Karna

In the Mahabharata, the later of the two
great Hindu epics, Karna is the eldest of
the Pandava brothers, although he is
not aware of his true identity until a few
days before his death. He is born when
his mother, Kunti, in a moment of
youthful impulsiveness, looks upon the
sun while reciting a mantra, giving her
the power to have a son by any of the
gods. She is immediately visited by a
shining figure, who leaves her with an
equally shining son. Distraught and desperate at the birth of this child, which as
an unmarried woman she feels she cannot keep, she puts him in a box and
abandons him in the Ganges.
The child is adopted by the charioteer, Adhiratha, who raises Karna as his
own son. Karna later comes to the court
of King Dhrtarashtra, where he
becomes friends with the king’s son,
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Karmamarga
The Himalayan town of Karnaprayag.
Duryodhana, the epic’s antagonist. While
at court, Karna begins a lifelong conflict
with Arjuna, one of the five Pandava
brothers. Arjuna’s comments about
Karna’s unknown parentage are meant to
deny Karna the recognition he deserves
as Arjuna’s equal. As do all the princes,
Karna studies with Drona, the archery
master. When Drona refuses to teach
Karna the secret of the Brahma weapon
Karna wants to use to kill Arjuna, Karna
goes to the sage Parashuram avatar for
this instruction. He presents himself as a
brahmin, since Parashuram hates the
kshatriya (ruling) class and refuses to
accept any of them as students.
Parashuram teaches Karna all that he
wants to know. During this period, however, Karna receives two curses that ultimately determine his fate. Karna kills a
brahmin’s cow, so the brahmin curses him
to have his chariot wheel stick in the mud
and be killed upon it by his enemy. The
second curse comes from Parashuram.
One day as Parashuram sleeps with his
head in Karna’s lap, a beetle bores into
Karna’s thigh, which in the epic is a
euphemism for the genitals. Despite the
pain and blood, Karna remains still so he
will not disturb his sleeping guru. When
Parashuram awakens, he realizes that
Karna’s tolerance for pain means that he is
a kshatriya, thus Karna has gained instruction under false pretenses. Parashuram
curses Karna that at the critical moment,
he will forget everything he has learned.
Both of these curses eventually come true;
despite fighting with great valor in the
Mahabharata war, Karna is killed by
Arjuna when the wheel of his chariot is
stuck in the mud.
On the eve of the great war, Karna’s
mother, Kunti, comes to him and reveals
his true identity and implores him to
return and fight alongside his brothers.
Karna refuses, saying that things have
gone too far for such measures, but
promises Kunti that he will not harm
any of his brothers except for Arjuna,
whom he has sworn to kill. In his decision Karna is also bound by his loyalty to
Duryodhana, whose friendship and
support for many years overrides any
obligation to a family he has just discovered. As a man willing to stand by his
friends and his principles, even in a
cause he knows to be flawed, Karna
endures as one of the tragic heroes of
the Mahabharata.