Karna – The most virtuous warrior from Mahabharata
In Indian mythology, I don’t come across anyone who is as gifted as Karna, and at the same time, most unfortunate as well. He had everything, yet he ended up having nothing. The reasons, one may argue would his deeds, or the company he kept,but at the same time, we must think that he had to accept what he was given to him, god or if we want this to put more correctly, Ved Vyasa, did not give him too many choices.
To start with, being the eldest son of Kunti, he should have been the king, but her curiosity proved to be the undoing of this person. The price which he had to pay for his mother’s curiosity is overwhelming. He was the best warrior amongst the all Pandavas, he had the Kavach and Kundal to prtotect him, but even the gods conspired against him.
Sometimes we wonder, why Surya just chose to warn him and not to protect him, as Indra have done for Arjun. Even he had left him to fight against the gods. Here lies the utlimate curse, a mere mortal cannot think to win against the gods, and if he tried too, then there were curses to ensure that he failed. There was one from his teacher, which proved to be undoing of this great man. On the other hand, Drona, made sure that Arjun remained the best archer in the world and went out of way to ask for Eklavya’s thumb.
Even in the battlefield, his charioteer Shalya, use to praise his opponent Arjun, where do you heard such kind of odds against a man.
The only person who probably have recognized Karna’s prowess correctly was Shri Krishna, and he did salute him in the battlefield, much to the amusement of Arjun. Nevertheless, Karna comes across with a character which is hard to find. I would say that he did not die for his weaknesses, but paid for other’s fallacies. Who says that this earth is a great place to live?
Indeed one of the best characters from Mahabharat….
The greatest Dhanveer in the world.
Yes indeed, Glad you liked the article. Thanks
Very inspiring, Loyal, Helpful and of course good character in the Mahabharat.
My inspiration.
The one thing which karna did wrong was standing by the side of Duryodhana which made his entire life miserable. If he should have been on the side of dhrama he would have been more famous than Arjuna.Also remember he lied to his guru parashurarama that he was a brahmin.
seems you are not reading as per the “links” between events. As per Krishna, Karna did not lie to Parasurama, as one who does not know his lineage, cannot lie on his caste. The other one that he insulted Draupadi. Amongst all warriors Karna was the first to lift the bow in the competition, but Krishna signalled Draupadi not to accept him. She insulted Karna by saying him Sutaputra, and not ready to marry him. Insults are sharper than arrows
If he did not lied to Parusurama then why did he cursed him? I do agree that Karna also participated in Draupadi’s swayamvar & he was the first to lift to lift the bow.Also it was mentioned in later parts that Draupadi really had a liking for Karna
Don"t forget he insulted Draupadi during cheeraharan episode.
well perhaps betting your own wife is what they said righteous……………..I think this story of Mahabharat belong to some ‘POST KALIYUGA ERA’……………………….BECAUSE as per my senses they will call it a sin even in this era we all recognise as Kaliyuga.
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A few said that he should have taken the stand for the side of ‘BET YOUR WIFE’ CONTEST’ commonly known as ‘Dharma’……………well! is there anybody who can tell me why he should have choose DRAUPADI (who insulted him in past) over DURYODHAN (who helped him when he was being insulted for something no one will appreciate in 21st century ) …………………..when four Pandu sons(Bheem, Arjun, Nakul, Sahdev) chose their duty ‘to obey their elder brother’ over their duty ‘to protect their wife.’
…………… well here is something really funny……………betting your wife makes you DHARMRAJ because u never lied(not literally but he uttered words which he knew will inflict a lie ) ……………….but standing beside your friend makes you a guilty.
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but I read somewhere that two wrongs don’t make a right…………………………….so as far as the instance where KARNA accused DRAUPADI of being a prostitute…………………I won’t use the following story as a guard for this act because I know that it could be a creation of a fan like me
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well here goes the explanation…..they say that when karna saw no resentment from pandavs………he used the phrase ‘PROSTITUTE DRAUPADI’………………in order to invoke PANDAVs(specifically ARJUN) ………….and not to insult her
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I won’t deny that it could be a FAN’S CREATION………………but I believe KARNA could have taken a better revenge when his anger was suppose to be at at its peak…….when Draupadi insulted him………….he could have abducted her…………..as they did in case of BHANUMATI………………….no one could have stopped him…………………….KRISHNA………………..ummmm may be!!!!!!!!!!!!………………I said ‘may be’………………..not because I doubt his strenghth but because I doubt his intensions……………………………….Moreover it was KARNA who stopped DURYODHAN ……….who stepped forward to abduct DRAUPADI…..after he couldn’t tolerate the insult of his friend(Mind it! …………..it was for this instance that DRAUPADI used that ‘BLIND SON OF BLIND FATHER’ phrase to take revenge on DURYODHAN)
and by the way its not the result which matters………..its the fact that he led his actions to be guided by DHARMA and not by anger/rage…………………………so I doubt that KARNA was intended to take revenge(the way DRAUPADI did……….by mocking DURYODHAN) …..when he used the phrase PROSTITUTE DRAUPADI.
