should take to the battlefield at once, my
son,’ he says.
Bhishma’s Reason
Bhishma does give a reason for placing this condition. ‘The son of Radha
and I are always at loggerheads, my son,’ he tells Duryodhana. ‘If we fight
together, I have no doubt that we will quarrel so much that it will cause the army
more harm than good.’
An objective reader may ask at this point: Whose fault is it that the
Bhishma-Karna relationship is sour?
Karna has never gone out of his way to pick a quarrel with Bhishma. It is
Bhishma who has repeatedly poked at Karna’s side, needling him for his
misplaced bravado – especially regarding his confidence in defeating Arjuna.
Regardless of how the issue began, one might wonder if it befits a warrior of
Bhishma’s standing to effectively cripple his army because he cannot find a way
to work with a particular person. One would think that it is the hallmark of a
leader to pull a team of disparate individuals together in a common direction.
This makes us ask the question: Did Bhishma have another, secret reason
for making this play?
At this point in time just before the war begins, Bhishma already knows
about Karna’s Vasava dart, and the fact that he has been saving it up for a fateful
encounter with Arjuna.
Bhishma is also wise enough to know that among all the warriors who have
lined up to fight at Kurukshetra, one man along possesses the ability to kill
Arjuna. And that is Karna.
Considering that Arjuna is the most powerful warrior on the Pandava side,
and that killing him would mean near-certain victory for Duryodhana, what
should Bhishma have done if he were working impartially?
He should have crafted a strategy centered around Karna. He should have
instructed all his warriors that the sole aim of the Kaurava army is to ensure that
Karna and Arjuna would repeatedly clash, thus increasing the likelihood that
Karna will find the opportunity to use his Vasava.
Instead, what does he do? He does the exact opposite. Not only does he
marginalize the one man who can win Duryodhana the war, he also ensures that
he does not fight.
Protecting Arjuna?
From the outside, this looks like the behaviour of someone who is keen to
protect Arjuna. For all his protestation that he will fight fairly and to the best of
his ability, Bhishma seems to be working behind the scenes to protect Arjuna
from Karna.
We must also note that Bhishma tells Duryodhana that Karna can fight
after he has been defeated. It is also possible that Bhishma has plans of his own:
perhaps he wishes to fight in such a manner that he brings about a stalemate in
the battle without killing any of the Pandavas.
(During his ten days at the helm, this is exactly how Bhishma fights: by
exerting himself fully against common infantry and cavalry forces, he endeavours
to deprive the Pandavas of their army so that they will be forced to surrender.)
Bhishma plans to fight ‘forever’: he knows that while he cannot defeat
Arjuna, he is no mean warrior either. He can theoretically bring the battle to a
close without killing any of the Pandavas. On the other hand, if he falls, then it
means that his plan has failed, and that Karna can be allowed to enter the fray.
No matter which of the above theories is true, we must accept an inexorable
truth: Bhishma enters the battle with a personal strategy (that of bringing the war
to an end with the least damage done) that is at odds with Duryodhana’s
ambitions.
And as the appointed commander of the army, Bhishma is shirking his duty
by doing this. One may not be too far off calling his behaviour traitorous.
Short answer: Parashurama curses Karna for the sin of lying about his identity.
Parashurama thinks that Karna is a Brahmin boy, but one day, he sees evidence
of Karna’s pain-bearing ability, and concludes that he must be a Kshatriya.
Outraged at this deception, Parashurama curses Karna that he will forget
everything he has learnt when he most needs it.
Parashurama’s Reputation
Sage Parashurama has a bit of a reputation for being a sworn enemy of the
Kshatriya race.
The story goes back to the time of his youth, when a king called Karta Virya
Arjuna (he of a thousand arms) kills Parashurama’s father, Jamadagni.
Parashurama vows revenge and kills Arjuna. After that, he goes on a bloody quest
to eliminate the entire race of Kshatriyas.
It is said that he kills every king on Earth before hanging up his axe. By the
time he is finished, the five lakes of Samantapanchaka are reddened by blood.
Many years after this incident, the war of Mahabharata occurs here in
Samantapanchaka – which also has the name of Kurukshetra because it was
claimed by a king called Kuru.
In addition to being known as a Kshatriya-hater, Parashurama also is
considered a Brahmin-sympathizer. Drona takes advantage of this quality and
procures from the sage all his weapons and the knowledge required to wield them
successfully in battle.
Karna’s Dilemma
When Karna is a boy growing up in Hastinapur as the son of Adiratha and
Radha, he is compelled by a desire to move up the social ladder. He knows that
he had been adopted; he also knows that his birth parents were wealthy. By all
visible signs, he is a Kshatriya – probably even a prince of a kingdom.
But now he is stuck as a member of the lowly Suta caste, and if he does not
grab destiny by the neck and wrestle with it, there is a danger that he will live out
his life as a charioteer.
The most important skill he should learn, he decides, is to proficiently wield
weapons. If he is good at the art of fighting, he can exhibit himself at any royal
festival and gain the favour of the king.
In order to learn this, though, he has to become a disciple to some Brahmin
who is adept both at scripture and at fighting. Karna decides to approach
Parashurama for this.
However, even Parashurama will not entertain a low-born Sutaputra as
student. Karna will need to lie about his identity if he is to gain the sage’s favour.
Knowing Parashurama’s hatred for Kshatriyas and his love for Brahmins,
Karna introduces himself as a Brahmin boy.
Discovery
For the entire period of his time with Parashurama, Karna manages to fool
the sage successfully. We’re not told explicitly how long Karna lives with
Parashurama, but we might hazard a guess that it is around two or three years.
During this time, Parashurama comes to grow affectionate toward Karna.
He teaches the young man everything he knows. Karna thus turns himself into a
warrior.
But toward the end of his tenure, one day, when Parashurama is sleeping
with his head resting on Karna’s lap under a tree, a worm crawls onto the boy’s
thigh and begins to sting him there.
Karna doesn’t so much as flinch while the worm sucks blood from him. He
does not wish to disturb his preceptor’s nap. But the blood from the thigh wound
flows onto Parashurama’s shoulder and awakens him.
When Parashurama sees what has happened, he concludes that a man with
such incredible ability to withstand pain for someone else’s welfare must be a
Kshatriya.
Ironically, he thinks that Karna is a Kshatriya boy who disguises himself as
a Brahmin. In his anger he places upon Karna a curse.
‘For the sin of lying to your preceptor, I am giving you this curse,’ says
Parashurama. ‘In that very moment when you most need all the knowledge you
have acquired from me, you will forget it all.’
Aftermath
Karna immediately apologizes to Parashurama and tells him the truth about
himself. Parashurama is also repentant that he had spoken in haste. But he also
acknowledges that perhaps a bigger force is at work here.
‘Maybe it is destiny that is showing its hand here, my son,’ he says, bidding
Karna farewell. ‘I wish you all success in everything you do. But my curse will
continue to act upon you.’
Whether Parashurama’s curse is a one-time effect that afflicts Karna during
the final battle with Arjuna or whether it manifests itself every single time Karna
fights, we do not know.
But if it is the latter, it explains why Karna displays signs of cowardice
whenever he finds himself close to combat. Perhaps he is wary that he will forget
everything he knows when the pressure is on.
This also is consistent with Karna’s ability to display his skill with no
trouble at all in competitive scenarios (like the graduation ceremony) where there
is no danger to life or limb.
Other Curses
This is by no means the only curse that Karna endures during his early life.
During his time as king, while practicing archery one day, he inadvertently kills
the cow belonging to a Brahmin, who curses him that his own death – when it
comes – will be as unfortunate as that of the cow he killed.
There is also the sometimes-told tale of Karna being cursed by the earth
goddess Bhoomi. On one occasion, Karna’s chariot causes a child to spill ghee on
the earth. Karna descends from his chariot and, in an attempt to retrieve as much
ghee as possible for the child, squeezes the mud to make the ghee drip back into
the vessel.
He does succeed in salvaging some of the child’s ghee, but he squeezes the
earth so hard for this that Bhoomi curses him. ‘On the day you fight your arch
enemy,’ she says, ‘I will swallow your chariot wheel.’
Against Destiny
Abandonment
Karna is born in the womb of a princess of a great kingdom, and his father is
the sun god. His is therefore the most privileged of births, and by all rights he
should have lived a life of great fame, power and wealth.
But right from the beginning, choices made by people around him begin to
affect his destiny adversely. The very first of these acts is Kunti’s, who decides to
abandon her child in order to ward off societal infamy. She puts him in a basket
and lets him float down the river, hoping against hope that the elements will let
him live.
Karna is found by a poor childless charioteer – named Adiratha – and his
wife. He is raised as a member of the Suta caste. Throughout his life, this label of
‘Sutaputra’ attaches itself to Karna each time he displays ambition to break out of
strictures placed upon him by the caste system.
Kunti’s decision, therefore, is the first reason for Karna’s suffering.
Three Curses
During his early life as the adopted son of Adiratha and Radha, Karna
repeatedly tries to move up the social ladder and obtain a life of higher status. In
this quest, he seeks out Sage Parashurama and becomes his student.
But he pretends to be a Brahmin boy before presenting himself to the sage,
(rightly) fearing that he would be rejected if he went as a Sutaputra.
Parashurama teaches Karna everything there is to know, but just as the
tenure is coming to an end, the sage comes to know of Karna’s secret and curses
him for the sin of lying to his preceptor.
Parashurama says, ‘Just when you need the knowledge that you received
from me the most, you will fail to remember it.’
Karna also earns similar curses on two other occasions: once when he
inadvertently kills a Brahmin’s cow, and another time when he tries to squeeze
some spilled ghee out of damp earth.
It is ironic that all these times, Karna does not set out to do anything wrong.
Indeed, in the case of Parashurama especially, he displays remarkable restraint in
the face of pain to allow his preceptor to sleep peacefully – only to be cursed.
These three curses come back to haunt him, finally resulting in his death at
Arjuna’s hands. They are therefore – combined – the second reason for Karna’s
suffering.
Indra’s Intervention
Karna is born with impenetrable armour covering every inch of his body.
His skin is therefore unbreakable. He also has two earrings whose function is
unknown, but together, these ‘kavacha-kundalas’ make him an invincible warrior.
Even with the misfortune of being abandoned at birth and of being cursed
by his preceptor, Karna would easily have fulfilled all of his ambition if he were
allowed to keep his kavacha-kundalas.
Put simply, as long as his kavacha-kundalas are with him, Karna can never
be injured by any weapon. No warrior – no matter how powerful – will succeed in
defeating him.
Knowing this, Indra dons the disguise of a Brahmin and approaches Karna.
He asks for the kavacha-kundalas in alms. Despite knowing the true identity of
his visitor, Karna stays true to his generous spirit and peels the armour off his
skin.
Indra’s motivation behind this is to protect his son Arjuna. Of course, he
gives the Vasava dart to Karna in return, but that is scant price to pay for the
kavacha-kundalas.
This intervention by Indra is the third reason for Karna’s suffering.
