Karna In Mahabharat A Hero Or Villain

Karna, also known as Vasusena, Angaraj and Radheya is one of the main characters who is although flawed but is also considered great in several moments in the Hindu epic Mahabharata. He is the son of the sun god Surya and princess Kunti, the mother of the Pandavas and thus a demigod of royal birth. The story of Karna's birth is a fascinating one. A Yadava king named Surasena who was also Krishna's grandfather, had a daughter named Pritha. When he saw that his cousin Kuntibhoj was childless, he offered his daughter Pritha to him. Upon being adopted by Kuntibhoj, Pritha came to be known as Kunti. Once when sage Durvasa, known for his bad temper and the curses he had given to Indra, arrived at the house of Kuntibhoj, Kunti offered him water to wash his feet and other items to worship a guest. She also fed him rice and sweets and washed his feet with her own hands. She always stayed in front of him with folded hands. The sage was satisfied with her humility and blessed her with the holy verses, also known as mantras, that had the power to invoke any god she wanted. In order to test the efficacy of the mantra, she uttered the mantra and invoked Surya, the sun god. Bound by the power of the mantra, Suryadeva with his yogic power transferred his Tejas or Tej into the womb of Kunti by entering into her. Surya blessed her with a child. To her surprise, the child came with a golden glow. He was born with a sacred armor dressed up in jewelry and breastplate. And thus, Surya provided her with her first son. Out of the fear of disgrace to herself and her family and with no choice left, Kunti put the child in a basket and set him afloat in the Ganga river. Adhirath and Radha found Karna on the banks of the river Ganga while doing their morning prayer. Issueless Radha was too happy to get a child with divine features and because of the natural armor and earrings, the child was named Vasusena, meaning one who was born with wealth. They adopted him right away and raised him just like their own son. It is often said that Karna's father was a charioteer, but Ved Vyasa's original Mahabharata narrates that Karna's father Adhirath was a friend of Dhritarashtra and also the leader of the Republic of Anga under Hastinapur. There is no mention of any financial hardship or deprivation faced by Karna during his childhood as mentioned in the television versions of Mahabharata. It is observed that modern creations have presented Karna as an outcast, ostracized and a deprived hero, but a simple reading of the Ved Vyasa's text will present us with an entirely different story. On the other hand, Kunti learnt through spies that her eldest son was growing up amongst the Angas as the eldest son of Adhirath. Some allege that Karna was denied education by Dronacharya because of his lower caste, which is an entirely false allegation. When Karna grew up to become a boy of great strength, Adhirath put him in the guidance of Drona for the purpose of learning arms. Karna meets Duryodhana for the first time in Hastinapur during archery lessons from Drona. Karna was also ten years older than the Kuru princess. Mahabharata says that ever since Karna and Arjuna first saw each other, Karna always used to challenge Arjuna and Arjuna on his part used to challenge Karna back. Karna and Duryodhana become close friends not long after. Duryodhana sees in Karna a man who is an equal of Arjuna in martial abilities and someone to befriend to balance out Arjuna and thereby diminish the Pandavas. According to Ved Vyas himself, Karna and Duryodhana complement each other and represent the tamasic nature of humans. Karna, being a friend of Duryodhana, was also taught by the royal guru Kripacharya right from his early days. Due to his close relations with Dhritarashtra's son Duryodhana, he became intent on injuring the five Pandava brothers and he was always jealous and wanted to declare his supremacy over Arjuna through fights. Once Karna approached Dronacharya and requested him to teach him about Brahmastra and the art of releasing and withdrawing it. Dronacharya taught about the Brahmastra only to his favourite disciple Arjuna and partially to his son Ashwathama but he refused to teach Karna about Brahmastra. Drona refused Karna saying that a Brahmin can get this weapon since a Brahmin doesn't need to kill anybody in war and has restraint and control over himself and will not use it in a wrong way. A Kshatriya can get it only if he has done a lot of tapa and has control over his senses. After being refused by Dronacharya, Karna decided to learn about Brahmastra from Parashurama. Parashurama was the guru of Dronacharya but there was one problem. Lord Parashurama decided to only take Brahmins as his disciple. We see that although Parashurama taught only to Brahmins, he made several exceptions. Kshatriyas like Bhishma through reasoning and intellect were able to convince Parashurama to admit him into his Gurukul. But on the other hand, Karna chose to deceive his teacher to get an admission. He presented himself before Parashurama as a Brahmin without revealing his true identity. Parashurama accepted him as a student and