Karna (Sanskrit: कर्ण written Karṇa in IAST transliteration) (also known as Karan) is one of the central figures in Hindu epic Mahabharata. He was the first son of Kunti, and was thus half brother to the Pandavas, and the eldest of them. Although Duryodhana of the Kauravas anoints him king of Anga, his role in the legend far exceeds the importance of a king. He fought for the Kauravas in the great battle at Kurukshetra.

Birth

The princess Kunti, while young looked after the sage Durvasa for a full year. The sage was pleased so he granted her a boon whereby she could call upon any of the gods through a mantra and the god would grant her a son equal to the god in splendour. Unsure of whether the boon would actually be granted, Kunti, while still an unmarried teenager, decided to test her powers and called upon Lord Surya. When the deity appeared before her, she was completely overawed. Bound by the power of the mantra, Surya impregnates Kunti and grants her a son as radiant and strong as his father although she didn't want a son. Through his divine power, Kunti retains her virginity and honor. But that son of the Sun, was Karna, born with divine armor and earrings that would ensure his protection.

Kunti was now in the embarrassing position of being an unwed mother. Although still a virgin, how was she to explain having a child? Unable to face the world with her divine child, she placed Karna in a basket and floated him down a river with his jewellery (the story of Moses bears a strong similarity to this), praying fervently that he would be kept safe.

Upbringing

The child Karna was borne down the river and picked up by the leader of charioteers called Adiratha, a shudra, the lowest caste in Hindu society. He was raised by Adiratha and his wife Radha as their son; the son of a god among the lowest members of society. They knew something of his parentage by the jewellery he was found with, and never hid his noble birth from him. He was also known as Radheya because of the name of his mother Radha.

The bond between Karna and his foster family is one of pure love, respect and affection despite the lack of blood relation. Adiratha is honored by Karna in front of all the warrior kind, and Karna lovingly performs his duties as a son and brother within Adiratha's family, despite his rise as king of Anga and the eventual revelation of his true birth.

Training

Karna sought to be a great warrior. Hence he moved to ayodhya along with his younger brother and father. Here he learned and mastered all the skills studying in Drona's academy albeit not with the princes as he was of a lower caste. He was a master of every craft however the Bow and Arrow was his speciality. At the time when the Pandavas were banished to the woods for 14 years, Duryodhana asked Karna to learn Brahmastra, a weapon which could not be stopped by anybody once it was released. Only a few people knew this including Drona,Arjuna,Bhishma and Ashwathama ( son of Drona). He first approached Drona, teacher of the Pandavas and Kauravas, but Drona refused to teach him because of his low caste. He later asked Parashurama, another great teacher, to teach him the art of warfare especially the Brahmashtra Parashurama only taught Brahmins, who were the highest caste, this art, and would not teach Kshatriyas, a warrior caste because of his hatred for them as they killed his father. Once when the Parashurama was sleeping with his head

King of Anga

A contest tournament was held to determine the greatest skilled warrior after completion of teaching by Drona. The Kauravas were jealous of the Pandavas from their childhood. In the contest, Arjuna emerged as the best and Duryodhana was afraid of him. At that time Karna entered the arena and challenged Arjuna. But Drona, teacher of the princes, refused to let him take part as the contest was for the princes. At this, Duryodhana, eldest of the Kauravas gifted Karna the throne of Anga (today's Bhagalpur in Bihar), so that Karna would be a king and thus eligible to participate in the contest.

During the Pandavas' exile, Karna takes upon himself the task of establishing Duryodhana as the World's Emperor. Karna commands an army to different parts of the country to subjugate kings and make them swear allegiance to Duryodhana, King of Hastinapura or die in battle. While Karna succeeds in all the battles, subjugating even the allies of the Pandavas, the conquest is not permanent.

The Tragedy of Karna

• Encounter with Kunti

The Pandavas and the Kauravas were cousins who competed for the throne of Hastinapura. Eventually, this led to a war. Before the war, Kunti, mother of Karna and the Pandavas, approached Karna and asked him to join the Pandavas and she would pronounce that he was the rightful heir to the throne of Hastinapura. However, Karna refused her offer because she had abandoned him and refused to recognize his birth-right for over fourteen years after the warrior competition, He said that since Duryodhana had always been loyal to him, his loyalty lay with the Kauravas. Kunti then asked him to promise not to kill her five sons. Karna promised her that at the end of the war she will have five sons left and kunti goes back happy. The subtility in this promise is the fact Kunti had six sons ( including himself), hence if he ever faced any Pandava brother in combat, he would spare his life, except for Arjuna, because Karna was one of the few warriors who could compete with Arjuna, and they shared a bitter personal rivalry.