Duryodhana’s Friendship
Krishna’s Bribe
Before the start of the war, Krishna finds out (presumably from Kunti)
about the secret behind Karna’s birth. He seeks a private audience with Karna
and makes him an offer.
‘If you fight on the side of the Pandavas, O King of Anga,’ he says, ‘your five
brothers will worship you like a father. They will make you king after the war is
won. Draupadi will become your queen – and she will have sons with you. These
sons will become kings of Indraprastha after you. The Kuru dynasty will continue
through you and your progeny.’
On the surface, this looks like something that Karna had always wanted. But
it is what the young Karna had wanted, the Karna who had come to the
graduation ceremony looking for acceptance.
In the intervening thirty years or so, Karna has become king of great repute
himself. The more he has seen the Kshatriya way of life, the less ashamed he has
grown of being a Suta.
He has married a Suta girl, and he has raised his sons as Sutas. He is no
longer interested in what Krishna has to offer. Besides, he has long ago taken a
personal vow to remain by Duryodhana’s side always.
He therefore rejects Krishna’s bribe, and chooses to die a Sutaputra. This
decision to reject Krishna’s offer is the fifth reason for Karna’s subsequent
suffering.
Promise to Kunti
Passing Mentions
If Karna is already training under Drona along with the Kuru princes, why
does he feel the need to lie about himself in order to gain access to Sage
Parashurama?
With Ekalavya, we know that Drona rejects him, so he builds a mud idol of
the preceptor and trains in front of it. But Karna is already learning under the
royal teacher, no less. He is getting a prince’s education. Why does he still need
Parashurama?
Even if we concede that he felt he would like to train under both Drona and
Parashurama, where does Karna find the time? He is a charioteer’s son; he would
still need to attend to matters of his own life. How is he able to train under
Drona, serve Parashurama and help his parents out with making a living for
themselves?
Each one of them is a full time vocation. How does Karna manage all three?
We know that Karna lies about himself to Parashurama, serves him with
utter devotion, and earns a curse from the sage for his trouble. This is consistent
with a low-born boy without access to privileged education.
It is difficult to accept that a young man who is already training under
Drona will also have the same burning desire to train under Parashurama –
especially considering that Drona knows everything that Parashurama does.
Counterpoints
In the spirit of debate, I will now list counterpoints to each of the above
questions. I hope that you will see that these not only contradict one another but
are also irreconcilable with the rest of the story.
One might say that perhaps Adiratha is a charioteer who works in
Bhishma’s employ, and that as a child Bhishma had taken Karna under his
wing. On Bhishma’s special instructions, Drona accepts Karna as a
student. But he always makes sure that he gives Karna ‘inferior’ training
compared to what he gives the Kuru princes.
One might argue that it is possible that Karna trained under both Drona
and Parashurama. Perhaps he trained under Drona as a little boy, but once
the princes were slightly older (eight or nine), he was jettisoned by Drona.
Karna then sought the tutelage of Parashurama. In effect, therefore, Karna
trains under both men, but one after the other.
About the graduation ceremony, one might insist that if the above is true –
i.e.: Karna only trained under Drona for a short while – he is indeed a
relative stranger to them all. The princes may have forgotten all about him.
Kripa, on the other hand, may have been asking Karna’s lineage just to
insult him publicly despite knowing who he is.
Conclusion
Despite the above points – all of which are plausible but also speculative – I
am comfortable with concluding that Karna was not one of the students of Drona.
Believing that Karna trained under Drona – even for a short amount of time
when he was young – robs the graduation ceremony of the dramatic impact that
it otherwise has. It denies Karna an entry point into the story where he arrives as
a stranger to everyone, a mysterious hero who is as powerful as Arjuna.
For this, I am happy to ignore the few mentions of Karna during the princes’
childhoods as mistakes made by later interpolations.
But if you form a different opinion, I am not going to argue.
Was Karna a Pandava?
Short answer: Karna is born of the union between Kunti (when she was
unmarried) and Surya, the sun god. Later, she marries Pandu. According to social
norms of the day, when a woman weds a man, her existing children are
considered to have been fathered by her new husband. Therefore, Karna is
technically a Pandava – a son of Pandu.
During his private conversation with Karna after his peace talks have failed,
Krishna speaks of two kinds of sons a woman can have.
Krishna meets Karna in his chariot and takes him to the outskirts of the city.
Once they are out of earshot of anyone important, Krishna says, ‘You have
studied the scriptures as deeply as I have, O Vasusena. You will know, therefore,
that there are two kinds of sons that a maiden might have.
‘One is called the Sahoda, who are the sons born to her fathered by her
husband. The other kind is called the Kanina, children born to her of other men
from before her marriage. On both occasions, the sons are considered morally to
be the children of the maiden’s wedded husband.’
‘Why do you tell me all this, Krishna?’ asks Karna.
Socially a Pandava
Krishna replies, ‘I do so because you are one of the kanina sons of Kunti, O
Karna, and by the declaration of the scriptures, you are also the moral heir to
Pandu. On the side of your father, you have the five Pandavas as your younger
brothers.
‘On the side of your mother, you have the Vrishnis for kinsmen. Balarama
and I will be happy to serve you as regents. If you come with me, I shall let the
Pandavas know that you were born of Kunti before Yudhishthir. They, along with
Draupadi and Subhadra, will embrace your feet.’
Krishna comes to know the secret behind Karna’s birth only during his visit
to Hastinapur, and he immediately tries to use this as a bribe to pull Karna over
to the side of the Pandavas.
Because if Karna forsakes Duryodhana, Arjuna is safe.
Socially speaking, therefore, Karna is a Pandava. If Kunti reveals to the
world that he is her son, then he automatically comes to be considered the son of
Pandu.
But what about biologically?
Biological Considerations
We must remember here at the outset that none of the Pandavas are
biologically Pandu’s children. The first three of them – Yudhishthir, Bhima and
Arjuna – are brought forth by Kunti. The last two – Nakula and Sahadeva – have
Madri as their mother.
Neither Kunti nor Madri have these sons with Pandu. They summon gods (if
you believe the magical version) or they unite with sages (if you prefer an earthier
story) using a process called niyoga.
All that is required is that Pandu – Kunti and Madri’s legally wedded
husband – consents to this practice and accepts the resulting sons as his own.
The process of Karna’s birth is exactly the same as that of the other five
Pandavas. He is born of the union between a princess (in this case Kunti) and a
god (in this case Surya).
If anything, Nakula and Sahadeva are in no way related by blood to
Yudhishthir, Bhima and Arjuna – because they’re born of Madri. Karna, as
Kunti’s firstborn, has a deeper biological connection to the first three Pandavas
than do Nakula and Sahadeva.
Pandu’s Consent
Krishna is right in saying that when a man marries a woman, all the
children that the woman has at the time of marriage automatically become the
new husband’s sons. But there are certain conditions to this:
Generally, the biological father of the child is dead in such cases. The new
husband therefore adopts the child as his own and promises to raise it.
The new husband has to consent officially – through a ceremony or some
such – that he is willing to take the responsibility of being the child’s
father.
This is less of an issue if the woman in question was married to another
man when she conceived her child. If she was an unwed maiden, and if the
biological father is alive, the new husband is likely to take a dim view of
the matter.
In Kunti’s case, the biological father is Surya. Though a god, he is very much
alive. And he impregnated Kunti when she was a maiden. This means that
Pandu’s consent cannot be taken for granted.
There is no way to know for certain whether Pandu would have adopted
Karna as his son. From the fact that he had no trouble accepting the five
Pandavas as his sons, perhaps he would have taken in Karna as well.
But Kunti clearly does not think so. Whether this is because she thinks that
Karna no longer lives or because she thinks that Pandu will not accept him, we do
not know. Nor is it relevant. The fact remains that she does not tell him.
By the time it is revealed to Kunti that Karna is not only alive but is also
going to play an important role in the lives of her other children, Pandu is long
dead. And if Kunti were to admit that Karna is actually her son, the world would
perhaps make Pandu’s decision for him and accept him as one of the Pandavas.
But it would also judge Kunti to be a woman of loose moral character. Not
only did she get pregnant before her marriage, but she also hid it from her
husband throughout his life.
Conclusion
To conclude, therefore, it is fair to say that Karna is in all respects one of the
Pandavas. As long as the five sons of Kunti and Draupadi accept him as the son of
Pandu – and Krishna would have ensured that they do – Karna could have
become the king of Indraprastha and Draupadi’s husband if he had accepted
Krishna’s offer.
Both biologically and in accordance with the social norms of the time, Karna
is the eldest Pandava – and probably would have been the most powerful of them
all but for some strikes of destiny.
Was Karna a Kshatriya?
Niyoga
We must note here that this is a practice that is used as the last resort, when
there is no other way in which the married couple in question can bear children.
Examples of Niyoga
Caste Inheritance
When niyoga is used, there are a few rules concerning the caste (or ‘varna’
to be precise) of the child that is born. Here are a few scenarios:
If the husband of the woman bearing the child is dead, the child inherits
the caste of the dead father. Therefore, in the case of Dhritarashtra and
Pandu, they become Kshatriyas at birth despite being born to a Brahmin.
If the husband of the woman bearing the child is alive, the child inherits
his caste. Therefore, the Pandavas – despite being born to gods – are
considered Kshatriyas.
If the woman is a maiden at the time of giving birth, the child inherits the
caste of her future husband, provided that he does not disown it. Vidura,
therefore – assuming the waiting woman was not married at the time of
Vyasa’s visit – remains a Sudra all his life.
If a woman is a maiden at the time of giving birth and she never marries,
the child inherits the caste of the maiden’s father.
Karna’s Birth
In the case of Karna, he is born to Kunti before she gets married. But at the
moment of her marriage to Pandu, all her premarital children automatically
become his.
Even if Pandu had been alive and had for some reason disowned Karna, he
would have inherited the caste of either Kunti’s adopted father, Kuntibhoja, or
her biological father, Shurasena. Both of these men are kings – and therefore
Kshatriyas.
Therefore, Karna is a Kshatriya – by birth. However, the story gets a little
bit more complicated hereon.
Importance of Actions
A Sutaputra
Karna is found by Adiratha and Radha, a married and childless couple who
belong to the Suta caste. Adiratha adopts Karna with due rites and rituals as his
own son. They raise him as a Suta.
Throughout his life, Karna is caught in the dilemma: he is by all
appearances and qualities a Kshatriya, but he is also by the activities of his daily
life a Sutaputra. For the longest time he suffers underneath the label – and for
many years his detractors insult him with the word.
However, as he grows older, after his anointment as the king of Anga, Karna
experiences the life of a Kshatriya as well. He is now a Kshatriya by birth and by
his living.
But two things happen after his ascension to Anga’s throne:
1. His past detractors still do not consider him a Kshatriya. They still
denounce him. Case in point: Draupadi, at her swayamvara, stops him
from competing for her hand by announcing to the assembly that she does
not wish to be married to a Sutaputra.
2. He realizes himself that he cannot become a Kshatriya just by acquiring
the trappings of one.
