Karna
Encyclopedia
Karna or Radheya is one of the central characters in the epic Mahābhārata
, from ancient India. He was the King of Anga
(present day Bhagalpur
and Munger
). Karna was one of the greatest warriors whose martial exploits are recorded in the Mahābhārata, an admiration expressed by Krishna
and Bhishma
within the body of this work. The Mahābhārata was first written down, according to tradition, by Maharishi Ved Vyasa, in the first millennium BC.
Karna was the son of Surya
(a solar deity
) and Kunti. He was born to Kunti before her marriage with Pandu. Karna was the closest friend of Duryodhana
and fought on his behalf against the Pandava
s (his brothers) in the famous Kurukshetra war
. Karna fought against misfortune throughout his life and kept his word under all circumstances. Many admire him for his courage and generosity. It is believed that Karna founded the city of Karnal
.
Many believe that he was the greatest warrior of Mahabharata
since he was only able to be defeated by Arjuna along with a combination of 3 curses, Indra's efforts and Kunti's request.
, one of the Sanskrit
epics from the Indian subcontinent. The work is written in Classical Sanskrit and its development dates to a period broadly contemporary with the classical age of ancient Greece and Rome, c. 400 BC–400 AD. Like the poetry of Homer
, however, this epic is attributed to a figure about whom little is known – Vyasa
, via his scribe Ganesha
– and is a record of material that was already in existence as an oral tradition before it was set down in writing. Its ultimate origins may date to the eighth or ninth century BC. Like the Iliad
, the Mahābhārata concerns an ancient war, the Kurukshetra war
; like the Odyssey
, where Odysseus recounts his marvellous adventures to King Alcinous, it is a story within a story. It is, however, much longer than both the Iliad and the Odyssey combined. Karna was a great warrior in the Kurukshetra war and his story is contained within the Mahābhārata, as is the Bhagavad Gita
, a sacred text of the Hindus.
and his mother's name was Kunti. Karna was born before his mother's marriage to prince Pandu
. The story of Karna's miraculous birth is this:
When Kunti was a young woman, a wise though irascible old man, the sage Durvasa
, visited her father's palace, where Kunti served him with utmost care for an entire year. Pleased by her service and hospitality, the sage foresaw that Kunti would have difficulty having a child after her marriage to Pandu, and granted her a boon to overcome this difficulty. By this boon she could call upon any god of her choice, and receive a child through him. Out of curiosity, Kunti still being unmarried, she decided to test the power of the mantra and called upon the god Surya. Compelled by the power of this mantra, Surya appeared before her and handed her a son, who was as radiant and powerful as Surya himself. The baby was wearing armour ('Kavacha') and a pair of earrings ('Kundala'). Though Kunti had not physically given birth to the baby, she was unwilling to be accused of being an unmarried mother and so with the help of her maid Dhatri, she placed the baby Karna in a basket and set him afloat on 'Ashwa' a tributary of the holy river Ganges, the Ashwanadi, in the hope that he would be taken in by another family.
, a charioteer of King Dhritarashtra
of Hastinapur. Adhiratha and his wife Radha
raised the boy as their own son and named him Vasusena. He also came to be known as Radheya, the son of Radha. The name Karna, however, denotes 'ear', because Karna was born with divine earrings. The emotional bond between Karna and his foster parents would remain strong throughout his life, filled with love, respect and affection.
Karna happily performed his duties as their son, but as he grew up, he became more interested in the art of warfare than in merely being a charioteer like his father Adhirata. Karna met Dronacharya, who was an established teacher in the art of warfare. Dronacharya taught the Kuru princes, but refused to take Karna as his student, since Karna was a son of a charioteer and Dronacharya only taught Kshatriya
s, or warriors.
After being refused by Dronacharya, Karna sought his brother Shona's help. But according to Indian culture, to learn an art you must have a guru (teacher), so Karna appointed the sun god as his guru, learned to wield his weapons during the day by gathering information about the various ayudhas (weapons) and practiced with them after sundown.
One day, when Karna came to Hastinapur, the seat of the Kauravas dynasty, after a month of holiday, he heard from his friend Ashwathama that the week before, the guru Dronacharya had decided to test his students in their skill at archery. He had hung a wooden bird from the branch of a tree and then summoned his students, asking the first one to aim for the bird's eye but to tell him first what he could see. The student replied that he could see the garden, the tree, the flowers, everything – of course! Dronacharya asked him to step aside and not to shoot. He asked a few other students the same thing, with the same outcome. When it was Arjuna's
turn, Arjuna told his guru that the only thing he could see was the bird's eye. This satisfied Dronacharya and he allowed Arjuna to shoot at the bird. Arjuna successfully hit the eye of the wooden crow.
After listening also to his brother Shona's account of these events, Karna told him that if Arjuna could hit the one eye of the wooden crow then he could hit both eyes of it in a single shot. They practiced with their bows during the night, and Karna decided to shoot both eyes of the wooden crow there and then, with the help of some household illumination. Karna instructed Shona to suspend the wooden crow high in a tree and to hold the light underneath. Karna strung his bow with two arrows (slightly changed their position one after the other) and as soon as he got a signal from Shona, he successfully hit both eyes of the bird in a single shot.
Like the Irish mythological hero Cú Chulaind, who was possibly a young sun god, Karna was able to learn various martial arts in a very short time. But, Karna wanted to learn all the advanced skills of archery including the use of divine weapons. After being refused by Dronacharya, Karna decided to learn from Parashurama
, Dronacharya's own guru, who was known to teach only Brahmins. He appeared before Parashurama as a Brahmin and requested that he be taken on as his student. Parashurama accepted him and trained him to such a point that he declared Karna to be equal to himself in the art of warfare and archery.
, the most destructive weapon in archery, at the moment of his greatest need.
Karna pleaded that any student would have acted in the same way and that he was the son of Vasusena, a mere charioteer and not a Kshatriya. But while Parashurama regretted cursing Karna in a moment of anger, his curse was irrevocable. So he gave to Karna as a gift the celestial weapon called Bhargavastra, along with his personal bow called Vijaya, for being such a diligent student.
Departing from Parashurama's ashram, Karna wandered for some time. On his way, he slew a cow that was rushing at him by shooting an arrow. Incensed by this incident, the Brahmin who owned the cow cursed him, stating that as he had killed a helpless animal, Karna too would be killed in the same way when he was most helpless with his concentration being diverted away from his enemy at a crucial moment.
Andhra folklore further relates that Karna was riding his chariot in his kingdom of Anga once when he encountered a child who was crying over her pot of spilt ghee
. On asking her the reason for her dismay, she stated that she feared that her stepmother would be angry over her carelessness. Being generous, Karna told the girl that he would give her some new ghee. But the child insisted that she wanted only the ghee that was mixed with the soil and refused to take the new ghee. Taking pity on her, Karna took the soil mixed with ghee in his fist and squeezed it with all his might, so that the ghee dripped back into the pot. During this process, Karna heard the agonized voice of a woman. When he opened his fist, he realized that the voice was that of Bhoomidevi, the Earth goddess. She furiously chastised Karna for inflicting enormous pain on Mother Earth for the sake of a mere child and cursed him that at a very crucial moment in battle, his chariot wheel would be trapped as tightly as he had held that fistful of soil.
Thus, Karna was cursed on three separate and independent occasions. and each of these curses came true at the same crucial moment in the Kurukshetra war, leaving him weaponless and without a chariot.
was shown to be a particularly gifted archer. Karna arrived at this tournament, however, and after surpassing Arjuna's feats, challenged him to a duel. Kripacharya refused Karna his duel, asking first for his clan and kingdom; for according to the rules of duelling, only a prince could challenge Arjuna to a duel since he was a prince of the Kuru house. Duryodhana
, the oldest of the one-hundred sons of the blind king Dhritarashtra, knew that the Pandavas, the five sons of King Pandu, younger brother of King Dhritarashtra, were better than he and his brothers at warfare and saw Karna as a chance to get on even terms with them. He immediately offered Karna the throne of the kingdom of Anga
, making him a king and hence eligible to fight a duel with Arjuna. When Karna asked him what he could do to repay him, Duryodhana told him that all he wanted was his friendship.
This event establishes key relationships in the Mahābhārata, namely, the strong bond between Duryodhana and Karna, the intense rivalry between Karna and Arjuna, and the enmity in general between the Pandavas (the sons of King Pandu and Madri
and Karna'a mother Kunti) and Karna himself.
Karna was a loyal and true comrade to Duryodhana. He helped him to marry the princess of Chitragandha. Following his accession to the throne of Anga, Karna took an oath that anyone who approached him with a request at midday, when he worshiped the sun, would not leave empty-handed. This practice contributed to Karna's fame as well as to his downfall, as Indra took advantage of it. Ultimately, Karna's unfailing generosity resulted in his death on the Kurukshetra battlefield.
, or her choosing of a marriage partner. Unlike most other contenders, he was easily able to wield and string the bow, but as he was ready to set his aim, on Krishna's gesture, Draupadi restrained him from shooting the arrow by calling him the son of a charioteer. The Pandavas were also present in the swayamvara, disguised as Brahmins. Following the failure of the other princes, Arjuna stepped into the ring and successfully hit the target, winning Draupadi's hand. When Arjuna's identity was later revealed, Karna's feelings of hostile rivalry with him further intensified.
After Shakuni won a game of dice by trickery, Draupadi
, now queen to all five sons of King Pandu, including Arjuna, was dragged into the court by Dushasana
. Duryodhana and his brothers attempted to strip her. Karna insulted Draupadi by saying that a woman with more than four husbands is nothing but a whore and that the Pandavas were all like sesame seeds removed from the kernel and she should now find some other husbands.
On the spot, Bhima, another of the Pandava brothers, vowed that he would personally slaughter Duryodhana and his brothers in battle. Arjuna subsequently swore to kill Karna.
