ॐ ह्रां ह्रीं ह्रौं सः सूर्याय नमः ॥
OM HRAAM HREEM HRAUM SAH SURYAY NAMAH
I SALUTE THE GREAT SUN GOD FOR HIS DIVINE GRACE’
Several thousand years ago Devameedha who ruled over Mathura promised his, yet to be born, first child to his childless cousin Kuntibhoja, a Bhoja Yadava, of the Kunti Kingdom. When the baby was born Devameedha, true to his promise, handed over the lovely child to his cousin. Kuntibhoja on receiving the baby was so delighted that he named his beautiful daughter after his kingdom - Kunti. The little girl was the apple of her father’s eye and he considered her his lucky charm as after he had adopted her, he had the good fortune of having children of his own too.
One day the revered sage Durvasa visited Kuntibhoja. A holy man’s visit was always a blessing. Special care was taken to offer respect and extend the finest hospitality. Kuntibhoja naturally entrusted his beloved daughter Kunti with the responsibility of honouring and taking care of the wellbeing of sage Durvasa.
Young Kunti was a dutiful daughter and she made sure that all the arrangements for the sage’s prayers, meditation and meals were exactly as he wished. Sage Durvasa was very happy with Kunti’s efforts. The sage having done hundreds of years of penance and prayer could see into the future. Sadly, when he looked into Kunti’s future he saw that she would marry a man who would be unable to bear any children. The old sage did not want this beautiful, kind and caring child to not experience the joy of having a family.
Calling Kunti, he sat her down and taught her a very special mantra. He said to the little girl, “Learn this mantra well. It is a very special mantra. By saying this mantra you can have the child of any God you wish. All you have to do is say the mantra to the God of your choice and that God will appear before you and gift you his child.”
Kunti was a clever girl and quickly memorized the mantra. But the wise sage warned her, “Be careful how and when you use this mantra as once you have recited it you cannot avert the result.”
Kunti was delighted that the sage had been so happy with her ministrations that he had gifted her this special mantra. She could barely contain her excitement and was eager to test the effectiveness of the mantra. Completely forgetting about the sage’s warning and unable to hold back her curiosity Kunti became impatient. Calling out to the Sun God, Surya devata, as he shone brightly in the noon day sky, Kunti recited the mantra. In a burst of radiant, golden light, the luminous Surya devata appeared before Kunti and handed over a beautiful baby boy to a startled Kunti. What was even more astonishing was that the little boy was born with armour (Kavacha) and a pair of earrings (Kundala).
Kunti was terrified at receiving the baby in her arms. She was so young that she could barely care for herself let alone a child. Frantic and fearful of the consequences she would have to face for her rash action, Kunti placed the baby in a wicker basket, covered him with a blanket, and set the basket afloat on the river Ganga.
The basket Kunti had dropped in the river was picked up by a charioteer named Adhiratha and his wife Radha. They named the boy Vasusena. It was much later that he came to be known as Karna – a name which he is popularly known by. His foster mother Radha loved Karna so much that he also came to be known as Radheya – son of Radha. He reciprocated his parent’s love and had said of his mother, “The one person who loves me for who I am.”
The baby boy, Karna, was never acknowledged by his own biological mother, Kunti, until the day he died. Surya devata too did not divulge Kunti’s secret. Karna was fated to live his life as a foster child. Kunti later gave birth to five sons, the five Pandavas, but Karna was not fated to enjoy a sibling relationship with his brothers.
Karna was indeed a very special child. Being the son of Surya devata, Karna, could look through the glare of the sun for hours without any difficulties. He grew up with many great strengths and special abilities. As a man, Karna was matchless in the skillful use of weapons and could not be defeated even by the gods.
Karna as he grew older showed little interest in his father’s profession of charioteering. Instead, he showed an inclination to warfare and weaponry. He was so keen to learn the art of warfare that he approached Acharya Drona and requested, “Respected Acharya I have come to you because I wish to learn about the use and destruction of the Brahmastra (supernatural weapon).”
Much to Karna’s disappointment Acharya Drona replied “I cannot impart this knowledge to you because though you are a skilled warrior, the knowledge of the Brahmastra is reserved only for Brahmins and those Kshatriyas well established in Brahmacharya and in the study of the Vedas.”
Though saddened at being rejected by Drona Acharya, Karna did not give up his search for a teacher who would impart the knowledge of the Brahmastra to him. He met Sage Parshuram. This time Karna, not wishing to be
rejected lied and introduced himself as a “Brahmin from the Bhargav gotra (lineage).”
Parshuram took Karna on as his student. Karna served the sage loyally.
Parshuram, happy with his disciple’s devotion, taught Karna the use and reversal of the Bramhastra. Unfortunately, Karna’s ruse was discovered by Sage Parshuram. One day the sage tired rested his head on Karna’s lap and fell asleep. Karna sat motionless. A wasp landed on his thigh and stung Karna. Karna did not wince or make even the slightest movement because he did not want to disturb his teacher. One of Karna’s many strengths was that he could withstand great pain When the sage awoke, he saw that Karna’s thigh was covered in blood. Sage Parshuram roared, “You have lied to me. Such severe pain cannot be borne by a Brahmin. You are certainly not a Brahmin. The pain you have borne could only have been endured by a strong Kshatriya.”
Trembling with fear at having his lie uncovered Karna fell at Sage Parshuram’s feet and said, “Worshipful sage, forgive me. I lied to you only because of my greed to know the Bramhastra. I beg you for mercy.”