Karna’s journey, therefore, can be summed up thus: During the first few
years of his life, he is raised as a Sutaputra while being painfully being aware that
he is by birth a Kshatriya.
He is therefore simultaneously resentful of being a Suta and desirous of
becoming a Kshatriya at all costs. It is this desire that pushes him to lie to
Parashurama and to appear at the graduation ceremony.
At the graduation, though, contrary to his wildest expectations, Karna
becomes king of Anga because of Duryodhana’s intervention. Karna thus gets
everything that he has ever wanted. He is now a Kshatriya.
But over the years of being a Kshatriya, he actually grows closer to his
adoptive parents. Adiratha and Radha live with him. He marries a Suta girl. He
makes sure that his sons are raised as Sutaputras, not Kshatriyas.
This leads us to speculate. Perhaps he saw through the emptiness of the
Kshatriya life and preferred the earthy nature of being a Suta? Perhaps he needed
to have all of his wishes fulfilled in order to realize that he didn’t want them after
all? We don’t know.
Regardless of the reasons, Karna articulates this when he rejects Krishna’s
offer to fight on the Pandavas’ side. He says, ‘I am grateful to Duryodhana for
having allowed me all these years to rule Anga without giving up my Suta caste.’
And then he says, ‘I was born a Sutaputra. I will die a Sutaputra.’
Conclusion
Short answer: Before the war begins, Bhishma classifies Karna mockingly as an
ardha-ratha (half-ratha), thus claiming that he is inferior to a ratha. But later,
while lying on his bed of arrows, he privately confides in Karna that he is indeed a
maharatha.
Two Classifications
Classifying Karna
Bhishma goes through the entire roster of warriors fighting on the Kuru
side, giving his opinion about whether each one should be called a ratha or an
atiratha.
Thus, the likes of Bhagadatta, Shalya and Drona are atirathas. Duryodhana,
Duhsasana, and the rest of the sons of Dhritarashtra are rathas. Ashwatthama
has the potential to be an atiratha but his volatile temperament holds him back.
And so on.
When it comes time to classify Karna, Bhishma mockingly calls him an
‘ardha-ratha’, or ‘half a ratha’, implying that he is less of a warrior than even a
ratha.
The reason for this is that Bhishma and Karna have by this time repeatedly
clashed publicly on the subject of the latter’s misplaced arrogance and bravado
which never translates to real valour in battle.
More than anything, Bhishma is irritated that Karna always fans the flames
of Duryodhana’s hatred for the Pandavas. And he does this by giving false
assurances that he will kill Arjuna.
And yet, all the times he has met Arjuna in battle, Karna has lost. So by the
eve of the war, Bhishma is simply fed up of Karna’s posturing.
Bhishma’s Motivations
Revision on Day 10
On the night of the tenth day of battle, after he has been consigned to his
bed of arrows, Bhishma gets visited in private by Karna. In the conversation that
follows, the two men put aside their differences.
Bhishma then tells him that he was wrong in calling him an ardha-ratha.
‘You are in fact an atiratha,’ he says.
But again, we cannot take Bhishma at his word here, because immediately
after praising Karna as an atiratha, he requests him to ‘be a good friend to
Duryodhana’ and advise him to call off the battle.
Karna responds in the same way he always has. He insists that ‘being a good
friend’ means giving unconditional support. He also reminds Bhishma – correctly
– that it is too late to withdraw the Kuru forces. The world will think of
Duryodhana as cowardly if he does that.
What we can conclude from Bhishma’s two classifications is that Karna, as a
warrior, sits somewhere between an ardha-ratha and an atiratha.
Assessing Karna
To finish, one may say that Karna is – by skill alone – one of the atirathas.
But his temperament is flaky, and he is prone to sudden attacks of fear and self-
doubt while in the middle of an intense battle.
In this, he is not unlike Ashwatthama, who is a slave to anger which keeps
him from becoming a true atiratha.
Both these men will have their share of brilliant days on which nobody can
touch them, but they will not be able to achieve these days as consistently as an
atiratha would. In short, you don’t quite know what you will get with them.
Karna, therefore, may be called – like Ashwatthama – an ‘atiratha by
potential but a ratha by performance’.
Was Karna jealous of Arjuna?
Short answer: Karna’s enmity with Arjuna has more to do with his loyalty to
Duryodhana than with jealousy. But as someone who matches Arjuna’s skill at
the graduation ceremony, to see his once-equal opponent grow beyond
recognition into the world’s greatest archer must have been difficult. Karna also
feels envious of Arjuna for having won Draupadi.
The main thrust of Karna’s enmity toward Arjuna is his undying fealty
toward Duryodhana. More than anything, Karna wants to defeat Arjuna because
he wants to prove himself a worthy aide to Duryodhana.
At the graduation ceremony, when Karna matches Arjuna in skill with bow
and arrow, not only does Duryodhana support him against the discriminatory
attacks of the Kuru elders, but he also crowns Karna king of Anga right at that
moment.
In one fell swoop, Karna receives from Duryodhana everything he had ever
wanted: an elevation of status, wealth, and an opportunity to build for himself a
name as king.
From this moment on, Karna views himself as Duryodhana’s slave. He vows
to support Duryodhana in all of his endeavours, including his ambition to destroy
the Pandavas and Draupadi at all costs.
Jealousy
Rejection by Draupadi
Not only does Karna get rejected by Draupadi, but he also has to watch as
Arjuna – in the guise of a poverty-stricken Brahmin – wins Draupadi’s hand,
defeats him in single combat, and makes off with her.
At this point, Karna does not know that the Brahmin is tussling with him is
Arjuna in disguise. But he learns of it later, a part of him must feel envious
toward Arjuna – not just because he wanted Draupadi too and Arjuna won her,
but also because Arjuna was given the opportunity to vie for her.
This would have burned Karna’s heart toward both Arjuna and Draupadi.
His behaviour at Draupadi’s disrobing – where he insists that she is a
prostitute and that she should be unclothed in public – could be read as at least
partly motivated by personal vengeance. While he is glad to play the supporting
role to Duryodhana’s antics, he is also not above landing a few blows of his own.
On the eve of the seventeenth day of the war, Karna explains to Duryodhana
that the only difference between him and Arjuna – in terms of relative strengths
as warriors – is that Arjuna has Krishna for a charioteer and friend.
To even the scales, he asks Duryodhana to appoint Shalya as his charioteer.
Duryodhana agrees.
Needless to say, this is extremely misguided analysis. Krishna became
Arjuna’s charioteer out of his free will and desire to help. Since he has promised
not to pick up weapons anyway, his serving as Arjuna’s charioteer does not cause
the army any corresponding loss.
Shalya, on the other hand, is a fighting warrior, himself the leader of a
whole akshauhini of troops. Appointing him as Karna’s charioteer automatically
means that the army is deprived of his fighting and strategic prowess during that
day.
Also, Shalya does not want to be Karna’s charioteer. No self-respecting king
– let alone the king of a great kingdom, one of the Kuru elders, no less – will like
being given the job of driving the chariot of a Suta.
But Karna is blind to all of this. He is so blinded by envy about Arjuna and
Krishna’s relationship that he thinks he can simply get himself a ‘Krishna’ as well
by merely appointing Shalya his driver.
Despite all this, though, the discerning reader will conclude that Karna’s ill-
feeling for Arjuna is driven mostly by his loyalty to Duryodhana. At no time does
he allow his personal jealousy to overpower his duty toward his king.
How do we know this? Just before the war, Karna does get a chance to
‘make Arjuna his slave’ by accepting Krishna’s offer to fight on the Pandavas’
side. If his jealousy had been overpowering, Karna would have said yes – and he
would have won Arjuna’s eternal subservience along with Draupadi as his main
wife.
On a personal level, that would have been a victory sweeter than any other.
He would have had the last laugh on both Arjuna and Draupadi, his two main
tormentors.
But the fact that he says no, and that he chooses Duryodhana, suggests that
it is Duryodhana that is most important to him in his life – even more than his
personal need to overcome Arjuna.
Was Karna more powerful than
Bhishma?
Short answer: In sheer skill and experience alone, Bhishma is much more
powerful than Karna. However, Karna’s desire to win the war for Duryodhana is
much stronger than Bhishma’s. Duryodhana, therefore, would have been better
off with Karna as his first commander.
A Comparison
Bhishma and Karna both have divine blood in them: Karna’s father is Surya
the sun god, while Bhishma’s mother is Ganga, the river goddess. The human
parent in both cases is a person of royal lineage.
If Karna had been allowed to keep his kavacha-kundalas, he would have
been far more powerful than Bhishma. Indeed, he would have been the most
powerful warrior of the age – bar none.
But without the kavacha-kundalas, Karna is no match for Bhishma.
Bhishma is older, more experienced and more skilled. During the quarrel
regarding Amba, Bhishma fights and wins against Sage Parashurama, his own
preceptor.
During the swayamvara of Amba, Ambika and Ambalika, Bhishma
singlehandedly challenges and defeats all the assembled kings of that time. In
contrast, during Draupadi’s swayamvara, Karna fails to adequately challenge
Arjuna.
Karna also displays a cowardly streak on several occasions, running away
from battles, withdrawing challenges and so on. Bhishma, on the other hand, is
sturdy as a rock. The only time he is defeated is when he runs into a red hot
Arjuna at the end of the Virata Parva.
While the two never fight one another, the above analysis is sufficient to
conclude that Bhishma is far superior to Karna when it comes to overall fighting
ability.
Special Ability
But Karna possesses a special ability that Bhishma does not: he has
precisely one use of Indra’s Vasava dart, with which he can kill one warrior of his
choosing.
No one is immune to the power of the Vasava, not even Arjuna. We know
this because of the care with which Krishna steers their chariot away from Karna
while he has the weapon.
This is a potentially game-changing ability. Arjuna is the lynchpin of the
Panchala and Somaka army. If Karna manages to use his dart successfully against
Arjuna, and if this happens early on in the war, the Kauravas have won. Pure and
simple.
Also, we must remember that Duryodhana’s entire reason behind taking
Karna under his wing is in the hope that Karna would – when the time is ripe –
neutralize the threat posed by Arjuna.
On the other hand, Bhishma – great as he is – is not powerful enough to
match Arjuna. And there are doubts as to whether he can summon his customary
ruthlessness against his beloved grandchildren.
Duryodhana’s Choice
Duryodhana, therefore, should have insisted that Karna fight in the war
from the beginning. Knowing that Karna is the only person capable of killing
Arjuna, allowing him to be left out is a daft move.
An Alternative
But if Duryodhana had taken some time to think about this, he would have
realized that between Karna and Bhishma, it is the former who adds most value
at the beginning of the war.
Of course, the ideal scenario would be to have both of them on the field
together, but failing that, if only one of them can fight at a time, then it is Karna
and not Bhishma that gives Duryodhana the best chance of success.
Consider: Karna can be given a first-rate charioteer and left as a free agent,
much like how the Panchala army gives Arjuna a free rein. Karna can be given
protection from all sides, and be told to relentlessly pursue Arjuna. Karna has
only one job: to find and kill Arjuna with the Vasava dart.