, the Shakas, the Kekayas, the Avantyas, the Gandhara
s, the Madarakas
, the Trigartas, the Tanganas, the Panchala
s, the Videhas, the Suhmas, the Anga
s, the Vanga
s, the Nishadas, the Kalinga
s, the Vatsa, the Ashmakas
, the Rishikas
and numerous others including mlecchas and the forest tribes.
, Krishna
approached Karna, who was acknowledged as Duryodhana's finest warrior. Krishna revealed to Karna that he was the eldest son of Kunti, and therefore, technically, the eldest Pandava
, and asked him to change sides. Krishna assured him that Yudhisthira
would give the crown of Indraprastha to him.
Karna refused this huge offer because he had sworn fidelity to Duryodhana, and as such, was compelled to stay by his side despite his blood ties to the Pandavas. He said that Yudhisthira was a righteous man, and knowing that Karna was older than he was, Yudhisthira would immediately give up his crown to him, he knew. However, to repay his debt to Duryodhana, Karna would have to confer the crown of Indraprastha immediately onto Duryodhana, which Karna thought was against Dharma
. Krishna was saddened, but appreciating Karna's sense of loyalty, accepted his decision, promising Karna that his lineage would remain a secret.
, the king of the gods (Devas
) and the father of Arjuna
, realized that Karna would be invincible in battle and unable to be killed as long as he had the golden armour and earrings that he had been born with, so he conceived a plot to weaken Karna. He decided to approach Karna as a poor Brahmin during Karna's midday sun worship. Surya
warned Karna of Indra's intentions, however, exhorting him not to give away his armour and earrings. Karna thanked Surya but explained that he was bound by his word and could not send anyone from his door empty-handed, even if it meant his death.
As Surya had warned, a disguised Indra approached Karna and asked for his kavacha (body armour) and kundala (earrings) as alms. Karna readily gave them away, cutting the armor and earrings off his body. Indra, shamed into generosity by Karna's gesture, reciprocated by giving Karna the boon to use his most powerful weapon, the Vasavi shakti, but only once. It was then that Karna earned the name Vaikartana, as he cut the armour off his body without flinching.
Karna knew that Arjuna was under the divine aegis of Lord Krishna and hence would be invincible. But he knew that because of this he would be able to pay off Duryodhana's debt while performing the duties of an elder brother. He told Kunti that she could only keep five sons – the fifth would either be himself or Arjuna. Karna requested his mother to keep their relationship and his royal birth a secret until his death.
A quarter of the whole length of the Mahābhārata
is devoted to an account of the Kurukshetra war.
The story relates how, before the war began, Duryodana requested Bhishma
, the commander-in-chief of the Kauravas, to consider Karna under his leadership. Bhishma refused, saying that Karna had insulted his guru Parshuram by insulting Draupadi and nobody disrespecting his guru can fight under his leadership. Bhishma secretly knew about Karna's true ancestary and did not want him to fight against his own brothers. Consequently, Karna entered the battlefield only on the eleventh day, after the fall of Bheeshma. We pick up the story on the thirteenth day.
Abhimanyu
, Arjuna's son, however, had heard about the formation while he was in his mother's womb, when Krishna was narrating the Chakravyuha arrangement to his sister Subhadra. Subhadra had paid attention only to the first part of the narration and then fallen asleep, so Abhimanyu only knew how to enter the formation, and not how to extract himself from it. Notwithstanding this, the four Pandava brothers decided that Abhimanyu should lead them to enter the Chakravyuha in the absence of Arjuna and Krishna.
But, as soon as Abhimanyu entered the Chakravyuha, Jayadratha
, a Sindhu king from the Kaurava army blocked it, thereby preventing other Pandavas from entering the formation. Abhimanyu was left all alone in the middle of the enemy formation. Once inside, he fought valiantly and held back all the best warriors of the Kauravas single-handedly, including Karna, Dronacharya and Duryodhana. Duryodhana and Karna chose to assist in the elimination of Abhimanyu under Dronacharya's guidance. Karna shot arrows from behind that broke Abhimanyu's bow and the reins of his chariot, while the Kauravas overwhelmed him. The battle ended in Abhimanyu's death.
Arjuna, on learning of the death of Abhimanyu at the hands of the Kauravas, pledged to kill Jayadratha before sunset the next day, failing which he would immolate himself in a fire.
, the half-asura son of Bhima
, began to destroy the Kaurava forces. It was a characteristic of the asuras that they became extraordinarily powerful at night. Duryodhana and Karna bravely stood and fought him. Finally, when it seemed that Ghatotkacha would destroy all the Kaurava forces that very night, having already badly-wounded Dronacharya, Duryodhana called upon Karna to use all means necessary. Karna engaged him in a ferocious duel, with every single warrior from both sides watching in silent awe. As Ghatotkacha began to use his skills of dark magic, Karna had to use the Vasava Shakti, which had been gifted to him by Lord Indra in return for his divine armour. Using this weapon, Karna killed the Asura Ghatotkacha.
Although his death was a major disappointment to the Pandavas, there was a serene smile on Krishna's face. Krishna knew that, because Karna had now expended this fearsome weapon, Arjuna was no longer vulnerable to it.
is the name given to the Eighth Book of the Mahābhārata, describing days 16 and 17 of the Kurukshetra war. Karna is now the commander of the Kaurava army. Anticipating a likely battle to the death between Karna and Arjura, Lord Krishna spoke to Arjuna:
"Hear in brief, O son of Pandu! I regard the mighty car-warrior Karna as thy equal, or perhaps, thy superior! With the greatest care and resolution shouldst thou slay him in great battle. In energy he is equal to Agni. As regards speed, he is equal to the impetuosity of the wind. In wrath, he resembles the Destroyer himself. Endued with might, he resembles a lion in the formation of his body. He is eight ratnis in stature. His arms are large. His chest is broad. He is invincible. He is sensitive. He is a hero. He is, indeed, the foremost of heroes."
Karna single-handedly defeated all but one of the Pandavas on this sixteenth day of the Kurukshetra war, as related in the Mahābhārata. He overcame Bhima but left him alive, saying that as Bhima was younger than he was, he wouldn't kill him. He defeated Yudhisthira and also left him alive, saying that: "It seems that you have forgotten all the teachings which your guru has taught you, so first go and practice them and then come to fight". Karna then defeated Nakula and Sahedeva but didn't kill them, since he had promised his mother to spare the lives of all the Pandava brothers except for Arjuna.
After defeating all of Arjuna's brothers, Karna asked his charioteer, Shalya, to drive his chariot to where Arjuna was standing. Karna took his powerful weapon, Nagastra and shot it at Arjuna. Krishna saved Arjuna from certain death by his divine powers; by subtly lowering Arjuna’s chariot into the earth, through a gentle pressure of his feet. An angry Arjuna showered all his arrows on Karna, but Karna neutralized them all with his own. Karna then shot more arrows which incapacitated Arjuna and made him weaponless. But the close of the day spared Arjuna's life, since both sides observed the codes of war and stopped fighting.
Karna cut the string of Arjuna's bow many times. But at each instant he found Arjuna able to tie back the bowstring in the twinkling of an eye. Karna praised Arjuna for this and remarked to Shalya that now he understood why people called him the greatest archer in the world.
Although the duel was evenly-fought for a long while, Karna was suddenly stricken by the playing-out of the curses that had been thrown at him and which would now put him in grave danger. Hampered as his chariot wheel sank into the ground in loose, wet soil, he found himself unable to remember the incantations for his divine weapons, as his teacher Parashurama
had foretold. Descending from his chariot to remove the wheel, he requested Arjuna to wait, as the etiquette of battle allowed; but Krishna told Arjuna that Karna has no right to refer to etiquette at this point, having violated those same rules himself when killing Abhimanyu, participating in the laksha-griha conspiracy, assisting Duryodhan in the game of dice and insulting Draupadi in the Hastinapur court. Lord Krishna told Arjuna that it was not adharma
to kill a man who had supported evil all his life, and urged Arjuna to kill Karna while he could.
Arjuna shot many arrows at the helpless Karna, severely wounding him, but was curiously unable to kill him. Lord Krishna told him that the great Dharma of noble charity that Karna had performed during his lifetime was protecting him. Lord Krishna ordered Arjuna to redouble his efforts. Arjuna complied and Karna was killed.
vidhi were performed for all the fallen. Kunti then requested her sons to perform the rites for Karna as well. When they protested, saying he was a Sūta
, she revealed the truth of his birth. The brothers were shocked to find that they had committed fratricide
. Yudhishtira, in particular, was furious with his mother and laid a curse upon all women that they should never thereafter be able to keep a secret.
According to Karna's dying wish, Karna's Antim Sanskar was performed by none other than Lord Krishna himself. This was the honour given to him by Lord Krishna. Karna is the only person in the Mahābhārata epic who receives this great honour.
Lord Krishna went to Gandhari to tell her that Karna had died. Gandhari told Lord Krishna: "You knew what was going to happen and you could have prevented the war." Gandhari cursed Lord Krishna for this. "Just as my entire family perished, your family will die the same way." Lord Krishna smiled as he accepted Gandhari's curse.
The nine sons of Karna were Vrishasena, Sudaman, Shatrunjaya, Dvipata, Sushena, Satyasea, Chitrasena, Susharma alias Banasena and Vrishakethu. Sudaman died in the melee that followed Draupadi’s swayamvara. Shatrunjaya and Dvipata died in the Kurukshetra war at the hands of Arjuna, during the days when the guru Dronacharya commanded the Kaurava forces. Sushena was killed in the war by Bhima. Satyasena, Chitrasena and Susharma died at the hands of Nakula. Karna’s eldest son Vrishasena was killed by Arjuna during the last days of the war, when Karna commanded the battle forces.