• Encounter with Indra

Indra, king of the Gods (i.e. Devas) and father of Arjuna, realized that Karna's armour and earrings were impregnable which in essence made him invincible in battle. Surya, Karna's father and God of the Sun, informed Karna in a dream that Indra would disguise himself as a beggar and ask for Karna's armour and earrings as alms. Karna did not know that Surya was his father. Indra did this, but nevertheless Karna gave his armour and earrings, because it was his moral policy to never refuse beggars. Indra, struck by Karna's genuine kindness, offered Karna the ability to use Indra's most powerful weapon, the shakti, but only once.

The Ride with The Lord

In one segment, Krishna, the incarnation of Vishnu, tried to win Karna over to the side of the Pandavas. The discussion, which took place as the two were leaving Hastinapura after a failed peace mission, centered on the moral superiority of the Pandavas' cause. Though Krishna was aware of the kindness that Duryodhana had shown Karna, he argued that Karna had a higher duty, to follow him on the path of righteousness. When Karna suggested that such a path would be dishonorable, Krishna recounted the story of Vibheeshana, a major character in the Ramayana. Although a rakshasa and brother to the evil King Ravana, Vibheeshana had chosen to follow Rama, an earlier avatar of Vishnu, after trying unsuccessfully to convince his brother to change his ways.

It is here that the extent of Karna's love is seen. Karna tells Krishna he knows that Duryodhana is wrong,

One explanation offered in the epic of the inevitability of Karna's decision was that Karna's soul was possessed by Naraka, an ancient demonic enemy of Vishnu, and now sought to destroy Vishnu's Avatara and his pious allies, the Pandavas.

The Great War: Kurukshetra

The Mahabharata was the eighteen day war between the Pandavas and Kauravas at Kurukshetra. Karna was killed on the 17th day of battle by Arjuna, while serving as the Kuru commander.

Karna's Honor and Dishonor in Battle

During the course of the war, he encountered each Pandava prince, save Arjuna, and defeated everyone of them and was capable of even killing them. (This included Yudhisthira, the Eldest Pandava who claimed the right to rule Hastinapura), and Bhima, who was the most powerful warrior of tremendous passion. However, Karna kept his promise he made to Kunti and spared their lives.

On the thirteenth day of battle, Dronacharya (Drona) organized a special Scheme of war called the Chakravyuha. Only Arjuna on the pandava's side knew how to break the scheme, however he was purposely taken away from the battle field by two kings on Duryodhana's side. However Abhimanyu, Arjuna's son had partial knowledge of the formation having heard it when he was in his mother's womb when Lord Krishna was narating the Chakravyuha arrangement to his mother, but was interrupted before he could finish it. Hence he could enter the Chakravyuha however he didn't know how to exit from it. No one that day was able to defeat Abhimanyu, who had entered the chakravyuha a circular arrangement of soldiers. Once inside he fought valiantly and single handedly defeated almost all reputed generals of the Kauravas including Karna, Drona, Duryodhana. Duryadhana and Karna chose to gang up on Abhimanyu. (Note: Karna shot arrows that broke Abhimanyu's bow and broke the reins of Abhimanyu's chariot while the Kauravas ganged up on him. He did not kill Abhimanyu.)

On the fourteenth night of battle, Ghatotkacha, a son of the Pandava Bheema, was decimating the Kaurava forces. Karna was forced to use the shakti weapon on Ghatotkacha. As Indra only allowed Karna to use it once, Karna was now without that weapon and his impregnable armour and earrings. Now Karna did not have a divine weapon that would definitly kill Arjuna and he must rely on his skills and prowess.

On the fifteenth day of battle, Drona was killed, and Karna became commander-and-chief of the Kaurava forces.

On the seventeenth day of battle, Karna finally was given the opportunity to encounter Arjuna in combat. They were evenly matched during the spectacular combat.