Meanwhile, the rest of the army can be led by Drona. With Arjuna marked
by Karna, Drona can focus on Bhima, Satyaki and the rest of the Pandava
warriors. He can even attempt to capture Yudhishthir alive so that Duryodhana
can bring the war to a premature close.
With this strategy, Duryodhana has Karna going after Arjuna and Drona
seeking Yudhishthir. As long as Bhima can be kept busy – by the likes of
Ashwatthama, Alambusha and Bhagadatta – there is a high chance of success.
And above all, Duryodhana has Bhishma sitting on the sidelines, ready to
step in if and when Karna falls.
Conclusion
Short answer: Karna is stronger than Bhima with bow and arrow. But Bhima is
the better all-round warrior. Bhima and Karna clash repeatedly during the war,
and on occasions that Bhima wins, he does so by converting the bow-and-arrow
duel into a hand-to-hand combat. When the battle stays strictly archery-based,
Karna wins.
Bhima has always been the strongest (physically) of all the Pandavas. Some
of the anecdotes that are told about his early childhood reflect this. For instance,
Kunti apparently drops him by mistake when he is a mere infant onto a rock from
a height, only to see that the rock has been shattered and Bhima unharmed.
After the Pandavas and Kunti return to the palace, Bhima quickly takes on
the mantle of chief tormentor of the Kaurava brothers. He hurls uprooted trees at
them. He picks them up and throws them against walls. And so on.
While the Mahabharata describes these events in a loving tone, the modern
reader will not miss the tell-tale signs that Bhima is in fact a bully.
In addition, when Duryodhana and his brothers hatch a plot to him some
poison and throw him into the river, Bhima gets rescued by the Nagas who live
underwater. Their king gives him a potion to drink.
This not only detoxifies him and saves his life, but also gives him –
reportedly – the ‘strength of ten thousand elephants’.
Bhishma’s Appraisal
During his pre-war appraisal of the two sides, Bhishma classifies Bhimasena
as an atiratha, and also states that he is the best all-round fighter among all the
assembled heroes. He is good with bow and arrow, with mace, sword, spear, and
with his bare hands.
Bhima’s fighting strategy during the war reflects this ability. He is routinely
jumping out of his chariot to accost his enemies with close-combat weapons, like
a sword or a lance.
Sometimes, he pummels elephants to the ground with his fists. He picks up
chariots and tosses them aside. He wrestles. He punches. He does everything.
While Arjuna is the chariot-warrior with exceptional bow-and-arrow skills,
Bhima is the man you’d vote for if you did not know the format of the battle
beforehand.
Karna’s Skill
Simulated Battles
If the duel were to be strictly close-combat based, Bhima will defeat Karna
hundred times out of hundred. Only four other characters in the Mahabharata
universe are said to be comparable to Bhima in foot-fighting: Jarasandha,
Kichaka, Duryodhana and Shalya.
Even with these men, Bhima can be expected to win eighty of hundred
challenges. But with Karna he will win all hundred.
This is not a criticism of Karna. Bhima will even consign Arjuna to the same
fate.
But real battle is not a simulation: there are no rules preventing participants
from using their environment to their benefit, and from mixing up the format of
the fight every now and then.
What if we start off Bhima and Karna on chariots on an arid plain (no trees
or rocks for cover) but with the choice of changing up the format as they see fit?
Karna will prefer to fight from atop his chariot the whole time, because that
is his strength and comfort zone. His strategy will be to keep Bhima from leaving
his chariot for as long as possible. The longer they both fight from their respective
vehicles, the likelier Karna’s victory becomes.
However, Bhima knows this too. His strategy will be the reverse: to leave his
chariot at the first opportunity and to use as many different weapons as he can.
In such a simulation, the scales will even out a little. Karna will perhaps win
seventy of these duels out of a hundred.
Real Battles
Forgiving Bhima
Bhima and Karna face off against each other four times during the
Kurukshetra war. Bhima wins two of these battles, one of them ends without a
result, and one goes in favour of Karna.
It is instructive to note that on both the occasions that Bhima wins against
Karna, he uses unconventional methods – like running around the side and
beating Karna’s horses into submission with a mace – while on the one occasion
he loses, Karna manages to keep him on the chariot the whole time.
This victory against Bhima allows Karna to keep his promise to Kunti – that
of not wishing to kill any of the Pandavas besides Arjuna. After he strips Bhima of
his armour, he hooks his bow around Bhima’s neck and says:
‘Go and fight alongside Arjuna, you glutton. You do not belong on the
battlefield.’
(Incidentally, these words by Karna exemplify his generous-yet-vain nature.
He is being generous to Kunti – and to Bhima – by sparing his life, but he also
utters words of contempt while displaying this generosity. Karna’s mean streak is
always bubbling under the surface.)
Conclusion
The Mahabharata makes this point on more than one occasion: that any
given outcome is a result of (a) a person’s exertion, and (b) his destiny.
The word ‘destiny’ may have mystical connotations, but the meaning of it is
quite simple: all those factors that are in play with the system and which are out
of one’s personal control. These may include the actions of other human beings,
living things, and any number of elements that are part of the complex world we
inhabit.
Even in a naturalist’s worldview, there is place for this idea. In modern
parlance, we speak of ‘controlling the controllable variables’.
Back to the Mahabharata. Developing this idea further, the text insists that
of the two contributing factors to an outcome – a person’s exertion, and his
destiny – the second is more powerful and sometimes sufficient. The first is
necessary but insufficient.
In other words:
A man may exert himself to the fullest and not get the outcome he desires
because he is not destined for it.
A man may not exert himself at all and receive a favourable outcome
because his destiny decrees it so.
A man may not exert himself because he thinks he is destined for success,
and it eludes him.
And so on.
Of course, since one’s destiny is always hidden from one’s view, the
prescription given by the wise men is to exert oneself without giving any thought
to one’s destiny. And then, if your destiny happens to agree with you, you
succeed. If it doesn’t, you fail.
Karna’s Destiny
Karna is born of the union between a princess and a god. This is about as
holy a birth as one can imagine. If there is one infant that can be relied upon to
achieve greatness, it is the firstborn son of a princess and a god.
But circumstances surrounding Karna’s birth conspire to write a story for
him that is complex and often ridden with despair.
Here is a list of all ‘unfortunate’ things that happen to Karna during his life:
His biological mother abandons him.
He is found and adopted by a couple who belong to the low-born Suta
caste.
He is robbed of his natural armour and earrings (which make him an
invincible warrior) by Indra.
He is cursed by Parashurama and by an unnamed Brahmin that he will
forget all that he has learned in the moment of his greatest need.
Of all the people who could have been impressed by his showing at the
graduation ceremony, he attracts the attention of Duryodhana, who then
uses him as a pawn against Arjuna.
But some ‘good’ things also happen to Karna as a result of his exertions
against his destiny. For instance:
He becomes king of Anga and gets the opportunity to witness the
Kshatriya life first hand, thanks to Duryodhana.
He gains a reputation as a generous and wise king. He is much-loved by
his subjects.
He is allowed to live as a Kshatriya while also remaining true to the
dictates of the Suta caste.
He thus achieves a lot more material success than the Sutaputra.
Karna’s Choice
Toward the end, just as the war is about to begin, Krishna finds out that
Karna is in fact Kunti’s firstborn, and meets him in private. He offers Karna the
kingdom of Indraprastha to rule in Yudhishthir’s stead if only he agrees to
forsake Duryodhana.
Here, Karna is given a choice to expunge all of the misfortunes that destiny
had heaped upon him. He only has to say a word and all that he had deserved at
the time of his birth will come true. He will be an emperor. He will even marry
Draupadi. His children will become kings after him.
But in order to receive what he is due, he has to give up all that he has
earned so painstakingly, fighting against destiny every step of the way.
This means that he will first have to abandon Duryodhana, much like his
own mother abandoned him. Then he will have to abandon his family – his wife,
his adoptive parents, his children – and the subjects of Anga who had come to
look up toward him as a father.
He will have to abandon the Suta caste, the caste that had made him the
man he became.
In order to acquire all of the things he thinks he deserves, he will have to
give up all of the things he had earned. So instead of making the trade, he tells
Krishna, ‘I was born a Sutaputra. I will die a Sutaputra.’
At Peace
In rejecting Krishna’s offer, Karna reveals himself to be a man who has
made his peace with his destiny. He has stopped fighting it, he has stopped
questioning it. He has begun to embrace it, and even be thankful for it.
Like all of us, he is also shackled by forces outside of his control. But he
comes to realize that he possesses agency to make choices and prioritizations of
his own.
Does he choose loyalty or wealth? Selfishness or generosity? Self-
preservation or identity? Throughout his life he feels targeted and ridiculed by
the world, and he lashes and rails at it.
But when the time comes to choose, he discovers that he is in fact quite
comfortable in his ‘adopted’ world – the world with Adiratha and Radha and
Duryodhana in it. The world in which he is king and Suta at the same time, the
world in which he has crafted for himself a name.
Despite Karna’s many tragedies (as the world sees them), at the very end, he
embraces his identity and willingly chooses to fight on the ‘wrong’ side in order to
fulfil his promises to Duryodhana.
If he is unlucky in some respects, he is also lucky to have been given that
rare gift: a clear and unswerving moral compass that allows him to say no to
untold riches, fame, status and power – only to keep his word to a friend.
Was Karna in love with Draupadi?
The first time Karna and Draupadi lay eyes on each other is during
Draupadi’s swayamvara at Drupada’s palace in Panchala. Karna is presumably
invited because he is now king of Anga, and is also known to be a good friend of
Duryodhana’s.
Karna and Draupadi do not speak with each other directly at this meeting.
Karna rises and signals his intention to try his luck at winning Draupadi’s hand,
but is shot down by her public rejection of him.
She addresses the assembly just as Karna rises, and says, ‘I do not wish to
be married to a Sutaputra.’ This is despite the fact that Karna has been king for a
year or two, and that he has been invited by Drupada.
Karna laughs at this imprudence on Draupadi’s part, and quietly returns to
his seat.
During this first meeting, therefore, Draupadi does nothing to win over
Karna’s heart. If anything, she may have hardened it so that he bears a grudge
toward her.
The third time Karna and Draupadi’s paths cross – this time fatefully – is
during the dice game at which Yudhishthir loses everything and becomes a
pauper.
Here, Karna plays the role of Duryodhana’s chief enforcer, arguing with
Vikarna about Draupadi’s enslavement, quoting from the scriptures about
Dharma, and ultimately branding Draupadi as an unchaste woman for having
taking five husbands – and having children by all of them.
We must note that this is about thirteen years after their previous meeting
at the Rajasuya. In the intervening period, Karna has risen in stature as king of
Anga, even as Draupadi has settled into her life as empress of Indraprastha.
If they had occasion to speak to one another in this time, the text makes no
mention of it.
In any case, at the dice game, it is Karna who suggests that Duhsasana
should give Draupadi ‘the treatment a whore deserves’ and undress her in public,
right in front of the Kuru elders.