Arjuna in turn sought Krishna's help and vowed to kill Vrishasena. Vrishasena, however, was able to release many different kinds of arrows against them both, piercing Arjuna's arm and Krishna also. Arjuna became enraged, and after threatening Karna with what he would do to his son, he struck Vrishasena with ten arrows and then with four razor-headed arrows, cut off his bow, his two arms and his head, adorned as it was with beautiful earrings. It was this killing that prompted Karna to challenge Arjuna to fight.
, Vrishakethu accompanied Arjuna and participated in battles with Sudhava and Babruvahana. During that campaign, Vrishakethu married the daughter of king Yavanatha, perhaps a king in the west. It is recorded that Arjuna developed a great affection for his nephew Vrishakethu and trained him to be one of the best archers in the world.
Having embarked upon the fateful battle, the curse of the Brahmin who owned the cow and the curse of Bhoomidevi provide the opportunity for Karna's defeat. His giving away of his armour and earrings as alms to Lord Indra, this time disguised as a beggar, left him vulnerable. His generous nature and faith in keeping his word also contributed to his downfall by the two promises he made to his mother Kunti, not to kill his four half-brothers and to use the Nagastra only once.
Karna's hatred towards the Pandavas lessened when he learned from his mother that they were his half-brothers. But, to be loyal to Duryodhana, Karna decided to fight against Arjuna in the war. Karna supported Duryodhana in all his wrongdoings even though he knew the difference between good and evil perfectly well. Lord Krishna tried to persuade Karna to switch his allegiance, knowing that without his support, Duryodhan would not fight the war and millions of lives would be spared. But Karna refused to do so because of his personal honour and his debt to Duryodhana. The resulting animosity of Lord Krishna towards Karna led ultimately to his fatal instruction to Arjuna to kill him without mercy.
, in the epic story told in the Mahābhārata, he remains a figure of adulation for millions of Hindus and India
ns, who regard him as the greatest warrior of all time. Many Hindus consider Karna as a man who fought against his misfortunes throughout his life without a single pause. He never got his due, but never gave up his efforts, his courageous spirit led him to brave impossible odds in his life and he died with unique courage, valour and honour. In the Mahābhārata, Bheeshma and Lord Krishna
concede that Karna was a noble spirit who rarely appears in the human race. Karna is especially adored for his generosity. He is idealized as an inspiration for struggling humanity not to lose heart. He is also considered an example of how misjudgment can render all the finer qualities of an individual futile.
Karna's might is praised even by Krishna in the Mahābhārata. During his battle with Arjuna, when Arjuna questions the reason for this praise, Krishna reminds Arjuna that, by having Krishna as his charioteer, Arjuna's chariot contains the whole weight of the universe and yet Karna is still able to rock it by the force of his arrows. When the battle is ended and multiple levels of divine protection are removed from Arjuna's chariot, it explodes into dust through the blows it has received. Arjuna realizes his mistake and praises Karna as well.
Karna's ethics are admired. During his duel with Arjuna, when, by a blow from one of Karna's arrows Arjuna is rendered unconscious, the cobra king Ashwasen creeps out of hiding from Karna's chariot and asks Karna if he may use his poison against Arjuna, because Arjuna had burnt his forest to the ground. Karna refuses. He will not use a snake against any human, because it would be treachery towards humanity.
Karna is a popular Hindu male name.
.
Karna serves as an excellent example of a gifted, generous, righteous and brave individual who was still doomed because of his loyalty towards Duryodhana. Karna had the five perfect qualities of a husband for Draupadi, but being with Duryodhana nullified these and allowed Arjuna to take her instead. Karna's affection for Duryodhana led him, albeit unwillingly, to assist his dear friend in all his actions against the Pandavas. Karna was aware of Duryodhana's malicious plans against the Pandavas. Karna was also aware of his own imminent downfall on assisting the evil against the good. He is criticised for insulting Draupadi in the Hastinapur court and for supporting Duryodhan in his act of dishonoring her. His role in the killing of an unarmed and outnumbered Abhimanyu can be interpreted as an act that more directly damaged his image as an honorable warrior and doomed him to a similar fate. According to some interpretations of the Mahābhārata, it was this deed that cemented Karna's status as a warrior on the wrong side of the war and sealed his fate, that of being killed by Arjuna in the same way, being unarmed, chariotless and with his back turned to Arjuna.
, the sun god, at noon every day. This tradition of praying to Surya is still carried out in parts of Bihar
, Jharkhand
and Uttar Pradesh
in the form of Chhath
Puja.
, an epic
Tamil movie depicting the life of Karna and his friendship with Duryodhana, starring Shivaji Ganesan and N.T. Rama Rao. Other, similar movies soon followed, in Telugu
and Hindi
.
In 1977, the telugu movie Daana Veera Soora Karna
again starred the Indian film actor, director and producer N.T Rama Rao, who played three characters – Karna, Duryodhana and Krishna. In 2010, Prakash Jha
directed the Bollywood
film Raajneeti, a fictional adaptation of the Mahābhārata, set within a backdrop of Indian Politics and starring the actor Ajay Devgan
, who played Suraj, a character based on Karna. One of the songs from the 1991 Indian movie Thalapathi
, based upon the friendship between Karna and Duryodhana, has been voted number 4 in the BBC's 'World's Top Ten Revealed' worldwide music poll.
Karna was portrayed by Pankaj Dheer
in 1988, in the television series Mahabharat
Superstar Padmashri Bharat Lt.Col. Dr.Mohanlal
on the stage as Karna in Karnabharam, a Sanskrit
play that was premiered in New Delhi
as part of the National Theatre Festival
directed by Kavalam Narayana Panicker
. The play depicts Karna's mental agony a day before the Kurukshetra War
, as he thinks about his past and his faith. He received a standing ovation each time the play was staged.
Mahabharata
The Mahabharata is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India and Nepal, the other being the Ramayana. The epic is part of itihasa....
, from ancient India. He was the King of Anga
Anga
Anga was a kingdom that flourished on the eastern Indian subcontinent in the 6th century BCE until taken over by Magadha in the same century. Counted among the "sixteen great nations" in Buddhist texts like the Anguttara Nikaya, Anga also finds mention in the Jain Vyakhyaprajnapti’s list of...
(present day Bhagalpur
Bhagalpur
Bhagdattpuram was one of the most influential towns in "Aryavarta" . It is supposed to have been concurrent to Patliputra or Patna. Bhagdattpuram finds its mention in the Vedas and Ramayana as well. It is supposed to be the kingdom of Daanvir Karna, the son of Kunti and the Sun God...
and Munger
Munger
Munger town is the headquarters of Munger district, in the Indian state of Bihar. Historically, Munger is known for its manufacturing of iron articles such as firearms and swords. One of the major institutions in Munger is Bihar School of Yoga. It is one of the foremost learning center in the...
). Karna was one of the greatest warriors whose martial exploits are recorded in the Mahābhārata, an admiration expressed by Krishna
Krishna
Krishna is a central figure of Hinduism and is traditionally attributed the authorship of the Bhagavad Gita. He is the supreme Being and considered in some monotheistic traditions as an Avatar of Vishnu...
and Bhishma
Bhishma
Bhishma or Bheeshma or Devavrata or 'Bhishma Pitamah' was the eighth son of Kuru King Shantanu who was blessed with wish-long life and had sworn to serve the ruling Kuru king. He was one of the most prominent characters of the great Indian epic, the Mahabharata. He was the grand uncle of both the...
within the body of this work. The Mahābhārata was first written down, according to tradition, by Maharishi Ved Vyasa, in the first millennium BC.
Karna was the son of Surya
Surya
Surya Suraya or Phra Athit is the chief solar deity in Hinduism, one of the Adityas, son of Kasyapa and one of his wives, Aditi; of Indra; or of Dyaus Pitar . The term Surya also refers to the Sun, in general. Surya has hair and arms of gold...
(a solar deity
Solar deity
A solar deity is a sky deity who represents the Sun, or an aspect of it, usually by its perceived power and strength. Solar deities and sun worship can be found throughout most of recorded history in various forms...
) and Kunti. He was born to Kunti before her marriage with Pandu. Karna was the closest friend of Duryodhana
Duryodhana
In the Hindu epic the Mahābhārata, Duryodhana is the eldest son of the blind king Dhritarashtra by Queen Gandhari, the eldest of the one hundred Kaurava brothers, Emperor of the world at that time which means Emperor of India or Bharatvarsha as it was known at that time, cousin and the chief...
and fought on his behalf against the Pandava
Pandava
In the Hindu epic Mahābhārata, the Pandava are the five acknowledged sons of Pandu , by his two wives Kunti and Madri. Their names are Yudhisthira, Bhima, Arjuna, Nakula and Sahadeva. Although, Karna is told by Lord Krishna that according to the laws and ethics he is the first son of Kunti making...
s (his brothers) in the famous Kurukshetra war
Kurukshetra war
According to the Indian epic poem Mahābhārata, a dynastic succession struggle between two groups of cousins of an Indo-Aryan kingdom called Kuru, the Kauravas and Pandavas, for the throne of Hastinapura resulted in the Kurukshetra War in which a number of ancient kingdoms participated as allies of...
. Karna fought against misfortune throughout his life and kept his word under all circumstances. Many admire him for his courage and generosity. It is believed that Karna founded the city of Karnal
Karnal
Karnal is an important city and the headquarters of Karnal District in the Indian state of Haryana.Karnal is said to have been founded by the Kauravas in the Mahabharata era for the king Karna, a mythological hero and a key figure in the epic tale...
.
Many believe that he was the greatest warrior of Mahabharata
Mahabharata
The Mahabharata is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India and Nepal, the other being the Ramayana. The epic is part of itihasa....
since he was only able to be defeated by Arjuna along with a combination of 3 curses, Indra's efforts and Kunti's request.
Mahābhārata
The story of Karna is told in the MahābhārataMahabharata
The Mahabharata is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India and Nepal, the other being the Ramayana. The epic is part of itihasa....