Without the Shakti weapon, Karna has no particular way to kill Arjuna. He must rely upon his own garnered skill. In a wondrous, intense display of amazing archery, valor and courage, Karna and Arjuna engage and exhaust all their brilliance, knowledge and passion. Karna devises an intelligent strategy based upon his personal prowess. He stuns Arjuna with a powerful volley that strikes his chest. And the instant in which Arjuna is dazzled, Karna lets loose another powerful volley intended at killing his powerful foe. But the Lord Krishna comes to his friend and devotee's rescue, plunging the chariot into the earth by his power, causing the fatal arrow to miss Arjuna by a few miserable inches. Many consider this a major example of Karna's superiority to his younger brother, in skill at least. TV Serial Mahabharata (By R. R. Chopra) also shows Karna sparing Arjuna another time in the battle when Arjuna had clearly lost but Karna pulls back his weapon realizing that his arrow won't reach Arjuna before sunset (sunset marking end of the day's battle). Later Duryodhana asks Karna about it, and Karna says that he will adhere to the rules as a commander so that the coming generations don't complain that Sutaputra Karna killed Kshatriya Arjuna by cheating. The authenticity of this event is disputed though.

During the course of combat, one of the Karna's chariot wheels gets stuck in loose soil.Again this was because of a curse put on Karna by a brahmin. King Shalya was his charioteer however Arjuna with his expert marksmanship had pinned Shalya on his seat with arrows.Ironically Shalya was Arjunas Maternal Uncle. Hence Karna asks Arjuna to disengage in combat while he got off his chariot and removed the wheel from the mud. Arjuna agrees. Then Krishna informs Arjuna to break the code of conduct and shoot Karna while he lifted his wheel out of mud. Arjuna is reminded of Karna's lack of mercy when Abhimanyu was similarly left without a chariot or weapons. All of Arjuna's tears, pain and anger swelled up within him as he aimed the fatal arrow Anjalika at a desperate Karna. Injured Karna fell on the ground. But his test was still not over. Lord Krishna went over to him disguised as a Sadhu and asked him for a "bhiksha". An injured Karna had nothing to give to the Sadhu. Then he remembered he had a gold tooth. Even though he was in great pain he took it out, cleaned it and offered it to the Lord. Thus he became the only human to have give bhiksha to the God's themselves. Impressed, Lord Krishna asked him for a boon. To which he said "Please make my pyre on the most pure place on earth". He passed away after that. Lord Krishna being the supreme personality of godhead himself, made his pyre on his palm. Karna's wife also became sati on his pyre.

Karna's combat with Arjuna fulfilled Parashurama's curse as well as the other Brahmin's curse on Karna.

After Karna's Death

After Karna's death, Kunti informed the Pandavas that she was Karna's mother and that he was the eldest of the Pandavas. The Pandavas grieved for Karna. Yudhisthira, particularly, was incensed on hearing that his mother had kept secret from him and his brothers Karna's true identity, whom it would have been their duty in life to serve and revere as their elder, as his four brothers had served and revered him. He laid a bane on all women that from then on, they would never be able to keep any secrets to themselves.

On the 18th day of battle, the Kauravas were vanquished. The climatic battle finally came to an end, and Yudhisthira after fulfilling the rituals and duties expected of a victorious prince, assumed the throne of Hastinapura.

Karna remains a tragic figure for millions of Hindus and Indians to this day. He remains a brave hero, a courageous spirit who braved impossible odds in his whole life, and died with terrifying courage, valor and honor, to rise to immortality in fame.

Contrast with Arjuna

There are many parallels between Arjuna and Karna. Both were master archers, and competed for Draupadi's hand. A deeper connection lies in the fact that the two felt strong ties to the Kaurava side, both through friendship and through blood. Karna's ride with Krishna is very similar to the Bhagavad Gita, in which Krishna reminded Arjuna of his duty. Their decisions, along with the consequences to themselves and their families, are used to emphasize the importance of following duty, as Krishna expounded.

Iliad

There are also strong parallels between Karna's involvement in the slaying of Abhimanyu, followed by Arjuna's slaying of Karna, and elements of the Iliad, in which Hector kills Patroclus, only to be killed by Achilles.

Bible

• Sun set early on the day of his death. Compare with Jesus Christ
• When Karna was born, Through his (Sun or Lord Surya's) divine power, Kunti retains her virginity and honor. Compare with Jesus Christ