(A part of this is him taking revenge for that long-ago slight during the
swayamvara at Panchala. But a much bigger part is him playing a role that
Duryodhana assigned him.)
At this meeting, it is fair to say that Draupadi and Karna’s relationship
deteriorates beyond repair.
No other meetings
Karna and Draupadi never meet again, nor is there a moment in which they
are present in the same room together. Not only do they not speak to each other,
we rarely see them speak of each other.
Draupadi, to be certain, is full of hatred for Karna. More than once during
their exile, she exhorts Arjuna to never forget his vow to kill Karna. She knows as
well as anyone that it is Karna who is responsible for much of her humiliation
during the dice game.
Despite all this, if one has to formulate a theory that Karna was in fact in
love with Draupadi, we must also believe one or more of the following scenarios:
Karna and Draupadi somehow knew each other and were lovers before her
swayamvara. Draupadi may have broken things off with him after her
swayamvara was announced, but Karna refused to take no for an answer.
That explains why Draupadi publicly rejects him. The rest of the story can
remain unchanged.
Karna and Draupadi met each other for the first time at her swayamvara,
and she rejected him. Yet, perhaps they got to know each other more
intimately during the Rajasuya, and their love blossomed during the
thirteen year period leading up to the dice game. This raises the question
of why Karna then abuses Draupadi during it.
Karna’s love for Draupadi is unrequited. Despite the shoddy manner in
which he treats her, in his heart he carries deep respect and tenderness for
her.
None of these three stand up to even a tiny bit of scrutiny. There is some
credence to thinking that Karna may have – at some point in his life – desired
Draupadi, like all the men in his generation. But the moment she spurned him
publicly, any feelings he might have had for her would have instantly evaporated.
Conclusion
Ardha-ratha or Ati-ratha?
Since Arjuna is considered without doubt the best archer of this time, we
may adopt a criterion for every contender for ‘most powerful warrior’ by
examining whether or not he can match Arjuna.
Karna does this admirably, at least during their early years. When he
appears at the graduation ceremony (he may have been twenty at this time,
Arjuna perhaps fifteen), he repeats all of Arjuna’s feats in front of a watching
crowd and the royal assembly.
But one must hasten to footnote this by saying: this is only a display of
target practice, not battle skill. A target – even if it moves, rotates, swerves and
revolves – does not strike back.
Shortly afterward, Karna – along with Duryodhana – fails in earning a
victory over the Panchala army led by Drupada. Arjuna and Bhima immediately
have their go at it and become successful.
(This also may not be as conclusive as it first sounds. Arjuna’s victory here
might have been down to the fact that he had Bhima fighting alongside him.)
And then, Karna matches Arjuna in a one-on-one battle during Draupadi’s
swayamvara. He gives Arjuna a good fight, and both warriors parry for a long
time before Karna withdraws his challenge.
Of course, Arjuna pulls ahead of Karna as they grow into adulthood and
middle age. Starting from the time of the burning of Khandava and ending at the
Kurukshetra war, Arjuna becomes almost invincible.
But Karna is the only warrior to have ever matched Arjuna – both at hitting
lifeless targets and also in single combat.
At the Kurukshetra
Special Ability
Karna is also the only one among the assembled Kuru heroes to capture
every single one of the Pandavas – not Arjuna – during the course of his time on
the battlefield.
He not only defeats Bhima, Yudhishthir, Nakula and Sahadeva each in turn,
but he also reduces them to a state where he could kill them if he wanted. Then
he chooses not to do so, in order to honour the promise he has made to Kunti.
He also plays an important role in the killing of Abhimanyu, shooting the
arrow that breaks the bowstring of the young man. He does shoot him from
behind, so he violates the rules of war, but he is the one who disarms Abhimanyu.
No other hero – not Bhishma, not Drona, not Ashwatthama, not Bhagadatta
– succeeds in performing this feat of defeating all the Pandava brothers. If this
were one criterion, Karna should be considered the most powerful of them all.
Cowardice
During the course of his life, Karna displays a streak of timidity when he is
challenged in battle. The most striking example of this is when Duryodhana is
captured by Gandharvas and requires Karna and Shakuni to rescue him.
Granted, Karna does not have an army to fight with. Granted, he may have
thought that fighting the Gandharvas on his own is foolhardy. But he does flee
without even trying. This may be understandable, even sensible. But it does not
become a warrior.
Similarly, in the Kurukshetra war, when Abhimanyu is on a rampage, Karna
admits to Drona that he wishes he could run away. ‘But for my loyalty to
Duryodhana, I would have fled long ago,’ he says.
No other hero fighting in Kurukshetra would make this admission – not
even Ashwatthama who is not a Kshatriya by birth. This tendency to run away
from battles severely dents Karna’s claim to be the greatest warrior.
Conclusion
Short answer: Karna is present in the army that Duryodhana takes to invade
Panchala when Drona asks his students to bring him Drupada as Guru Dakshina.
The Kauravas and Karna are defeated soundly by Drupada, who leads the
Panchala forces in defense. After the Kauravas have failed, the Pandavas
successfully complete the quest.
Guru Dakshina
Shortly after the Kuru princes have shown off their skills with weapons in
an arena, Drona gives them a real test: fighting a real army. As his guru dakshina,
he asks that his wards: (a) invade the kingdom of Panchala, and (b) bring back
King Drupada alive to Drona.
Drona and Drupada have some history together. They grow up as best
friends at the hermitage of Bharadwaja, and as a boy Drupada once utters a
throwaway line that he will share his kingdom with Drona once he becomes king.
Drona remembers the promise, though, and years later, unable to bear
witnessing his wife and child suffering in penury, goes to Drupada and asks for
his share.
Drupada laughs. ‘A king a pauper can never be friends, O Brahmin,’ he says.
‘If you wish, I will give you alms. But I will not give you half my kingdom.’
This humiliates Drona to the extent that he wishes to exact revenge upon
Drupada. Therefore he asks his students to wage a war against Panchala and
bring Drupada back.
Karna is Defeated
Karna is part of the force that Duryodhana puts together to fight Panchala.
This is not because Karna is one of Drona’s disciples (he likely isn’t), but because
Karna is now one of Duryodhana’s henchmen.
This invasion of Panchala by the Kuru princes happens only a short while
after the graduation ceremony. And yet Karna does not distinguish himself at the
battle.
During the ceremony, however, Karna displays enough skill with bow and
arrow to be thought of as Arjuna’s equal. Why?
One possible explanation is that Karna may have been as skilful as Arjuna at
target-practice but not so when it came to real-world battle situations. After all,
the target doesn’t shoot back. We may conclude that by this time, Karna is quite a
skilled archer but not so skilled at combat.
By the time of Draupadi’s swayamvara, we must note, Karna manages to
give Arjuna a run for his money in a duel with bow and arrow. We can therefore
guess that between the Panchala invasion and Draupadi’s swayamvara, Karna has
improved his battle sense enough to be a match for Arjuna both in terms of skill
and tactics.
Other explanations
We can think of other reasons why Karna – despite being a skilled bowman
– does not succeed in helping Duryodhana capture Drupada. Here are a few:
Karna fights as one of the many heroes in Duryodhana’s army, whereas
Arjuna leads the Kuru force. Thus, Karna may have not fought in a
prominent enough position that allowed him to exercise his skills to the
fullest.
This is Karna’s first proper battle. So far, he has only learned strategy and
theory under Parashurama, but he has not felt the visceral sensations of
war. The Kuru princes, on the other hand, may have had more practical
training with animals and soldiers and so forth.
The Kauravas went first, so they were strangers to how Drupada fought
and what strategies he employed. Arjuna and the others would have
learned plenty of lessons – chiefly what not to do – by watching their
cousins get trounced. Karna does not have that luxury.
Karna has recently given up his kavacha-kundalas to Indra. He is still
getting used to the idea that he is no longer invincible, and that he can be
killed. This knowledge does not affect his skills when there is nothing at
stake – like at an archery competition – but in an actual conflict, he finds
himself paralyzed with fear.
The Chakravyuha
Karna Flees
In his battle with Karna, Abhimanyu kills his horses, shoots down his
banner, and breaks his bow. When the younger brother of Karna (perhaps
another of Adiratha’s sons) arrives in support, Abhimanyu wastes no time in
beheading him.
Seeing this, Karna flees from the scene.
Abhimanyu then is challenged by Lakshamana Kumara, Duryodhana’s
favourite son. This battle is short and sweet, with the son of Subhadra slicing
Lakshmana’s throat with a sharp arrow and causing his headless trunk to fall to
the ground.
Witnessing the death of Lakshmana, six atiratha converge upon Abhimanyu
at once. But he picks them off one by one, and wounds them all while
simultaneously flaying the Saindhava forces that have stayed behind from the
front line.
Karna, Shalya and Ashwatthama together try to have another go at
Abhimanyu, but the prince sends them scurrying back once again. Tired and hurt,
Karna approaches Drona and says:
‘‘That son of Arjuna defeats us all, O Preceptor,’ he says, even as in the
distance, Abhimanyu tears into Ashwaketu, the prince of Magadha. ‘What can we
do to defeat him?’
Drona’s Suggestion
Drona turns to Karna with a resigned smile. ‘Have you been able to find
even one defect in this boy?’ he says. ‘I cannot see the difference today between
Abhimanyu and Arjuna.
‘If the latter is invincible, so is the former. Even the mightiest of car
warriors, those who have been hardened by decades of fighting, cannot find a
single flaw in his armour. What can one do when a warrior displays such
immense skill?’
Karna replies in angst, ‘The wounds he has left on my body sting me so,
Acharya. I stay here without running away because I respect my duties as a
Kshatriya. The arrows he shoots weaken my heart, and I am consumed with
despair as I watch him.’
Drona smiles some more, but this time there is a hard edge to his glance.
‘Abhimanyu is young. His mail is impenetrable. I had once taught Arjuna the art
of creating defensive armour.
‘It looks like Falguna has taught his son well. See if you can, Karna, cut off
his bow, bowstring, the reins of his horses, and the horses themselves from
behind his chariot. Let us first force him onto his two feet. Let us deprive him of
his weapon, and then we will see how long he will last.’
Conclusion
On the thirteenth day of the war, after he is trapped inside the Chakravyuha,
Abhimanyu defeats all the great Pandava warriors – including Karna. He also
kills Karna’s younger brother, and severely injures Vrishasena, Karna’s son.
Karna fights with Abhimanyu on two separate occasions. The first time, he
flees from the battle unable to withstand Abhimanyu’s onslaught. Then, he teams
up with Ashwatthama and Shalya to have another go but they’re all soundly
beaten and driven away.
Abhimanyu also kills Lakshmana, the favourite son of Duryodhana.
Karna then takes his revenge on Abhimanyu by cutting off the young
prince’s bow from behind him (on Drona’s orders). In this way, he paves the way
for Abhimanyu’s eventual death.
Was Karna defeated in Virata Parva?