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now may be a few intelligent being will say that there was nothing wrong in the words uttered by DRAUPADI…………’BLIND SON OF BLIND FATHER’………………they will say that Dhritarastra was blind and DURYODHAN too acted as one by falling in pool
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well my salutes to intellectuals…………….I guess they were also abandoned by their mother in the same way as KARNA was abandoned by KUNTI………………and they were not lucky enough to be found by a mother like RADHA……………………..and that’s why they don’t find it offensive to use the phrase BLIND for one’s blind father
@suresh babu
#1 Karna was on duryodhan’s side because he gave him a favour and respect when everyone was against him.
#2 Karna was born as Brahmin. He is a son of kunti, remember?
#3 you remembered that he insulted draupadi. Do you remember when draupadi insulted him on her swayamvar? By calling him a sut putra!
Undisputed hero of mahabharat
indeed
It seems modern day politics started with Mahabharata or man has always lived this way. You establish a system and find many excuses to protect it, and call it dharma. You can allow someone to compete, but when he is about to win it, you can insult him citing his lower caste identity. That is Dharma for Draupadi. When Karna says a woman with 5 husbands cannot claim chastity is Adharma. Strange logic. When a man win his woman after the toughest competition and share with his brothers, that is Dharma which never heard of before. Always some past life stories are brought to justify this kind of one sided logic like America does from time to time. It gives us an impression that we have to live this life according to the incidents happened in our past life. Really funny. Stragely Drapaudi accepts that verdict to wed 5 people, these Dharmic brother didn't have a problem accepting younger brother's wife as their wife. What is that good to people who are in power is good. Religion, Politics ..everyone plays the same game. and call it Dharma. If Pandavas had fought their war without Krishna and his divine powers and tricks, would Dharma win? Or everytime God needs to incarnate to protect this so called Dharma? Looks silly. Kauravas was the establishment that time, and they had every reason to believe that they would win the war, and they almost won it. If Karna had killed Yudhishtira war would have ended that moment itself. I always find difficult to digest this talk of Dharma in Mahabharata.- Even masters like Parashuram and Drona looks every ordinary people when comes to the level of their consciousness.
first understand the situation he was in, second do u think he shouldnot stand by a friend??
thirdly he dint knew he was a royalty,for all we know he was abandoned by his own mother. the things that i see in karan that he was a splendid man who lived by the rules every man should follow !! and if we are talking about flaws here i think even lord krishna had flaws! So please keep in mind all the aspect of the story before u speak such harsh words about any character who is so humble!
first understand the situation he was in, second do u think he shouldnot stand by a friend??
thirdly he dint knew he was a royalty,for all we know he was abandoned by his own mother. the things that i see in karan that he was a splendid man who lived by the rules every man should follow !! and if we are talking about flaws here i think even lord krishna had flaws! So please keep in mind all the aspect of the story before u speak such harsh words about any character who is so humble!
Vishal Gond good explanation, sir ! If it was one person who can be praised for being on the paths of dharma right from birth to death it must be KARNA, the unsung hero of Mahabharatha ! A man who has everyone against him, even krishna, Indra and at a point his own biological father, Surya Dev, it was no surprise he stuck with Duryodhana till the end. No sin there. Parashurama, giving a curse without analysing, just based on what he witnessed shows his incompetency. Although krishna knew that Karna was royalty why should he keep that a secret? It was because without Karna on the opposite side of the Pandavas there would never have been a balanced war. karna was one person more powerful than a composite Pandavas, Bhishma and Krishna.
For me he was the best of best,, that’s why he was the supreme maharathi”even Arjuna was having the support of “Krishna” and hanuman ” on his chariot.
While Karna” was alone he replied his bravery with his forgotten techniques.. Even knowing he can kill Arjuna but he never tried it from his mind that Arjuna was his own brother..no one on earth would do such foolishness by donating his invincible power s…salute to this greatest ever found legend on this entire world.