, one of the Sanskrit
Sanskrit
Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...
epics from the Indian subcontinent. The work is written in Classical Sanskrit and its development dates to a period broadly contemporary with the classical age of ancient Greece and Rome, c. 400 BC–400 AD. Like the poetry of Homer
Homer
In the Western classical tradition Homer , is the author of the Iliad and the Odyssey, and is revered as the greatest ancient Greek epic poet. These epics lie at the beginning of the Western canon of literature, and have had an enormous influence on the history of literature.When he lived is...
, however, this epic is attributed to a figure about whom little is known – Vyasa
Vyasa
Vyasa is a central and revered figure in most Hindu traditions. He is also sometimes called Veda Vyasa , or Krishna Dvaipayana...
, via his scribe Ganesha
Ganesha
Ganesha , also spelled Ganesa or Ganesh, also known as Ganapati , Vinayaka , and Pillaiyar , is one of the deities best-known and most widely worshipped in the Hindu pantheon. His image is found throughout India and Nepal. Hindu sects worship him regardless of affiliations...
– and is a record of material that was already in existence as an oral tradition before it was set down in writing. Its ultimate origins may date to the eighth or ninth century BC. Like the Iliad
Iliad
The Iliad is an epic poem in dactylic hexameters, traditionally attributed to Homer. Set during the Trojan War, the ten-year siege of the city of Troy by a coalition of Greek states, it tells of the battles and events during the weeks of a quarrel between King Agamemnon and the warrior Achilles...
, the Mahābhārata concerns an ancient war, the Kurukshetra war
Kurukshetra war
According to the Indian epic poem Mahābhārata, a dynastic succession struggle between two groups of cousins of an Indo-Aryan kingdom called Kuru, the Kauravas and Pandavas, for the throne of Hastinapura resulted in the Kurukshetra War in which a number of ancient kingdoms participated as allies of...
; like the Odyssey
Odyssey
The Odyssey is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is, in part, a sequel to the Iliad, the other work ascribed to Homer. The poem is fundamental to the modern Western canon, and is the second—the Iliad being the first—extant work of Western literature...
, where Odysseus recounts his marvellous adventures to King Alcinous, it is a story within a story. It is, however, much longer than both the Iliad and the Odyssey combined. Karna was a great warrior in the Kurukshetra war and his story is contained within the Mahābhārata, as is the Bhagavad Gita
Bhagavad Gita
The ' , also more simply known as Gita, is a 700-verse Hindu scripture that is part of the ancient Sanskrit epic, the Mahabharata, but is frequently treated as a freestanding text, and in particular, as an Upanishad in its own right, one of the several books that constitute general Vedic tradition...
, a sacred text of the Hindus.
Divine birth
Karna's father was the solar deity SuryaSurya
Surya Suraya or Phra Athit is the chief solar deity in Hinduism, one of the Adityas, son of Kasyapa and one of his wives, Aditi; of Indra; or of Dyaus Pitar . The term Surya also refers to the Sun, in general. Surya has hair and arms of gold...
and his mother's name was Kunti. Karna was born before his mother's marriage to prince Pandu
Pandu
In the Mahābhārata epic, King Pandu is the son of Ambalika and Rishi Ved Vyasa. He is more popularly known as the father of the Pandavas and ruled Hastinapur.-Birth:...
. The story of Karna's miraculous birth is this:
When Kunti was a young woman, a wise though irascible old man, the sage Durvasa
Durvasa
In Hindu mythology, Durvasa , or Durvasas, was an ancient sage, the son of Atri and Anasuya. He is supposed to be an incarnation of Shiva. He is known for his short temper. Maledictions or curses he gave in his rage ruined many lives. Hence, wherever he went, he was received with great reverence ...
, visited her father's palace, where Kunti served him with utmost care for an entire year. Pleased by her service and hospitality, the sage foresaw that Kunti would have difficulty having a child after her marriage to Pandu, and granted her a boon to overcome this difficulty. By this boon she could call upon any god of her choice, and receive a child through him. Out of curiosity, Kunti still being unmarried, she decided to test the power of the mantra and called upon the god Surya. Compelled by the power of this mantra, Surya appeared before her and handed her a son, who was as radiant and powerful as Surya himself. The baby was wearing armour ('Kavacha') and a pair of earrings ('Kundala'). Though Kunti had not physically given birth to the baby, she was unwilling to be accused of being an unmarried mother and so with the help of her maid Dhatri, she placed the baby Karna in a basket and set him afloat on 'Ashwa' a tributary of the holy river Ganges, the Ashwanadi, in the hope that he would be taken in by another family.
Childhood and education
The child Karna was found by AdhirathaAdhiratha
According to the Mahābhārata, Adhiratha was a charioteer, and was the foster father of Karna. According to some studies, he was king of Anga, currently the regions around Bhagalpur, Bihar, India; whereas according to others, a charioteer of King Dhritarashtra...
, a charioteer of King Dhritarashtra
Dhritarashtra
In the Mahābhārata, Dhritarashtra was King of Hastinapur at the time of the Kurukshetra War, the epic's climactic event. He was born the son of Vichitravirya's first wife Ambika, and was fathered by Vyasa. He was blind from birth, and became father to a hundred children by his wife Gandhari...
of Hastinapur. Adhiratha and his wife Radha
Radha (Mahabharata)
Radha is the foster mother of Karna in the Mahābhārata, who is not to be confused with Radha the gopi. This is the wife of the charioteer Adiratha, who found an abandoned new-born boy, whom he named Karna. Adiratha and Radha became his foster parents...
raised the boy as their own son and named him Vasusena. He also came to be known as Radheya, the son of Radha. The name Karna, however, denotes 'ear', because Karna was born with divine earrings. The emotional bond between Karna and his foster parents would remain strong throughout his life, filled with love, respect and affection.
Karna happily performed his duties as their son, but as he grew up, he became more interested in the art of warfare than in merely being a charioteer like his father Adhirata. Karna met Dronacharya, who was an established teacher in the art of warfare. Dronacharya taught the Kuru princes, but refused to take Karna as his student, since Karna was a son of a charioteer and Dronacharya only taught Kshatriya
Kshatriya
*For the Bollywood film of the same name see Kshatriya Kshatriya or Kashtriya, meaning warrior, is one of the four varnas in Hinduism...
s, or warriors.
After being refused by Dronacharya, Karna sought his brother Shona's help. But according to Indian culture, to learn an art you must have a guru (teacher), so Karna appointed the sun god as his guru, learned to wield his weapons during the day by gathering information about the various ayudhas (weapons) and practiced with them after sundown.
One day, when Karna came to Hastinapur, the seat of the Kauravas dynasty, after a month of holiday, he heard from his friend Ashwathama that the week before, the guru Dronacharya had decided to test his students in their skill at archery. He had hung a wooden bird from the branch of a tree and then summoned his students, asking the first one to aim for the bird's eye but to tell him first what he could see. The student replied that he could see the garden, the tree, the flowers, everything – of course! Dronacharya asked him to step aside and not to shoot. He asked a few other students the same thing, with the same outcome. When it was Arjuna's
Arjuna
Arjuna in Indian mythology is the greatest warrior on earth and is one of the Pandavas, the heroes of the Hindu epic Mahābhārata. Arjuna, whose name means 'bright', 'shining', 'white' or 'silver' Arjuna (Devanagari: अर्जुन, Thai: อรชุน, Orachun, Tamil: Arjunan, Indonesian and Javanese: Harjuna,...
turn, Arjuna told his guru that the only thing he could see was the bird's eye. This satisfied Dronacharya and he allowed Arjuna to shoot at the bird. Arjuna successfully hit the eye of the wooden crow.
After listening also to his brother Shona's account of these events, Karna told him that if Arjuna could hit the one eye of the wooden crow then he could hit both eyes of it in a single shot. They practiced with their bows during the night, and Karna decided to shoot both eyes of the wooden crow there and then, with the help of some household illumination. Karna instructed Shona to suspend the wooden crow high in a tree and to hold the light underneath. Karna strung his bow with two arrows (slightly changed their position one after the other) and as soon as he got a signal from Shona, he successfully hit both eyes of the bird in a single shot.
Like the Irish mythological hero Cú Chulaind, who was possibly a young sun god, Karna was able to learn various martial arts in a very short time. But, Karna wanted to learn all the advanced skills of archery including the use of divine weapons. After being refused by Dronacharya, Karna decided to learn from Parashurama
Parashurama
Parashurama , is the sixth avatar of Vishnu and belongs to the treta yuga, and is the son of a Brahmin father Jamadagni and mother Renuka. He is considered one of the seven immortal human. He received an axe after undertaking a terrible penance to please Shiva, from whom he learned the methods of...
, Dronacharya's own guru, who was known to teach only Brahmins. He appeared before Parashurama as a Brahmin and requested that he be taken on as his student. Parashurama accepted him and trained him to such a point that he declared Karna to be equal to himself in the art of warfare and archery.
Curse
As Karna's training came to completion, Parashurama learned the truth about his star pupil, in the following way. The legend goes that one afternoon Parashurama requested Karna to bring a pillow for him to lie his head on in the shade of a tree. Karna offered his teacher his lap, but while Parashurama was asleep, a giant bee stung Karna's thigh. Despite excruciating pain, Karna did not move, so as not to disturb his guru's sleep. As the bee bored deeper into Karna's thigh, the wound began to bleed. Parashurama was woken up by the blood and deduced at once that Karna was a Kshatriya and not a Brahmin, since only a Kshatriya could have endured such pain. Parashurama, who had sworn vengeance against all Kshatriyas, laid this curse upon Karna: that he would forget all the mantras required to wield the divine weapon BrahmastraBrahmastra
In ancient Sanskrit writings, the Brahmastra was a weapon created by Brahma.-Features:It is sometimes known as the Brahma Astra . As described in a number of the Puranas, it was considered the deadliest weapon...
, the most destructive weapon in archery, at the moment of his greatest need.