Short answer: Karna is one of the warriors defeated by Arjuna during the
Virata Parva. Fighting in the garb of a eunuch named Brihannala, Arjuna takes on
the entire might of the Kuru army on his own and wins. Along with Karna, other
Kuru stalwarts such as Bhishma, Drona, Ashwatthama, Kripa and Duryodhana
are also beaten.
The story of Kuru’s raid on Matsya’s cattle begins with Bhima killing
Kichaka because the latter makes unsavoury passes at Draupadi. Kichaka is the
commander of Matsya’s army, the brother-in-law of Virata, and his abilities as a
fighter and leader in battle are respected all over the world.
This man’s death results in an immediate power vacuum in Matsya’s army.
Kuru – with the urging of the Trigarta ruler Susharma – decides to use this
vulnerable moment to steal some of Matsya’s cattle.
Susharma pitches the idea to Duryodhana as easy wealth-grab. He proposes
that he will attack Matsya from the northwest with his own Trigartan army to
divert Virata’s attention and forces.
Then Duryodhana can walk in through the kingdom’s northeast border at
the head of a small division of Kuru’s army.
The plan works well – up to a point. At the northwestern border, Virata’s
army acquits itself well against the Trigartans, chiefly because of the services
rendered by Bhima, Yudhishthir, Nakula and Sahadeva in their respective
disguises.
At the northeastern border, Arjuna alone – in his garb as the eunuch
Brihannala – fights off the entire Kuru army and saves Matsya’s cattle.
The Pandavas, thus, protect the kingdom of their benefactor despite the fact
that the predicament is of their own causing.
Bhishma’s Correction
But Bhishma makes a few calculations and reveals that the thirteen years of
the Pandava exile ended on the previous day.
‘The wheel of time,’ he says, ‘revolves with its many divisions – kalas and
kashtas and muhurtas – with days and fortnights following the movement of the
constellations and planets.
‘Taking all the deviations into consideration, there is a two-month increase
every five years. In thirteen years, there is an excess of five months and twelve
nights. Calculating it in that way, the thirteenth year of the Pandavas’ exile ended
yesterday.
‘This means they are no longer required by the terms of agreement to
remain in hiding.’
Then, addressing Duryodhana, Bhishma makes a plan of action. ‘Take a
fourth of the army and retreat to Hastinapur, O Prince,’ he says. ‘Let half the
army remain with us so that we may drive back the advances of Partha.
‘And allow the remaining fourth of our force to be engaged in driving the
cattle back to our city. We have come with a purpose. Let us ensure that we fulfil
it.’
Arjuna’s Response
Explanations
Regardless of how powerful Arjuna has become during the exile years, it is
unbelievable that he so easily overpowers an entire array of great Kuru heroes –
and the Kuru army – by himself.
Here are a few probable explanations as to how this happened:
Arjuna does not engage much with the Kuru army itself, concerning
himself only with defeating the leaders. The foot soldiers in the army are of
course forbidden by law from attacking a chariot warrior.
The six main heroes in the Kuru army – Drona, Kripa, Bhishma, Karna,
Duryodhana and Ashwatthama – do not fight Arjuna at once even though
they could. This is again in obedience of battle guidelines, that one warrior
should always engage with one other warrior.
Arjuna does not use earthly weapons but creates some magical illusions
with his divine weapons. Some versions of this tale describe him using the
Sammohana Astra to put the Kuru army to sleep before quietly driving the
cattle away.
The Kuru army itself is probably not at its full strength. In all likelihood,
the six heroes bring along only a small division of the army.
Karna’s Defeat
What is not clear to the objective reader is this: why is Karna so ineffectual?
When they were both younger men, Karna had not only matched Arjuna at
archery during the graduation ceremony, but he had also given him a good fight
at Draupadi’s swayamvara.
How come he is not even able to stop Arjuna here as part of an ensemble
cast?
At this point in the story, Karna either should have had the kavacha-
kundalas – which would have made him invincible – or the Vasava dart – which
he could have used to kill Arjuna. But he does neither.
One can only guess why. Perhaps Karna is waiting for a grander stage upon
which to use the Vasava dart on Arjuna. Or – if he does not have the Vasava yet
and he is fighting with his natural armour and earrings on him – the kavacha-
kundalas are not as powerful as they are said to be.
Maybe they offer some level of protection against some weapons, but
against Arjuna in this sort of mood they’re not of much help.
What was Karna famous for?
Short answer: Karna is most famous in the Mahabharata for being the only
warrior who is as skilful as Arjuna at archery. He is also famous for his generosity
– he is known never to say no to a Brahmin who asks for alms – and his steadfast
adherence to loyalty as the highest virtue.
Karna has made a name for himself as being generous and kind to a fault.
His feelings of tenderness are not reserved just for those who are more
unfortunate than he is; he is equally generous with people who are more powerful
than him.
Here are a few examples of his generosity:
When approached by a Brahmin who asks him for his divine armour and
earrings, despite knowing that the Brahmin is none other than Indra in
disguise, Karna peels off his gifts and gives them away.
When Kunti reveals to Karna the secret of his birth, he does not accept her
as his mother. But he gives her an unsolicited promise that he will not
attack any other Pandava in the war besides Arjuna.
During his twenty five years as Anga’s king, he earns for himself the
reputation as a wise and generous king. He is said to have undertaken
numerous projects for the benefit of the downtrodden in his kingdom.
Karna’s finest and noblest moment comes when he rejects the offer of
Krishna to accept the throne of Indraprastha in return for betraying Duryodhana
and fighting on the Pandavas’ side.
Krishna tells Karna that he is a Pandava, and that his ‘true’ place is on the
throne with Draupadi by his side and with the Pandavas serving him. Karna,
however, rejects the trade and affirms to Krishna that he was born a Sutaputra
and that he will die one.
In making this decision, Karna displays loyalty of the finest sort toward
Duryodhana – who gave him everything and allowed him to become a king while
also staying true to his adoptive tribe – and toward Adiratha and Radha – who
saved him from certain death and raised him as their own.
He also rejects the notion that he could rewrite history by a mere decision.
With this one choice, will he stop being a Sutaputra and become a Kshatriya? Will
the Pandavas magically become his family members? And will he need to forsake
those people who have loved him as he was all these years for the sake of his ‘true’
family?
Karna does not think so. He chooses to remain a Sutaputra, and to remain
loyal to Duryodhana to the end.
Famous for Pride
Karna displays an arrogant streak every now and then during the story,
especially when he is accompanying or advising Duryodhana. He is prone to
make outrageous claims about Duryodhana’s nobility, the Pandavas’ cruelty, or
his own ability to easily defeat Arjuna.
This arrogance leads him to sometimes give Duryodhana advice that feels
misguided in hindsight. For instance, during the final year of the Pandavas’ exile,
he tells Duryodhana that going into the forest with the precise aim of pointing
and laughing at the Pandavas is a good idea.
Duryodhana listens, and finds himself captured by Gandharvas. Eventually,
he has to rely on Bhima and Arjuna to rescue him.
This boastful nature also rubs Bhishma up the wrong way. After listening to
his self-aggrandizement for a long time in silence, Bhishma finally erupts and
quarrels with him on the eve of the war. This also leads directly to the grandsire
giving Duryodhana an ultimatum: either he fights or I fight.
Whether or not this is a natural part of Karna’s personality or whether he
feels the need to put on an act in Duryodhana’s presence, we do not know. But
since we most see Karna and Duryodhana together in the story, his impetuosity is
often in plain view.
Thus, a man who is born with the world at his feet and who should
deservedly become an emperor ends up living most of his early life being
denigrated as a Sutaputra.
He does become king, but in return he is forced to give up his sense of ethics
in order to be loyal to his benefactor. At the end, he chooses to die for his
adoptive life even when a choice is offered to him to return to his ‘real’ one.
Karna’s enduring image, therefore, is that of a tragic hero who suffers much
undeserved hardship during his life.
Was Karna involved in Draupadi
Vastraharan?
Vikarna’s Argument
The first time Karna makes himself heard during the dice game is after
Draupadi has been pledged and lost, and after Draupadi raises a point of logic in
the hall. Namely: Since Yudhishthir lost himself first, did he have the right over
Draupadi to pledge and lose her?
In other words, is Draupadi ‘won’ or ‘not won’?
Vikarna, one of the sons of Dhritarashtra and brothers of Duryodhana,
argues in Draupadi’s favour. He makes four separate points:
Yudhishthir staked Draupadi while being under the influence of dice,
which is a vice. And people do not consider decisions taken while under
the influence of a vice to be of authority.
Draupadi is not the sole property of Yudhishthir. She is the common wife
of all five Pandavas. So Yudhishthir did not have the right to pledge her in
the way he did.
Yudhishthir placed Draupadi as stake not of his own free will but in
response to the cajoling of Shakuni. This act, therefore, does not carry the
same authority as one performed by the king on his own.
As Draupadi herself has pointed out, the king lost himself first and became
a slave with no possessions of his own. At that very moment, he lost every
right he ever held over Draupadi.
Taking these four points together into consideration, Vikarna proposes that
Draupadi has been ‘not won’ – i.e.: she continues to be the empress of
Indraprastha. She is not Duryodhana’s slave.
Karna’s Rebuttal
Accusation
Karna might have stopped with having shut Vikarna down, and allowed the
Kuru leaders to ruminate over the two sides of the debate. But from here he
makes a leap to land a personal insult on Draupadi.
He says: ‘Draupadi is no better than a prostitute because she has publicly
taken five husbands. She has also had a son with each of her five husbands. Such
a woman does not deserve to be treated with respect in this assembly.’
And then he barks out an instruction to Duhsasana to proceed to unclothe
Draupadi right here in everyone’s presence.
Now, some may argue that Karna had no business entangling with Vikarna
in this debate, because what right has he got to speak up in this matter? But
technically speaking, Draupadi does put the question ‘to the court’, so Karna is
within his rights to make his thoughts heard.
But taking that final step and insulting Draupadi is beyond the pale. It is
probably driven by his own long-held grudge for what happened at Draupadi’s
swayamvara. Equally, he may have been working under Duryodhana’s
instructions to be as hostile as possible toward the Pandavas.
The most interesting aspect of the whole scene is that no one rises against
Karna and puts a stop to Draupadi’s ordeal. The reasons for this are varied:
The Pandavas cannot rescue their wife because they are now slaves under
Duryodhana. Draupadi, technically, is not their wife anymore, and they
cannot do anything without first taking the permission of their new
master.
The likes of Bhishma and Kripa are perhaps still puzzling over the relative
merits of Vikarna and Karna’s respective arguments. They are still too
caught up in the logical and legal framework to notice that a woman is
being disrobed in the hall.
Dhritarashtra chooses to let the whole rigmarole play out because he is too
much in love with Duryodhana. A part of him is ecstatic that all of
Yudhishthir’s wealth has now been looted.
The only sane voice in the hall belongs to Vidura. He repeatedly reminds
Dhritarashtra of the atrocity that is about to take place. He warns him that if
Draupadi is disrobed, the Kuru race will suffer all sorts of calamities.
But Dhritarashtra still does not make a decision. Only when frightening
natural omens appear all around him does he relent. He begs Draupadi’s
forgiveness and reinstates Yudhishthir back as emperor.