trained him to the point that he declared Karna was to be equal to himself in the art of warfare and archery. Parashurama gifted him a bow named Vijaya due to his impressive skills. He also taught him about Brahmastra and the technique of invoking and withdrawing it. One day after the training, Karna offered his lap to his guru Parashurama to rest and take a nap. While Parashurama was sleeping, a terrible scorpion bit Karna's thigh. But he did not move as he did not want to disturb his guru's sleep. His thigh was pierced and eventually blood started coming out. When Parashurama woke up, he saw the blood coming out of Karna's wound and immediately figured out that Karna was not a Brahmin. He knew that a wound so severe would not be tolerated for so long by a Brahmin. Parashurama became very angry as Karna had lied to him about being a Brahmin for the greed of knowledge. In his anger, he cursed Karna that when he gets engaged in a fight with someone equal to him in strength and skills, during that time Brahmastra will not manifest itself before him. After hearing this, Karna becomes very sad and feels guilty for his offence and leaves the ashram. As per some sources, during Karna's time in Parashurama's ashram, he was also presented with another curse by a Brahmin. One day he was roaming around alone with a sword and a bow. Seeing no one around, he started practicing his archery skills but accidentally he killed a cow. A Brahmin to whom the cow belonged got angry and cursed him to be killed by his enemy when his attention was diverted in the middle of a combat. He said, O worst of men, when you clash against your foe and are distracted because of the wheel of your chariot has been devoured by the earth, he will exhibit his valour and sever your head. However, the authenticity of this story remains unknown. Karna grows up to be an accomplished warrior of extraordinary abilities, a gifted speaker and becomes a loyal friend of Duryodhana. The next mention of Karna comes in the Rang Bhoomi where all the Kauravas and Pandavas had finished showing their skills. The earth starts to tremble. Spectators become excited. Were the mountains breaking? Were the earth splintering? Why was there such an uproar? That was because it was the time when the valiant Karna, radiant as a sun, came in front of the crowd. He touched the feet of his Guru Dronacharya and challenged Arjun that whatever Arjun did in the Rang Bhoomi would be done by Karna in less time than Arjun. The crowd became restless with excitement and kept cheering for him. He challenged Arjun to a duel. Kripa interrupts Karna and asks his royal lineage to be able to fight Arjun. Karna's head drops down with shame but Duryodhana gives a big speech on how even the most inferior Kshatriya should have the right to fight against the upper Kshatriyas and thus makes Karna the king of Anga. During the Rajyabhishek, Bheem insults Karna as Suta but eventually finds out that Karna's father was none other than Adirath. At this, Duryodhana again condemns Bheem's judgement. All the spectators applaud and cheer for Karna. Yudhishthira in his mind thinks that maybe Karna was the best archer. However, this event ends here and no duel between Arjun and Karna happens afterwards. Duryodhana gave Anga to Karna as he wanted someone to match Arjun from his side and Karna had equal hate and contempt for Pandavas right from their Gurukul days. Later, after the completion of their education, Drona asked for the Panchal state as a Gurudakshina or fee from all his students. The first chance to pay the Gurudakshina was taken up by Kauravas and Karna was also a part of the Kaurava army. After their failure, the Pandavas completed their task by defeating King Drupad. Everyone in the kingdom starts thinking that Pandavas are more equipped and greater at following Dharma. Duryodhana becomes envious and thinks that he might lose the kingdom this way. He goes to Shakuni and Karna and asks them what to do. The two masterminds come up with the idea of the Lak Palace. Dhritarashtra secretly supports this but Vidur warns Yudhishthira and the Pandavas escape. But Karna and Kaurava still believe that Pandavas were dead. Soon, the news of Draupadi Swayamvar arrives with the condition indicating how it's made only for archers. All the Kauravas go there just to support Karna. But unlike the popular version of being rejected by Draupadi on the accounts of being a Suta, in the Ved Vyas Mahabharata, there is no mention of Draupadi rejecting Karna on the basis of his birth. It is only said that Arjun succeeds in the task disguised as a Brahmin. So we can assume that in reality, perhaps Karna failed. Next mention of Karna comes during the Vastra Haran of Queen Draupadi. When Vikarna, the only prince from the Kaurava side, who protested against the act and supported Draupadi by giving his opinion that Draupadi is not one rightfully as Yudhishthira lost himself first before staking her, Karna counter-argued that and said that when Yudhishthira lost all his possessions, he also lost Draupadi, even specifically without staking her. Karna goes on to call Draupadi a courtesan or a Vaishya for being the wedded wife