Karna pleaded that any student would have acted in the same way and that he was the son of Vasusena, a mere charioteer and not a Kshatriya. But while Parashurama regretted cursing Karna in a moment of anger, his curse was irrevocable. So he gave to Karna as a gift the celestial weapon called Bhargavastra, along with his personal bow called Vijaya, for being such a diligent student.
More curses
Karna was cursed also by the Earth goddess, and by a Brahmin. The story is this:Departing from Parashurama's ashram, Karna wandered for some time. On his way, he slew a cow that was rushing at him by shooting an arrow. Incensed by this incident, the Brahmin who owned the cow cursed him, stating that as he had killed a helpless animal, Karna too would be killed in the same way when he was most helpless with his concentration being diverted away from his enemy at a crucial moment.
Andhra folklore further relates that Karna was riding his chariot in his kingdom of Anga once when he encountered a child who was crying over her pot of spilt ghee
Ghee
Ghee is a class of clarified butter that originated in South Asia and is commonly used in South Asian cuisine....
. On asking her the reason for her dismay, she stated that she feared that her stepmother would be angry over her carelessness. Being generous, Karna told the girl that he would give her some new ghee. But the child insisted that she wanted only the ghee that was mixed with the soil and refused to take the new ghee. Taking pity on her, Karna took the soil mixed with ghee in his fist and squeezed it with all his might, so that the ghee dripped back into the pot. During this process, Karna heard the agonized voice of a woman. When he opened his fist, he realized that the voice was that of Bhoomidevi, the Earth goddess. She furiously chastised Karna for inflicting enormous pain on Mother Earth for the sake of a mere child and cursed him that at a very crucial moment in battle, his chariot wheel would be trapped as tightly as he had held that fistful of soil.
Thus, Karna was cursed on three separate and independent occasions. and each of these curses came true at the same crucial moment in the Kurukshetra war, leaving him weaponless and without a chariot.
King of Anga
The guru Dronacharya held a tournament at Hastinapur, to display the skills of the Kuru princes. His student ArjunaArjuna
Arjuna in Indian mythology is the greatest warrior on earth and is one of the Pandavas, the heroes of the Hindu epic Mahābhārata. Arjuna, whose name means 'bright', 'shining', 'white' or 'silver' Arjuna (Devanagari: अर्जुन, Thai: อรชุน, Orachun, Tamil: Arjunan, Indonesian and Javanese: Harjuna,...
was shown to be a particularly gifted archer. Karna arrived at this tournament, however, and after surpassing Arjuna's feats, challenged him to a duel. Kripacharya refused Karna his duel, asking first for his clan and kingdom; for according to the rules of duelling, only a prince could challenge Arjuna to a duel since he was a prince of the Kuru house. Duryodhana
Duryodhana
In the Hindu epic the Mahābhārata, Duryodhana is the eldest son of the blind king Dhritarashtra by Queen Gandhari, the eldest of the one hundred Kaurava brothers, Emperor of the world at that time which means Emperor of India or Bharatvarsha as it was known at that time, cousin and the chief...
, the oldest of the one-hundred sons of the blind king Dhritarashtra, knew that the Pandavas, the five sons of King Pandu, younger brother of King Dhritarashtra, were better than he and his brothers at warfare and saw Karna as a chance to get on even terms with them. He immediately offered Karna the throne of the kingdom of Anga
Anga
Anga was a kingdom that flourished on the eastern Indian subcontinent in the 6th century BCE until taken over by Magadha in the same century. Counted among the "sixteen great nations" in Buddhist texts like the Anguttara Nikaya, Anga also finds mention in the Jain Vyakhyaprajnapti’s list of...
, making him a king and hence eligible to fight a duel with Arjuna. When Karna asked him what he could do to repay him, Duryodhana told him that all he wanted was his friendship.
This event establishes key relationships in the Mahābhārata, namely, the strong bond between Duryodhana and Karna, the intense rivalry between Karna and Arjuna, and the enmity in general between the Pandavas (the sons of King Pandu and Madri
Madri
In the Mahābhārata epic, Madri was a princess of the Madra kingdom and the second wife of Pandu.On his way to Hastinapur, King Pandu encountered the army of Shalya, King of Madra. Very soon, Pandu and Shalya became friends and Shalya gave his only sister, Madri to Pandu, as a gift of their...
and Karna'a mother Kunti) and Karna himself.
Karna was a loyal and true comrade to Duryodhana. He helped him to marry the princess of Chitragandha. Following his accession to the throne of Anga, Karna took an oath that anyone who approached him with a request at midday, when he worshiped the sun, would not leave empty-handed. This practice contributed to Karna's fame as well as to his downfall, as Indra took advantage of it. Ultimately, Karna's unfailing generosity resulted in his death on the Kurukshetra battlefield.
Deepening hostilities
Karna was a suitor for Draupadi at her swayamvaraSwayamvara
Swayamvara , in ancient India, was a practice of choosing a husband, from among a list of suitors, by a girl of marriageable age. Swayam in Sanskrit means self and vara means choice or desire ....
, or her choosing of a marriage partner. Unlike most other contenders, he was easily able to wield and string the bow, but as he was ready to set his aim, on Krishna's gesture, Draupadi restrained him from shooting the arrow by calling him the son of a charioteer. The Pandavas were also present in the swayamvara, disguised as Brahmins. Following the failure of the other princes, Arjuna stepped into the ring and successfully hit the target, winning Draupadi's hand. When Arjuna's identity was later revealed, Karna's feelings of hostile rivalry with him further intensified.
After Shakuni won a game of dice by trickery, Draupadi
Draupadi
In the epic Mahābhārata, Draupadi, also known as ' is the "emerged" daughter of King Drupada of Panchāla and the wife of the five Pandavas. When Yudhisthira becomes the king of Hastinapura at the end of the war, Draupadi becomes the queen of Indraprastha...
, now queen to all five sons of King Pandu, including Arjuna, was dragged into the court by Dushasana
Dushasana
Dushasana was the second son of the blind king Dhritarashtra and Gandhari in the epic Mahābhārata, and the younger brother of Duryodhana.-Birth and development:...
. Duryodhana and his brothers attempted to strip her. Karna insulted Draupadi by saying that a woman with more than four husbands is nothing but a whore and that the Pandavas were all like sesame seeds removed from the kernel and she should now find some other husbands.
On the spot, Bhima, another of the Pandava brothers, vowed that he would personally slaughter Duryodhana and his brothers in battle. Arjuna subsequently swore to kill Karna.
Military campaign
The Pandavas were exiled, and during this time, Karna took upon himself the task of establishing Duryodhana as the Emperor of the World. Karna commanded an army that marched to different parts of the country to subjugate kings and made them swear allegiance to Duryodhana, the king of Hastinapur or else die in battle. Karna succeeded in all the battles. In this military adventure, Karna waged wars and reduced to submission numerous kingdoms including those of the KambojasKambojas
The Kambojas were a kshatriya tribe of Iron Age India, frequently mentioned in Sanskrit and Pali literature.They were an Indo-Iranian tribe situated at the boundary of the Indo-Aryans and the Iranians, and appear to have moved from the Iranian into the Indo-Aryan sphere over time.The Kambojas...
, the Shakas, the Kekayas, the Avantyas, the Gandhara
Gandhara
Gandhāra , is the name of an ancient kingdom , located in northern Pakistan and eastern Afghanistan. Gandhara was located mainly in the vale of Peshawar, the Potohar plateau and on the Kabul River...
s, the Madarakas
Madra
Madra, Mada or Madraka is the name of an ancient region and its inhabitants, located in the north-west division of the ancient Indian sub-continent.-Uttaramadra division:...
, the Trigartas, the Tanganas, the Panchala
Panchala
Panchala is an ancient region of northern India, which corresponds to the geographical area around the Ganges River and Yamuna River, the upper Gangetic plain in particular. This would encompass the modern-day states of Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh. During the ancient times, it was home to a...
s, the Videhas, the Suhmas, the Anga
Anga
Anga was a kingdom that flourished on the eastern Indian subcontinent in the 6th century BCE until taken over by Magadha in the same century. Counted among the "sixteen great nations" in Buddhist texts like the Anguttara Nikaya, Anga also finds mention in the Jain Vyakhyaprajnapti’s list of...
s, the Vanga
Vanga
The vangas are a group of little-known small to medium-sized passerine birds restricted to Madagascar and the Comoros. They are usually classified as the family Vangidae. There are about 22 species, depending on taxonomy...
s, the Nishadas, the Kalinga
Kalinga
Kalinga is a landlocked province of the Philippines in the Cordillera Administrative Region in Luzon. Its capital is Tabuk and borders Mountain Province to the south, Abra to the west, Isabela to the east, Cagayan to the northeast, and Apayao to the north...
s, the Vatsa, the Ashmakas
Asmaka Kingdom
Asmaka was a kingdom among the 16 Mahajanapadas mentioned in the Buddhist texts. All other kingdoms were in the north, from Vanga to Gandhara. Some believes that Asmaka was a colony of the Kambojas, and its earlier name was Aswaka...
, the Rishikas
Rishikas
Rshikas were an ancient tribe living in the northern division of ancient India. They find references in the Mahabharata, Ramayana, Brhat Samhita, Markendeya Purana etc. Ashtadhyayi of Pāṇini does not mention the Rishikas, but Mahabhasya of Patanjali does make reference to this people. Mahabharata...
and numerous others including mlecchas and the forest tribes.
Karna and Krishna
Following failed peace negotiations with DuryodhanaDuryodhana
In the Hindu epic the Mahābhārata, Duryodhana is the eldest son of the blind king Dhritarashtra by Queen Gandhari, the eldest of the one hundred Kaurava brothers, Emperor of the world at that time which means Emperor of India or Bharatvarsha as it was known at that time, cousin and the chief...