Of the above, Krishna will probably get the most number of public votes
because of the fact that his mythology extends beyond the Mahabharata, and his
name has come to transcend the work.
Karna the Cruel
On the other hand, Karna is often known as one of the antagonists of the
story. Driven by loyalty to Duryodhana – his benefactor – Karna behaves with
extreme hatred and vitriol toward the Pandavas. He is often seen plotting one
machination or the other to bring about the Pandavas’ ruin.
He plays the pivotal role in escalating tensions during Draupadi’s disrobing,
by arguing that Draupadi has become slave to Duryodhana. He also accuses
Draupadi of being a prostitute, and commands Duhsasana to undress her in
public.
Due to his actions, the incident becomes the primary reason for the
Kurukshetra war. This is the moment during which the Pandava-Kaurava
relationships sour beyond hope.
Karna also plays an enabling role in the following incidents:
The poisoning of Bhimasena as a child – though this is debatable if we
accept the theory that Karna was not Drona’s student.
The attempt to trap the Pandavas and Kunti in the palace of wax in
Varanavata.
The planning and implementation of the dice game, which leads directly to
Draupadi’s disrobing.
The attempt by Duryodhana to visit the Pandavas in the forest with the
express intention to mock them.
Bhishma notices the arrogant nature of Karna and draws our attention to it.
During the war, after Bhishma has fallen, Kripa admonishes Karna for the same
failing. This leads to a slanging match between Karna and Ashwatthama.
Duryodhana intervenes just in time to separate the two heroes.
Later, when Shalya is asked by Duryodhana to be Karna’s charioteer, he also
mentions the baseless bravado of the Radheya.
All of this leads the reader to believe that none of the warriors who fight on
Duryodhana’s side are particularly enamoured by Karna. Not only do they dislike
him for egging Duryodhana on, they also do not think of him as a worthy hero.
Karna does not have any great accomplishments in the field of battle. About
the only time he gives proof of his fighting ability is when he leads the Kuru army
on an expedition of conquest around the world. However, this is quite different to
a war.
What really irritates Bhishma – and the rest of the Kuru elders – is that
Karna is extremely confident each time he faces Arjuna. But on every single
occasion, he loses.
The Mahabharata does not give us an explanation for this behaviour. One
reason is that Karna’s posturing is entirely for Duryodhana’s benefit. He wants to
be seen by Duryodhana as being eager to fight Arjuna.
The other reason, of course, is that the presence of the Vasava dart gives
him confidence every time he faces Arjuna.
We must hasten to add here that what Karna displays is lack of physical
courage.
While it is impossible to tell who the ‘real’ hero of the Mahabharata is, one
may safely state that Karna is definitely the story’s most relatable character.
He displays a full range of human emotions and frailties. He fights against
destiny to exert his own will, but ultimately submits to it.
No other character in the story paints a picture of the human condition as
vividly as does Karna.
Like him, each of us is born deserving everything. As we grow first into
children, then into youth and finally into adulthood, the world progressively
exerts its force upon us, making us yield in a thousand ways.
Like him, we have moments where we are generous and kind and noble, but
also moments where we are cruel, spiteful and selfish. Like him, we feel that
we’re better than the world thinks we are, that we deserve more than we’re given.
But we also wonder if that’s true.
Like him, we can give plenty and want nothing in return. Like him, we can
spend our whole lives wanting something and then give it up for a higher ideal
when it is handed to us.
If Karna has captured imaginations of storytellers down the years, it is
because of this quality: he is the anti-Yudhishthir; a flawed, capricious,
inconsistent man who is striving every moment to attain unattainable ideals.
In a story full of memorable heroes, he is the most real.
Is Karna overrated?
Short answer: There is a huge chasm between what Karna says he can do and
what he does. Despite his reputation as being as skillful as Arjuna, Karna rarely
gives any evidence of his prowess. There is not even one scene in the entire story
where Karna fights the odds single-handedly and wins. So yes, Karna is overrated
as a warrior.
After the Kauravas return and admit their failure, Arjuna leads the
remaining Kuru army back into Panchala and brings Drupada back as prisoner.
This proves that Arjuna is a better all-round warrior than Karna – at this stage.
At Draupadi’s Swayamvara
The next time Karna and Arjuna meet is at Draupadi’s swayamvara. Karna
gets publicly rejected by Draupadi, and Arjuna wins her hand by completing the
task set by Drupada.
Immediately after, the suitors who attend the swayamvara rise up in revolt
at the thought that they have all been defeated by a Brahmin. Shalya and Karna
draw their weapons and challenge Bhima and Arjuna respectively.
In this battle, for a long time Karna and Arjuna prove to be evenly matched.
Then, Karna asks Arjuna: ‘How are you so powerful, O Brahmin? Are you the son
of a god or are you the incarnation of Parashurama?’
Arjuna replies, ‘Neither, sir. I am just a regular man who has the blessings
of his preceptor.’
Karna then withdraws his challenge, saying that Kshatriya energies cannot
be expected to defeat Brahmanic energies. Though he does not make an explicit
admission, it does appear that he is scared that he might lose.
By this stage, Karna has been king of Anga for two years or so. It would not
be amiss to admit that he and Arjuna are still about equally powerful – especially
when one-on-one battles are concerned.
The next time we see Karna in a battle situation is twenty four years later,
during the final year of the Pandavas’ exile. During a trip into the forest,
Duryodhana is captured by a band of Gandharvas, and instead of fighting them,
Karna flees from the battle.
Duryodhana is then rescued by Bhima and Arjuna.
During these twenty four years, Karna has been king of Anga. He has largely
gotten on with his life, marrying a Suta girl, being devoted to his adoptive
parents, and building a reputation for himself as a wise and generous ruler.
It is apparent that he has let his fighting skill deteriorate over this time – as
kings are wont to do during periods of peace. But he continues to remind
everyone around him that he once matched Arjuna.
Meanwhile, during these twenty four years, Arjuna has improved beyond
recognition as a warrior. Not only has he gained favour from many gods, but he
has also kept himself sharp by successfully completing several quests – both on
Earth and in heaven.
At this stage, therefore, Karna is not much of a warrior. But his bluster and
arrogance remain.
At the Kurukshetra
In the final war as well, Karna does little to distinguish himself until he
becomes the commander of Duryodhana’s army. During the Karna Parva, with
complete freedom at his disposal, he finally lives up to his reputation and wins
many key battles – not least against the four sons of Kunti.
But until then, he does not impress one as a mighty warrior, though he
always claims to be one. He loses to Abhimanyu, to Bhima, to Satyaki – and to
Ghatotkacha. He flees after being defeated on several occasions.
His biggest moment comes on the night of the fourteenth day, when he uses
the Vasava dart – a weapon he has been using for Arjuna – to kill a mountainous
Ghatotkacha.
Even in the final battle against Arjuna, Karna does not come close to
defeating his rival. The only time Arjuna gets nervous is when Karna shoots
Aswasena the Naga at him.
Krishna protects Arjuna by stamping down the chariot into the Earth so
that the arrow knocks off Arjuna’s crown instead of slicing his neck.
In Conclusion
Taking all of the above pieces of evidence into consideration, Karna may be
called a middling warrior at best – albeit with a special ability of taking a single
fatal shot at Arjuna thanks to the Vasava dart.
However, the amount of braggadocio that he displays is irritating in the
extreme to those around him. Bhishma, Shalya, Kripa and Ashwatthama are all
fed up of his constant posturing despite not having the results to back up the big
talk.
Bhishma tries to cut him down to size by quarrelling with him a few times,
but Karna refuses to back down even then. His sense of loyalty to Duryodhana
does not extend to putting his ego aside and to make peace with the grandsire.
So all in all, yes, Karna as a warrior is overrated – mostly by himself.
How old was Karna when he died?
Short answer: Assuming that Karna is eighteen at the time of the graduation
ceremony, he is fifty years old when he dies on the eighteenth day of the
Mahabharata war.
A Possible Timeline
Here I am recording all the important events of Karna’s life along with his
proposed age during the event. Please note that this makes a few assumptions
with which you may disagree. I am using what I think are ‘reasonable’ numbers.
Year 0: Karna is born to Kunti in the kingdom of Kuntibhoja. Pritha rears
her child for a few months, and after he begins sleeping for six or seven hours at a
stretch, she puts him into a basket and lets him afloat in the river. Radha and
Adiratha find the abandoned baby a day or two later.
Year 12: Indra visits Karna and takes the kavacha-kundalas off him. Karna
is at this stage nothing more than a callow youth, so his naivety with respect to
Indra’s intentions is understandable.
Year 15: Karna approaches Parashurama for the opportunity to become
the sage’s student. Among privileged people, education began a little earlier. But
since Karna is a poor charioteer’s son, either we assume that he begins later or
that his education takes longer to finish because he is essentially studying part-
time.
Year 18: Karna finishes his education under Parashurama. He earns a
curse from the sage that he will forget all the most important pieces of knowledge
that he has learned when he needs them most.
Year 18: Later that same year, Karna appears at the graduation ceremony
of the Kurus. Here his timeline overlaps with that of the Mahabharata. Bhishma
is already 70 years old at this point. The oldest Kuru prince, Yudhishthir, is
sixteen. Karna is crowned king of Anga at this ceremony.
Year 20: Karna tries to compete at Draupadi’s swayamvara and is publicly
rejected. He has his first one-on-one battle with Arjuna, which ends without a
result. But since Karna withdraws from the challenge, Arjuna secures a moral
victory here.
Year 22: Yudhishthir performs his Rajasuya. (Assumption: After the
Pandavas marry Draupadi, it takes two years to flatten the forest of Khandava,
build the great hall of Maya, and conquer the world.) Karna attends the ceremony
as guest.
Year 35: During the twelve years of Arjuna’s self-imposed exile, Karna
rules over Anga and builds for himself a reputation as a wise and generous king.
After Arjuna’s return, he has a son by Draupadi during the thirteenth year.
Year 36: Duryodhana invites the Pandavas and Draupadi to Hastinapur to
play him in a dice game. The events of Draupadi’s disrobing happen here. The
Pandavas leave on their twelve-year exile.
Year 49: At the time of the Pandavas’ agnyaatavaasa (the year of
incognito), Karna is a wizened middle-aged man who has been king of Anga for
about thirty one years now. He has a wife and children. He is a dutiful member of
the Suta caste. At the time of his defeat to Arjuna in Matsya, therefore, Karna is
pushing fifty.
Year 50: The Kurukshetra war begins in the year following the Pandavas’
return from exile. Bhishma is around a hundred years old at this point.
Yudhishthir is forty eight, Arjuna forty six.
Karna’s age at the time of his death, therefore, can be reasonably pegged at
50 years old at his death.
Karna and Arjuna: The Story of their
Relationship
Karna and Arjuna are two of the most important characters in the
Mahabharata.
Karna is the firstborn son of Kunti, but is estranged at birth and later
becomes Duryodhana’s friend. Arjuna is the third Pandava, widely considered the
most accomplished bowman of his times.