of five men, adding that dragging her to the court is not a surprising act whether she be clothed or naked. Karna asks Dushasan to disrobe Draupadi. While Karna did not physically participate in the act of disrobing Draupadi, his words and support for Duryodhana's actions contributed to the unfolding of that tragic event. Growing up, Karna became a great charitable man and was often referred to as Danavir. Indra, the king of the Devas, realized that Karna would be invincible and nobody would be able to kill him as long as he had his kavach and kundal. Indra approaches Karna as a poor Brahmin and asks for his kavach and kundal as alms. Surya, the father of Karna, already warned him of Indra's intentions, but Karna explained to him that he is bound by his word and could not send anyone from his door empty-handed. So, when Indra approaches him as a disguised Brahmin, Karna already knew that it was Devraj Indra and still gave his kavach and kundal. Before this event, the son of Surya was known as Vasusena, but since he cut off his natural armor, he came to be called as Karna, meaning the cutter or peeler of his own cover. Indra was moved by Karna's gesture and asked him to accept a gift in return. Initially, Karna refused the offer, saying that he did not give charity expecting anything in return. But after the request of the god, sages and celestial beings, Karna asked for the Vasavi Shakti, also known as the Indra Shakti. Indra granted the boon with a condition that Karna could use that weapon only once. Right before the Kurukshetra war, Krishna requested Karna to fight from the side of Pandavas. Krishna reveals to Karna that he was the eldest son of Kunti and that his true father was Surya himself. He was the eldest brother of the Pandavas. Krishna implores him to change sides with the assurance that Yudhishthir will give his crown to him. But Karna refused the offer, saying that for him, Duryodhana's friendship was more valuable than anything. Duryodhana helped him when he was a nobody and said that he could not betray his friend. Krishna was saddened but appreciated Karna's loyalty and accepted his decision. He also promised Karna that he will not reveal his true identity to the Pandavas. Krishna had failed to lure Karna to fight from the side of the Pandavas, so he approached Kunti and asked her to influence Karna. Kunti, in desperation, approached Karna and revealed his true identity and asked him to join the Pandavas and not fight with his own brothers. Karna was emotionally weakened but rejected her offer. Kunti knew about the rivalry between Karna and Arjuna, so she asked the to promise that he will not kill any of the Pandava brothers. Karna promised that he will not kill any of the Pandavas except Arjuna. He also promises not to use the same celestial weapon twice against Arjuna and assures her that at the end of the war she will still have five sons left, the fifth being Arjuna or Karna himself. He also requests his mother to keep the relationship a secret till the end of the war. Otherwise, Pandavas, knowing that Karna was their eldest brother, will not fight with him in the Dharma Yudha. During the dark hours of the 14th day of the Kurukshetra war, Bhatotkach, Bhima's half-Asura son, destroyed the Kaurava force and also endured Dronacharya. He was able to do so as Asuras gained extraordinary power during the night. Karna becomes enraged and uses his Vasavi Shakti which he had saved for Arjuna against Bhatotkach and kills him. On the 16th day, Karna fought all the Pandavas except Arjuna and defeated all of them in a direct combat but spared each one of them after insulting them. He spared their lives because of his promise to his mother Kunti that he will not kill any of the other Pandavas except Arjuna. After defeating the four Pandava brothers, he ordered his charioteer Shalya to move towards Arjuna. Karna arms himself with Nagastra. Shalya tells him to aim at Arjuna's chest but he ignores his advice and aimed at Arjuna's head. Krishna saves Arjuna from death by lowering their chariot wheel into the earth and the arrow strikes Arjuna's crown instead of his head. On the 17th day, Arjuna and Karna were face to face again. The fight started between Arjuna and Karna. In the middle of the war, suddenly Karna's chariot wheel was trapped in mud as a result of the curse he received from the Brahmin. Karna still defends himself but eventually forgets the mantra to invoke the Brahmastra due to the curse of his guru Parashurama. Karna asks Arjuna to pause as he gets down from his chariot to free the wheel. He reminded Arjuna of the etiquette of war but Krishna encouraged Arjuna to attack Karna against the rules of the war. Arjuna attacked Karna when he was trying to lift the wheel of his chariot. As per the rules of the war, though it was prohibited to attack a weaponless warrior or to attack an enemy from behind, Arjuna beheads the weaponless Karna from the back and kills him as suggested by Krishna. It is often reminded that one should also remember that Karna did the same to Abhimanyu during the war and it was his deeds that resulted in his fall and death in the Kurukshetra war in Mahabharata.