, Krishna
Krishna
Krishna is a central figure of Hinduism and is traditionally attributed the authorship of the Bhagavad Gita. He is the supreme Being and considered in some monotheistic traditions as an Avatar of Vishnu...
approached Karna, who was acknowledged as Duryodhana's finest warrior. Krishna revealed to Karna that he was the eldest son of Kunti, and therefore, technically, the eldest Pandava
Pandava
In the Hindu epic Mahābhārata, the Pandava are the five acknowledged sons of Pandu , by his two wives Kunti and Madri. Their names are Yudhisthira, Bhima, Arjuna, Nakula and Sahadeva. Although, Karna is told by Lord Krishna that according to the laws and ethics he is the first son of Kunti making...
, and asked him to change sides. Krishna assured him that Yudhisthira
Yudhisthira
In the great Hindu epic Mahabharata, Yudhisthira , the eldest son of King Pandu and Queen Kunti, was king of Indraprastha and later of Hastinapura. He was the leader of the Pandava side in the Kurukshetra War...
would give the crown of Indraprastha to him.
Karna refused this huge offer because he had sworn fidelity to Duryodhana, and as such, was compelled to stay by his side despite his blood ties to the Pandavas. He said that Yudhisthira was a righteous man, and knowing that Karna was older than he was, Yudhisthira would immediately give up his crown to him, he knew. However, to repay his debt to Duryodhana, Karna would have to confer the crown of Indraprastha immediately onto Duryodhana, which Karna thought was against Dharma
Dharma
Dharma means Law or Natural Law and is a concept of central importance in Indian philosophy and religion. In the context of Hinduism, it refers to one's personal obligations, calling and duties, and a Hindu's dharma is affected by the person's age, caste, class, occupation, and gender...
. Krishna was saddened, but appreciating Karna's sense of loyalty, accepted his decision, promising Karna that his lineage would remain a secret.
Karna and Indra
The Pandavas were exiled and eventual war seemed certain. IndraIndra
' or is the King of the demi-gods or Devas and Lord of Heaven or Svargaloka in Hindu mythology. He is also the God of War, Storms, and Rainfall.Indra is one of the chief deities in the Rigveda...
, the king of the gods (Devas
Deva (Hinduism)
' is the Sanskrit word for god or deity, its related feminine term is devi. In modern Hinduism, it can be loosely interpreted as any benevolent supernatural beings. The devs in Hinduism, also called Suras, are often juxtaposed to the Asuras, their half brothers. Devs are also the maintainers of...
) and the father of Arjuna
Arjuna
Arjuna in Indian mythology is the greatest warrior on earth and is one of the Pandavas, the heroes of the Hindu epic Mahābhārata. Arjuna, whose name means 'bright', 'shining', 'white' or 'silver' Arjuna (Devanagari: अर्जुन, Thai: อรชุน, Orachun, Tamil: Arjunan, Indonesian and Javanese: Harjuna,...
, realized that Karna would be invincible in battle and unable to be killed as long as he had the golden armour and earrings that he had been born with, so he conceived a plot to weaken Karna. He decided to approach Karna as a poor Brahmin during Karna's midday sun worship. Surya
Surya
Surya Suraya or Phra Athit is the chief solar deity in Hinduism, one of the Adityas, son of Kasyapa and one of his wives, Aditi; of Indra; or of Dyaus Pitar . The term Surya also refers to the Sun, in general. Surya has hair and arms of gold...
warned Karna of Indra's intentions, however, exhorting him not to give away his armour and earrings. Karna thanked Surya but explained that he was bound by his word and could not send anyone from his door empty-handed, even if it meant his death.
As Surya had warned, a disguised Indra approached Karna and asked for his kavacha (body armour) and kundala (earrings) as alms. Karna readily gave them away, cutting the armor and earrings off his body. Indra, shamed into generosity by Karna's gesture, reciprocated by giving Karna the boon to use his most powerful weapon, the Vasavi shakti, but only once. It was then that Karna earned the name Vaikartana, as he cut the armour off his body without flinching.
Kunti speaks with her eldest son
The story relates that as war approached, Kunti met Karna to reveal to him that she was his mother. Both of them shared a touching moment together but when she asked him to call himself Kaunteya (son of Kunti) instead of Radheya, Karna replied that he wanted the entire world to recognise him as a Radheya and not as a Kaunteya. Kunti asked Karna to join the Pandavas, but Karna refused. He told his mother that, had she been willing to acknowledge him all those years ago when he appeared at the tournament, then things might have been very different. But it was too late now. He could not betray the trust of his friend. However, he promised his mother that he would not attempt to kill any of the Pandavas except for Arjuna.Karna knew that Arjuna was under the divine aegis of Lord Krishna and hence would be invincible. But he knew that because of this he would be able to pay off Duryodhana's debt while performing the duties of an elder brother. He told Kunti that she could only keep five sons – the fifth would either be himself or Arjuna. Karna requested his mother to keep their relationship and his royal birth a secret until his death.
The Great War: Kurukshetra
Mahabharata
The Mahabharata is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India and Nepal, the other being the Ramayana. The epic is part of itihasa....
is devoted to an account of the Kurukshetra war.
The story relates how, before the war began, Duryodana requested Bhishma
Bhishma
Bhishma or Bheeshma or Devavrata or 'Bhishma Pitamah' was the eighth son of Kuru King Shantanu who was blessed with wish-long life and had sworn to serve the ruling Kuru king. He was one of the most prominent characters of the great Indian epic, the Mahabharata. He was the grand uncle of both the...
, the commander-in-chief of the Kauravas, to consider Karna under his leadership. Bhishma refused, saying that Karna had insulted his guru Parshuram by insulting Draupadi and nobody disrespecting his guru can fight under his leadership. Bhishma secretly knew about Karna's true ancestary and did not want him to fight against his own brothers. Consequently, Karna entered the battlefield only on the eleventh day, after the fall of Bheeshma. We pick up the story on the thirteenth day.
Thirteenth day
The guru Dronacharya (Drona) had organized a special formation called the Chakravyuha/Padmavyuha to challenge the Pandavas. Only Krishna and Arjuna on the Pandavas's side knew how to combat this, but they had been purposely drawn far away from the field of battle.Abhimanyu
Abhimanyu
Abhimanyu is a tragic hero in the Hindu epic, the Mahābhārata. He is the son of Arjuna and Subhadra, who is the half-sister of Lord Krishna...
, Arjuna's son, however, had heard about the formation while he was in his mother's womb, when Krishna was narrating the Chakravyuha arrangement to his sister Subhadra. Subhadra had paid attention only to the first part of the narration and then fallen asleep, so Abhimanyu only knew how to enter the formation, and not how to extract himself from it. Notwithstanding this, the four Pandava brothers decided that Abhimanyu should lead them to enter the Chakravyuha in the absence of Arjuna and Krishna.
But, as soon as Abhimanyu entered the Chakravyuha, Jayadratha
Jayadratha
In the epic Mahābhārata, Jayadratha was the king of Sindhu Kingdom . He was married to Dushala, the only sister of the 100 Kaurava brothers. He was the son of the sinful king Vridhakshtra.- Abduction of Draupadi:...
, a Sindhu king from the Kaurava army blocked it, thereby preventing other Pandavas from entering the formation. Abhimanyu was left all alone in the middle of the enemy formation. Once inside, he fought valiantly and held back all the best warriors of the Kauravas single-handedly, including Karna, Dronacharya and Duryodhana. Duryodhana and Karna chose to assist in the elimination of Abhimanyu under Dronacharya's guidance. Karna shot arrows from behind that broke Abhimanyu's bow and the reins of his chariot, while the Kauravas overwhelmed him. The battle ended in Abhimanyu's death.
Arjuna, on learning of the death of Abhimanyu at the hands of the Kauravas, pledged to kill Jayadratha before sunset the next day, failing which he would immolate himself in a fire.
Night of the fourteenth day: Krishna sacrifices Ghatotkacha to Karna to protect Arjuna
Uncharacteristically, the battle next day extended into the hours of darkness. GhatotkachaGhatotkacha
Ghatotkacha , is a character in the Mahabharata, the son of Bhima and the giantess Hidimbi . His maternal parentage made him half-rakshasa and gave him many magical powers that made him an important fighter in the Kurukshetra war, the climax of the epic...
, the half-asura son of Bhima
Bhima
In the Mahābhārata, Bhima is one of the central characters of Mahabharata and the second of the Pandava brothers...
, began to destroy the Kaurava forces. It was a characteristic of the asuras that they became extraordinarily powerful at night. Duryodhana and Karna bravely stood and fought him. Finally, when it seemed that Ghatotkacha would destroy all the Kaurava forces that very night, having already badly-wounded Dronacharya, Duryodhana called upon Karna to use all means necessary. Karna engaged him in a ferocious duel, with every single warrior from both sides watching in silent awe. As Ghatotkacha began to use his skills of dark magic, Karna had to use the Vasava Shakti, which had been gifted to him by Lord Indra in return for his divine armour. Using this weapon, Karna killed the Asura Ghatotkacha.
Although his death was a major disappointment to the Pandavas, there was a serene smile on Krishna's face. Krishna knew that, because Karna had now expended this fearsome weapon, Arjuna was no longer vulnerable to it.
Sixteenth day: Defeating and sparing the lives of all Pandavas
Karna ParvaKarna Parva
Mahabharata Book 8 Karna Parva is the eighth Parva of Mahabharata.-External links:* by Kisari Mohan Ganguli.More about Karna click the link below:http://www.karna.org/story_behind_karna.html...
is the name given to the Eighth Book of the Mahābhārata, describing days 16 and 17 of the Kurukshetra war. Karna is now the commander of the Kaurava army. Anticipating a likely battle to the death between Karna and Arjura, Lord Krishna spoke to Arjuna:
"Hear in brief, O son of Pandu! I regard the mighty car-warrior Karna as thy equal, or perhaps, thy superior! With the greatest care and resolution shouldst thou slay him in great battle. In energy he is equal to Agni. As regards speed, he is equal to the impetuosity of the wind. In wrath, he resembles the Destroyer himself. Endued with might, he resembles a lion in the formation of his body. He is eight ratnis in stature. His arms are large. His chest is broad. He is invincible. He is sensitive. He is a hero. He is, indeed, the foremost of heroes."