In this post, we will study in detail the relationship between Karna and
Arjuna.
First Meeting
Karna and Arjuna first meet when the former arrives unannounced at the
Kuru princes’ graduation ceremony, and proceeds to repeat – in front of an
awestruck crowd – all of Arjuna’s previously-accomplished archery feats.
Kunti immediately recognizes the youth as her firstborn (presumably from
his earrings and armour, or if he had already given them up, with maternal
instinct), and faints out of shock.
Karna challenges Arjuna to a duel in order to prove his mettle as a
competent warrior. But the Kuru elders stop this by ridiculing Karna as a lowborn
man undeserving of fighting against a prince.
Duryodhana then rises to Karna’s support. He instinctively notices that this
boy – if nurtured – could turn out to be the perfect nemesis for Arjuna. So he
makes Karna the king of Anga on the spot, thus earning Karna’s loyalty for life.
Thus, through a sequence of unconnected events, Karna and Arjuna start
upon a path of enmity.
Was Karna better than Arjuna?
Karna is often considered the only warrior who can defeat or kill Arjuna in
battle. He shows proof of his skill during the Kuru princes’ graduation ceremony.
But as time passes, Arjuna comfortably surpasses Karna in skill. There is
never an instance in the Mahabharata where Karna defeats Arjuna.
During his early life, Karna is definitely more than a match for Arjuna
because of his kavacha-kundalas (armour and earrings). During the graduation
ceremony, he performs all of Arjuna’s feats and proves himself equal in skill.
But in actual battle, Karna displays persistent weakness. He does not
distinguish himself in the quest to invade Panchala and imprison Drupada. In the
battle against Gandharvas when Duryodhana is captured, Karna flees from the
fight in fear.
At the end of the Virata Parva, he loses to Arjuna. During the Mahabharata
war, he loses small battles to a number of Pandava warriors – Abhimanyu and
Bhima to name a couple.
Arjuna, on the other hand, never loses a single battle. So he is definitely the
more skillful warrior.
Despite all this, Karna remains the only man with at least a theoretical
chance to kill Arjuna because he possesses the Vasava Dart, given to him by
Indra.
Despite all of this, Arjuna is only near invincible – not actually so. The only
chink in his armour is that he does not have a counter to Karna’s Vasava dart.
This is why Krishna tries his best to bribe Karna into fighting for the
Pandavas, and later sacrifices Ghatotkacha to Karna’s deadly missile in order to
protect Arjuna.
Once Karna is deprived of the Vasava – which happens on the night of the
fourteenth day – Arjuna becomes truly invincible.
Arjuna hates Karna because of Karna’s active involvement in the abuse and
humiliation of Draupadi during the dice game.
Karna argues that Draupadi’s enslavement is valid, and that she is a
prostitute for having married five men. He recommends that Draupadi should be
publicly disrobed. For this, Arjuna vows to kill Karna.
Arjuna and Karna share a mutually fractious relationship throughout the
story. Right from the beginning when Karna appears at the graduation ceremony
and repeats all of Arjuna’s feats, the two are locked in a battle for supremacy.
Arjuna’s ambition is to become the best archer of all time. Karna keeps
proving that he is Arjuna’s equal. One can understand Arjuna’s frustration at this.
Until the dice game, though, the enmity between Arjuna and Karna is purely
professional. The Pandavas have not interacted with Karna for a period of twelve
or so years, and they have become the most powerful men in the world.
It is at the dice game that Arjuna’s dislike for Karna turns into hate. Karna
takes on the mantle of chief antagonist during this scene, and accuses Draupadi
of being no better than a prostitute. He commands Duhsasana to disrobe
Draupadi publicly and ‘show her her place.’
If Karna had not spoken up at all during this incident, it is likely that
Draupadi would never have had to defend herself in so shameful a manner.
Arjuna therefore rightly concludes that Karna is the man most responsible
for what has happened. So he takes a vow that he will kill Karna to avenge
Draupadi’s humiliation. And he fulfils the vow fourteen years or so later in the
Kurukshetra war.
Karna’s enmity with Arjuna has more to do with his loyalty to Duryodhana
than with jealousy.
But as someone who matches Arjuna’s skill at the graduation ceremony, to
see his once-equal opponent grow beyond recognition into the world’s greatest
archer must have been difficult. Karna also feels envious of Arjuna for having
won Draupadi.
The main thrust of Karna’s enmity toward Arjuna is his undying fealty
toward Duryodhana. More than anything, Karna wants to defeat Arjuna because
he wants to prove himself a worthy aide to Duryodhana.
However, we can surmise that jealousy must also be present in there
somewhere. We know that Karna matches Arjuna in skill during the graduation
ceremony, thus setting up the narrative that he is Arjuna’s equal.
To then repeatedly lose to him over the rest of the story must be difficult for
any man. This would have certainly bred envy.
Also, we know that Karna is rejected by Draupadi publicly at her
swayamvara, and then Arjuna proceeds to win her for himself. That is also bound
to have caused some envy in Karna.
Despite all this, though, Karna gets a chance to ‘make Arjuna his slave’ by
accepting Krishna’s offer to fight on the Pandavas’ side.
If his jealousy had been overpowering, Karna would have said yes – and he
would have won Arjuna’s eternal subservience along with Draupadi as his main
wife.
But the fact that he says no, and that he chooses Duryodhana, suggests that
it is Duryodhana that is most important to him in his life – even more than his
need to overcome Arjuna.
Arjuna does not know that Karna is his brother until after Karna’s death.
Krishna, Kunti and Bhishma are the only three people to know the secret of
Karna’s birth (besides himself).
After Karna’s death, Kunti reveals the information to her sons. The
Pandavas, including Arjuna, are distraught at the thought that they have killed
their elder brother.
At the beginning, only Kunti knows about the true identity of Karna. When
she first spots Karna at the graduation ceremony, she faints because she
recognizes the marks on her son’s body.
As time passes, though, more and more people are brought in on the secret.
Krishna, when he arrives in Hastinapur, reveals that he knows.
But the reader is not told how. One assumes that Kunti tells Krishna about
it at Vidura’s house in the hope that Krishna can then leverage it for Arjuna’s
benefit.
Bhishma, on the night of the tenth day of battle, admits to Karna: ‘I know
that you are Kunti’s firstborn.’ His source of information is Vyasa.
How Vyasa came to know, we do not know. Either he has been told by Kunti
on some prior occasion, or he has been told by Surya, or he just knows because he
is Vyasa.
Karna, of course, hears of it for the first time from Krishna’s mouth. And he
hears it for a second time from Kunti, which is then corroborated by a divine
voice that belongs to Surya.
Besides these five characters, as long as Karna lives, no one knows the truth
about his birth.
Krishna keeps this truth purposefully from Arjuna and the others out of fear
that they would refuse to fight their elder brother if they knew. Kunti tells her
sons about her secret only after the war has ended.
The Pandavas are stricken by despair at the thought that they had not only
killed their grandfather and their preceptor but also their elder brother. They
perform all of Karna’s last rites with respect.
Arjuna faces Karna on two occasions without Krishna’s help, and wins both
times. One of these battles – during the Gograhana Parva – is conclusive: Arjuna
defeats an entire division of the Kuru army by himself.
The other battle – during Draupadi’s swayamvara – ends with Karna
withdrawing from the duel mid-way, giving Arjuna a victory.
This does not mean, of course, that Arjuna can defeat Karna on every
occasion they fight – whether or not in Krishna’s presence. If one is able to
simulate a hundred Arjuna-Karna confrontations, Karna will probably win ten or
more of them.
Also, we must remember that what we call ‘skill of a warrior’ is not a
constant quality. It ebbs and flows.
It is affected by a number of controllable factors: the amount of deliberate
practice the hero has put in, the amount of thought he has given to strategy – and
uncontrollable ones: like the mood of your charioteer, the number of divine
weapons you have, etc.
All said, Arjuna and Karna are considered near equals in terms of skill. So if
one were to neutralize all the other factors – meaning we ask them to fight with
normal bows and arrows while on foot – we may expect about a fifty-fifty share of
the spoils.
By the time of the Kurukshetra war, though, Arjuna is incredibly powerful
(through a combination of his skill and his acquisitions). Karna, on the other
hand, is severely handicapped because of Shalya’s machinations.
There is a moment in the final battle where Karna shoots an arrow (the
Naga Aswasena) at Arjuna – and it only misses because Krishna stamps down on
the chariot with enough force to sink its wheels in the mud.
So if Krishna had not been Arjuna’s charioteer in the battle with Karna,
Arjuna would have died.
When he is young, Arjuna is the best archer among all the Kuru princes.
Two other men display comparable amounts of skill to him. One is Karna, who
appears at the graduation ceremony and repeats all of Arjuna’s feats.
The other is Ekalavya, a Nishada prince who learns archery on his own and
surpasses Arjuna.
Being a good archer and being a good warrior in battle aren’t always the
same. While all good warriors are necessarily good archers, not all good archers
are necessarily good warriors.
Fighting in a battle requires more skills than those that go into making a
good archer. These may include strategic nous, an ability to learn the right
lessons from past experiences, and an ability to improvise on the spot.
Also, many uncontrollable factors go into whether you win on the battlefield
or not: chiefly, it is important to fight with the right people, in the right
environment, with the right weapons.
With Karna and Ekalavya, we only know that they are as skilled as Arjuna is
only to the extent of archery. In the case of Ekalavya, Drona sees to it that the boy
never competes with Arjuna even on that front.
As he grows into youth and then into adulthood, Arjuna becomes a better
archer, yes, but more importantly he becomes a powerful warrior. He gets given
weapons that make him invincible.
He fights with Krishna as his charioteer, and he is supported in most battles
ably by Bhimasena – himself a great atiratha.
One may conclude, therefore, that Arjuna is only one of the greatest archers
of his time (the others being Karna and Ekalavya, as far as we know), but he is the
most powerful warrior of his time because of all the other factors that work in his
favour.
Final Meeting
Karna and Arjuna meet for the final time on the seventeenth day of the
Kurukshetra war, when they challenge one another to single combat with bow
and arrow.
Karna is, by this time, one of the last Kaurava stalwarts standing. Bhishma
and Drona have already been defeated. It is notable that Krishna allows this fight
to take place only after Karna has used up his Vasava missile in killing
Ghatotkacha.
The two brothers tussle with each other for a long while. The deadlock
breaks when Karna’s chariot-wheel sinks into the earth and Shalya, Karna’s
charioteer, refuses to repair the vehicle.
It is left to Karna to leap off the chariot and rescue his buried wheel, while at
the same time staving off arrows from Arjuna.
In this moment, while Arjuna hesitates to shoot, Krishna implores his friend
to show the enemy no mercy. He inflames Arjuna’s rage by recounting all of
Karna’s indiscretions from the past – especially his treatment of Draupadi during
the dice game.
Arjuna thus beheads Karna and brings their long-standing rivalry to a close.
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up the Mammoth Mahabharata Book Set?
If you like this book, you will thoroughly enjoy the rest of the books in the
set as well.
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