Karna single-handedly defeated all but one of the Pandavas on this sixteenth day of the Kurukshetra war, as related in the Mahābhārata. He overcame Bhima but left him alive, saying that as Bhima was younger than he was, he wouldn't kill him. He defeated Yudhisthira and also left him alive, saying that: "It seems that you have forgotten all the teachings which your guru has taught you, so first go and practice them and then come to fight". Karna then defeated Nakula and Sahedeva but didn't kill them, since he had promised his mother to spare the lives of all the Pandava brothers except for Arjuna.
After defeating all of Arjuna's brothers, Karna asked his charioteer, Shalya, to drive his chariot to where Arjuna was standing. Karna took his powerful weapon, Nagastra and shot it at Arjuna. Krishna saved Arjuna from certain death by his divine powers; by subtly lowering Arjuna’s chariot into the earth, through a gentle pressure of his feet. An angry Arjuna showered all his arrows on Karna, but Karna neutralized them all with his own. Karna then shot more arrows which incapacitated Arjuna and made him weaponless. But the close of the day spared Arjuna's life, since both sides observed the codes of war and stopped fighting.
Seventeenth day
The much-awaited duel between Karna and Arjuna resumed. Both these warriors matched each other weapon for weapon. This famous duel was witnessed by the gods from the heavens.Karna cut the string of Arjuna's bow many times. But at each instant he found Arjuna able to tie back the bowstring in the twinkling of an eye. Karna praised Arjuna for this and remarked to Shalya that now he understood why people called him the greatest archer in the world.
Although the duel was evenly-fought for a long while, Karna was suddenly stricken by the playing-out of the curses that had been thrown at him and which would now put him in grave danger. Hampered as his chariot wheel sank into the ground in loose, wet soil, he found himself unable to remember the incantations for his divine weapons, as his teacher Parashurama
Parashurama
Parashurama , is the sixth avatar of Vishnu and belongs to the treta yuga, and is the son of a Brahmin father Jamadagni and mother Renuka. He is considered one of the seven immortal human. He received an axe after undertaking a terrible penance to please Shiva, from whom he learned the methods of...
had foretold. Descending from his chariot to remove the wheel, he requested Arjuna to wait, as the etiquette of battle allowed; but Krishna told Arjuna that Karna has no right to refer to etiquette at this point, having violated those same rules himself when killing Abhimanyu, participating in the laksha-griha conspiracy, assisting Duryodhan in the game of dice and insulting Draupadi in the Hastinapur court. Lord Krishna told Arjuna that it was not adharma
Adharma
Adharma is the Sanskrit antonym of Dharma. It means 'that which is not in accord with the law' - referring to both the human written law and the divinely given law of nature. Connotations include unnaturalness, wrongness, evil, immorality, wickedness, or vice....
to kill a man who had supported evil all his life, and urged Arjuna to kill Karna while he could.
Arjuna shot many arrows at the helpless Karna, severely wounding him, but was curiously unable to kill him. Lord Krishna told him that the great Dharma of noble charity that Karna had performed during his lifetime was protecting him. Lord Krishna ordered Arjuna to redouble his efforts. Arjuna complied and Karna was killed.
After Karna's death
Following the Kurukshetra war, TarpanTarpan
Tarpan is an extinct subspecies of wild horse. The last individual of this subspecies died in captivity in Russia in 1909....
vidhi were performed for all the fallen. Kunti then requested her sons to perform the rites for Karna as well. When they protested, saying he was a Sūta
Suta
Sūta refers both to the bards of Puranic stories and to a mixed caste. According to Manu Smriti the sūta caste are children of a Kshatriya father and Brahmin mother. The narrator of the several of the Puranas, Ugrasrava Sauti, son of Lomaharshana, was also called Sūta. Authorities are divided on...
, she revealed the truth of his birth. The brothers were shocked to find that they had committed fratricide
Fratricide
Fratricide is the act of a person killing his or her brother....
. Yudhishtira, in particular, was furious with his mother and laid a curse upon all women that they should never thereafter be able to keep a secret.
According to Karna's dying wish, Karna's Antim Sanskar was performed by none other than Lord Krishna himself. This was the honour given to him by Lord Krishna. Karna is the only person in the Mahābhārata epic who receives this great honour.
Lord Krishna went to Gandhari to tell her that Karna had died. Gandhari told Lord Krishna: "You knew what was going to happen and you could have prevented the war." Gandhari cursed Lord Krishna for this. "Just as my entire family perished, your family will die the same way." Lord Krishna smiled as he accepted Gandhari's curse.
Karna's family
Karna's wives were Vrushali and Supriya. The names of nine of Karna's sons are mentioned in the Mahābhārata. Of these nine, only one survived the Kurukshetra war, and his name was Vrishakethu.The nine sons of Karna were Vrishasena, Sudaman, Shatrunjaya, Dvipata, Sushena, Satyasea, Chitrasena, Susharma alias Banasena and Vrishakethu. Sudaman died in the melee that followed Draupadi’s swayamvara. Shatrunjaya and Dvipata died in the Kurukshetra war at the hands of Arjuna, during the days when the guru Dronacharya commanded the Kaurava forces. Sushena was killed in the war by Bhima. Satyasena, Chitrasena and Susharma died at the hands of Nakula. Karna’s eldest son Vrishasena was killed by Arjuna during the last days of the war, when Karna commanded the battle forces.
Vrishasena
Vrishasena’s death illustrates some gruesome battle detail in the Mahābhārata. Karna's son, angered at the death of his brother Chitrasena, rushed at Nakula. A fierce battle ensued and Vrishasena managed to kill Nakula's horses and pierce him with many arrows. Descending from his chariot and taking up his sword and shield, Nakula severed the heads of two thousand horsemen as he made his way toward Vrishasena. Vrishasena, seeing Nakula coming towards him whirling his sword, shattered it with four well-aimed crescent-shaped arrows. Nakula then quickly ascended Bhima's chariot and, as Arjuna came near, asked him for help.Arjuna in turn sought Krishna's help and vowed to kill Vrishasena. Vrishasena, however, was able to release many different kinds of arrows against them both, piercing Arjuna's arm and Krishna also. Arjuna became enraged, and after threatening Karna with what he would do to his son, he struck Vrishasena with ten arrows and then with four razor-headed arrows, cut off his bow, his two arms and his head, adorned as it was with beautiful earrings. It was this killing that prompted Karna to challenge Arjuna to fight.
Vrishakethu
Vrishakethu was the only one of Karna's sons to survive the horror of the Kurukshetra war. He later came under the patronage of the Pandavas. During the action that preceded the AshvamedhaAshvamedha
The Ashvamedha was one of the most important royal rituals of Vedic religion, described in detail in the Yajurveda...
, Vrishakethu accompanied Arjuna and participated in battles with Sudhava and Babruvahana. During that campaign, Vrishakethu married the daughter of king Yavanatha, perhaps a king in the west. It is recorded that Arjuna developed a great affection for his nephew Vrishakethu and trained him to be one of the best archers in the world.
Reasons for Karna's death
Karna's death in the Mahābhārata is brought about by a number of factors. The first and foremost contributor was the sage Durvasa himself. While blessing Kunti with a mantra by which she could call upon any god of her choice, he did not tell her the likely consequence of this incantation. Karna's upbringing by the charioteer Adiratha denied the young warrior his rightful recognition as a man of Kshatriya status. And it was Lord Indra, in fact, who, in the form of a giant bee, stung Karna's thigh and caused the guru Parasurama to curse Karna with such a significant curse, for lying about his caste. It was later revealed that Parasurama knew about the impending massacre at Kurukshetra; he explained to Karna in a dream, on the night before Karna's battle with Arjuna, that he purposely cursed him in that way so as to ensure the defeat of the Kauravas. In this dream, he blesses Karna with everlasting glory after his death, because of his humble acceptance of the curse.Having embarked upon the fateful battle, the curse of the Brahmin who owned the cow and the curse of Bhoomidevi provide the opportunity for Karna's defeat. His giving away of his armour and earrings as alms to Lord Indra, this time disguised as a beggar, left him vulnerable. His generous nature and faith in keeping his word also contributed to his downfall by the two promises he made to his mother Kunti, not to kill his four half-brothers and to use the Nagastra only once.
Karna's hatred towards the Pandavas lessened when he learned from his mother that they were his half-brothers. But, to be loyal to Duryodhana, Karna decided to fight against Arjuna in the war. Karna supported Duryodhana in all his wrongdoings even though he knew the difference between good and evil perfectly well. Lord Krishna tried to persuade Karna to switch his allegiance, knowing that without his support, Duryodhan would not fight the war and millions of lives would be spared. But Karna refused to do so because of his personal honour and his debt to Duryodhana. The resulting animosity of Lord Krishna towards Karna led ultimately to his fatal instruction to Arjuna to kill him without mercy.
Karna as a figure of adulation
Even though Karna devoted his services to the evil DuryodhanaDuryodhana
In the Hindu epic the Mahābhārata, Duryodhana is the eldest son of the blind king Dhritarashtra by Queen Gandhari, the eldest of the one hundred Kaurava brothers, Emperor of the world at that time which means Emperor of India or Bharatvarsha as it was known at that time, cousin and the chief...
, in the epic story told in the Mahābhārata, he remains a figure of adulation for millions of Hindus and India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
ns, who regard him as the greatest warrior of all time. Many Hindus consider Karna as a man who fought against his misfortunes throughout his life without a single pause. He never got his due, but never gave up his efforts, his courageous spirit led him to brave impossible odds in his life and he died with unique courage, valour and honour. In the Mahābhārata, Bheeshma and Lord Krishna
Krishna
Krishna is a central figure of Hinduism and is traditionally attributed the authorship of the Bhagavad Gita. He is the supreme Being and considered in some monotheistic traditions as an Avatar of Vishnu...
concede that Karna was a noble spirit who rarely appears in the human race. Karna is especially adored for his generosity. He is idealized as an inspiration for struggling humanity not to lose heart. He is also considered an example of how misjudgment can render all the finer qualities of an individual futile.
Karna's might is praised even by Krishna in the Mahābhārata. During his battle with Arjuna, when Arjuna questions the reason for this praise, Krishna reminds Arjuna that, by having Krishna as his charioteer, Arjuna's chariot contains the whole weight of the universe and yet Karna is still able to rock it by the force of his arrows. When the battle is ended and multiple levels of divine protection are removed from Arjuna's chariot, it explodes into dust through the blows it has received. Arjuna realizes his mistake and praises Karna as well.
Karna's ethics are admired. During his duel with Arjuna, when, by a blow from one of Karna's arrows Arjuna is rendered unconscious, the cobra king Ashwasen creeps out of hiding from Karna's chariot and asks Karna if he may use his poison against Arjuna, because Arjuna had burnt his forest to the ground. Karna refuses. He will not use a snake against any human, because it would be treachery towards humanity.
Karna is a popular Hindu male name.
Differences and similarities with Arjuna
There are many parallels between Arjuna and Karna. Both were master archers, both competed for Draupadi's hand and both had to fight their own brother. Their decisions, and the consequences of these decisions to themselves and to their families, are used to emphasize the importance of doing one's duty, as explained in the Bhagavad GitaBhagavad Gita
The ' , also more simply known as Gita, is a 700-verse Hindu scripture that is part of the ancient Sanskrit epic, the Mahabharata, but is frequently treated as a freestanding text, and in particular, as an Upanishad in its own right, one of the several books that constitute general Vedic tradition...
.
Karna serves as an excellent example of a gifted, generous, righteous and brave individual who was still doomed because of his loyalty towards Duryodhana. Karna had the five perfect qualities of a husband for Draupadi, but being with Duryodhana nullified these and allowed Arjuna to take her instead. Karna's affection for Duryodhana led him, albeit unwillingly, to assist his dear friend in all his actions against the Pandavas. Karna was aware of Duryodhana's malicious plans against the Pandavas. Karna was also aware of his own imminent downfall on assisting the evil against the good. He is criticised for insulting Draupadi in the Hastinapur court and for supporting Duryodhan in his act of dishonoring her. His role in the killing of an unarmed and outnumbered Abhimanyu can be interpreted as an act that more directly damaged his image as an honorable warrior and doomed him to a similar fate. According to some interpretations of the Mahābhārata, it was this deed that cemented Karna's status as a warrior on the wrong side of the war and sealed his fate, that of being killed by Arjuna in the same way, being unarmed, chariotless and with his back turned to Arjuna.
Karna devotion to the sun and Chhath Puja
Karna used to pray to his father SuryaSurya
Surya Suraya or Phra Athit is the chief solar deity in Hinduism, one of the Adityas, son of Kasyapa and one of his wives, Aditi; of Indra; or of Dyaus Pitar . The term Surya also refers to the Sun, in general. Surya has hair and arms of gold...
, the sun god, at noon every day. This tradition of praying to Surya is still carried out in parts of Bihar
Bihar
Bihar is a state in eastern India. It is the 12th largest state in terms of geographical size at and 3rd largest by population. Almost 58% of Biharis are below the age of 25, which is the highest proportion in India....
, Jharkhand
Jharkhand
Jharkhand is a state in eastern India. It was carved out of the southern part of Bihar on 15 November 2000. Jharkhand shares its border with the states of Bihar to the north, Uttar Pradesh and Chhattisgarh to the west, Orissa to the south, and West Bengal to the east...
and Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh abbreviation U.P. , is a state located in the northern part of India. With a population of over 200 million people, it is India's most populous state, as well as the world's most populous sub-national entity...
in the form of Chhath
Chhath
Chhath is an ancient Hindu festival dedicated to the Hindu Sun God, Surya, also known as Surya Shashti. The Chhath Puja is performed in order to thank Surya for sustaining life on earth and to request the granting of certain wishes. The Sun, considered the god of energy and of the life-force, is...
Puja.
Film and television
A film adaptation of the story of Karna in the Mahābhārata was made in 1963; the movie KarnanKarnan (1974 film)
Karnan is an Indian Tamil film written by Sakthi T. K. Krishnasamy and directed by B. Ramakrishnaiah Panthulu. It features an ensemble cast composed of Sivaji Ganesan, N.T. Rama Rao, Savitri and R. Muthuraman. The movie is about character Karnan, of the Great Indian Epic, Mahabarata...
, an epic
Epic film
An epic is a genre of film that emphasizes human drama on a grand scale. Epics are more ambitious in scope than other film genres, and their ambitious nature helps to differentiate them from similar genres such as the period piece or adventure film...
Tamil movie depicting the life of Karna and his friendship with Duryodhana, starring Shivaji Ganesan and N.T. Rama Rao. Other, similar movies soon followed, in Telugu
Telugu language
Telugu is a Central Dravidian language primarily spoken in the state of Andhra Pradesh, India, where it is an official language. It is also spoken in the neighbouring states of Chattisgarh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Orissa and Tamil Nadu...
and Hindi
Hindi
Standard Hindi, or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi, also known as Manak Hindi , High Hindi, Nagari Hindi, and Literary Hindi, is a standardized and sanskritized register of the Hindustani language derived from the Khariboli dialect of Delhi...
.
In 1977, the telugu movie Daana Veera Soora Karna
Daana Veera Soora Karna
Daana Veera Soora Karna is a 1977 Telugu Hindu movie produced and directed by N. T. Rama Rao. He played three pivotal roles Karna, Duryodhana, and Krishna. One of his sons, Balakrishna played a short role of Abhimanyu, son of Arjuna, who in the later years became one of the popular movie actors...
again starred the Indian film actor, director and producer N.T Rama Rao, who played three characters – Karna, Duryodhana and Krishna. In 2010, Prakash Jha
Prakash Jha
Prakash Jha is an Indian film producer-director-screenwriter, who is most known for his political and socio-political films such as Damul , Mrityudand , Gangaajal , Apaharan and multistarrer hit movie Raajneeti...
directed the Bollywood
Bollywood
Bollywood is the informal term popularly used for the Hindi-language film industry based in Mumbai , Maharashtra, India. The term is often incorrectly used to refer to the whole of Indian cinema; it is only a part of the total Indian film industry, which includes other production centers producing...
film Raajneeti, a fictional adaptation of the Mahābhārata, set within a backdrop of Indian Politics and starring the actor Ajay Devgan
Ajay Devgan
Ajay Devgan , born Vishal Veeru Devgan on 2 April 1969, is an Indian film actor, director, and producer.He made his film debut with Phool Aur Kaante in 1991 and received a Filmfare Award for Best Male Debut for his performance in the film and for which he won a Filmfare Best Debut Award...
, who played Suraj, a character based on Karna. One of the songs from the 1991 Indian movie Thalapathi
Thalapathi
Thalapathi is a 1991 Indian Tamil film written and directed by Mani Ratnam, and produced by G. Venkateswaran under the banner of G. V. Films. The film stars Rajnikanth, Mammootty and Shobana in the lead roles with Arvind Swamy, Srividya, Amrish Puri, Bhanupriya, Nagesh, and Charuhasan essaying...
, based upon the friendship between Karna and Duryodhana, has been voted number 4 in the BBC's 'World's Top Ten Revealed' worldwide music poll.
Karna was portrayed by Pankaj Dheer
Pankaj Dheer
Pankaj Dheer is an Indian television and film actor originally from Punjab. His best known role was as Karna in epic TV series, Mahabharata , which became a famous Indian television series, and as Shivdutt in Chandrakanta...
in 1988, in the television series Mahabharat
Mahabharat (TV series)
Mahabharat is a successful Indian television series based on the ancient Indian epic Mahabharata. The 94-episode series originally ran from 2 October 1988 to 24 June 1990. It was produced by B. R. Chopra and directed by his son, Ravi Chopra. The music was composed by critically acclaimed music...
Stage Plays
South IndianSouth India
South India is the area encompassing India's states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu as well as the union territories of Lakshadweep and Pondicherry, occupying 19.31% of India's area...
Superstar Padmashri Bharat Lt.Col. Dr.Mohanlal
Mohanlal
Mohanlal Vishwanathan Nair , known mononymously as Mohanlal , is a National Award-winning Indian actor, producer, singer and writer who is well known for his versatile and natural acting in Indian cinema & hence widely known as the Universal Star...
on the stage as Karna in Karnabharam, a Sanskrit
Sanskrit
Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...
play that was premiered in New Delhi
New Delhi
New Delhi is the capital city of India. It serves as the centre of the Government of India and the Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi. New Delhi is situated within the metropolis of Delhi. It is one of the nine districts of Delhi Union Territory. The total area of the city is...
as part of the National Theatre Festival
National Theatre Festival
Nandikar's National Theatre Festival was started in 1984. It is arranged annually in Kolkata, India, between 16 and 25 December. Initiated and organized, as the name suggest, by the theatre group Nandikar...
directed by Kavalam Narayana Panicker
Kavalam Narayana Panicker
Kavalam Narayana Panicker is an Indian dramatist, theatre director and poet. He has written over 26 Malayalam plays, many adapted from classical Sanskrit drama and Shakespeare, notably Madhyamavyayogam...
. The play depicts Karna's mental agony a day before the Kurukshetra War
Kurukshetra war
According to the Indian epic poem Mahābhārata, a dynastic succession struggle between two groups of cousins of an Indo-Aryan kingdom called Kuru, the Kauravas and Pandavas, for the throne of Hastinapura resulted in the Kurukshetra War in which a number of ancient kingdoms participated as allies of...
, as he thinks about his past and his faith. He received a standing ovation each time the play was staged.