Seeing Karna shaking with fear Sage Parshuram’s softened. Karna had been an excellent student devoted, determined and dedicated. Looking at his young student the sage said, “Owing to your greed for the Bramhastra you lied to me. There is no place in my ashram for greed or lies. Your lie cannot go unpunished. Your punishment will be that you will forget the Bramhastra and face defeat whenever you fight with a sense of competition. But as you have been a devoted student, I also bless you with a bow and chariot. As long as you are fighting sitting in this chariot, you will not be vanquished”.
Grateful for his teacher’s mercy Karna prostrated before him and left the ashram. He was also happy that he had now learnt to use the Bramhastra.
Karna, however, could never let go the grudge of being abandoned by his natural mother. His anger only increased when people started referring to him as a person of low caste. Unfortunately, despite having loving parents, incredible skills and talents Karna could never rid himself of this resentment and deep-rooted anger.
One day Guru Dronacharya organized a rangbhoomi in Hastinapur. At the rangbhoomi, Arjuna displayed his skill at archery. Karna then came to the rangbhoomi and challenged Arjuna to a duel. However, according to the rules of the duel only a prince could challenge Arjuna. Karna was not a prince. He had no kingdom.
Seeing this Duryodhana, the eldest of the Kauravas, declared, “Karna, I, Duryodhana, from this moment, appoint you the king of Angadesh. As an independent ruler of your own kingdom, you will now be eligible to challenge Arjuna. There will be no reason now for you to be disqualified from a duel with Arjuna.”
Surprised Karna asked Duryodhana “What can I offer you in return for this great honour that you bestow on me?”
Duryodhana simply replied,” I ask for nothing more from you than your friendship. Always remain a true friend to me.”
Karna never forgot Duryodhana’s magnanimous gesture and till his last breath remained Duryodhana’s true and most loyal friend. Even when the great Mahabharata war was fought and through all the events that led up to the war Karna remained loyal to Duryodhana. There were many a time when he knew that Duryodhana was wrong in his decisions and actions but Karna did not disagree with him. He remained his faithful friend and supported him regardless.
So strong was his loyalty to Duryodhana that even when his biological mother Kunti came to meet him during the Kurukshetra war and told him the truth about his birth Karna still refused to side with his brothers, the Pandavas. He remained till his death a staunch and committed friend to Duryodhana.
Karna was also a most charitable man. In fact, when Lord Krishna referred to Karna as Danveer (a great benafactor) Arjuna asked Lord Krishna, “Why do you call Yudhishtira, Dharamaraj, and Karna, Daanveer?” To answer this question, Krishna disguised himself and Arjuna as Brahmins and decided to visit both the kings. On visiting Yudhishitra, they asked for sandalwood to cook food. It was raining heavily at the time, and Yudhishitra couldn’t find dry sandalwood suitable to be used as fuel. He apologized to both of them, and they returned empty handed. Then they proceeded to meet Karna and asked for the same thing. Karna searched everywhere for dry sandalwood but failed. Looking around, he picked up his bow and arrow and destroyed the doors made of sandalwood. Picking up the pieces of wood he handed it over to Krishna and Arjuna. Karna’s innate generosity would not allow him to let the Brahmins go home empty handed.
It was this generosity that Lord Indra took advantage of during the battle of the Mahabharata. Karna was invincible as long as he wore the armour he was born with. Knowing this Lord Indra was determined that Karna should not enter the battlefield wearing his armour. Lord Indra knew that Karna would worship the Sun God, Surya devata, every day at midday. He also knew that Karna would not refuse anyone anything at that time. Accordingly, Indra planned his visit to Karna at exactly the time he knew Karna would be praying.
Surya devata knew of Lord Indra’s pla
n and he warned his son, Karna, of Indra’s plan. Karna replied, “Lord, even if someone asks for my life at that time I will not refuse.”
Lord Indra disguised as a beggar approached Karna at midday while he was at prayer and asked for Karna’s armour and helmet. Even though forewarned Karna willingly handed them over to Lord Indra. Indra pleased with Karna asked him, “Is there any way I can repay you for your generosity?”
Karna replied, “To ask for something in return for my donation is to defile the dignity of charity.”
Karna was a war hero that even the greatest of all army general’s Arjuna could not defeat without Lord Krishna’s help.
On the 17th day of the Mahabharata war, Karna finally faced his arch rival, Arjuna. By this time he was exhausted. He had no more celestial weapons left to use and his armour and helmet were not there to protect him. It was at then that his chariot wheels got stuck in the mud of the battlefield. When Karna stepped out of his chariot to free its wheels he was no longer protected by Parshuram’s blessing of being invincible while inside the chariot. Sage Parshuram’s curse that he forget the Brahmastra too came into effect. Lord Krishna had promised Lord Indra that he would protect Arjuna. Hence Lord Krishna knowing that Karna was in a very vulnerable position advised Arjuna to attack Karna. Karna’s life ended at the hands Arjuna.
As Karna’s body hit the ground, a massive flame of fire rose from the earth and absorbed his body into the sun. Kunti rushed to where her first born had died, sobbing inconsolably.
It was only after his death that Kunti revealed to her sons that Karna had been their eldest brother. Her sons were devastated at hearing this news and Yudhishthira was especially angry with his mother.
The tragedy of Karna’s life was that though he was gifted with many great qualities he focused on what he did not have. His loving foster parents could not compensate his ire at being abandoned by his birth mother. Despite being crowned king he never could erase from his mind people regarding him as low caste. He was Duryodhana’s loyal friend but did not dissent with him even when Duryodhana committed many wrongs. When Duryodhana turned to him for advice Karna could have guided him correctly but did not. His silence was taken as approval by Duryodhana. Even when Lord Krishna told him of his parentage and advised him against these wrong doings Karna could not erase his hatred of the Pandevas. He believed that his loyalty to Duryodhana required him to hate them. He was consumed with hate. He was misguided enough to ignore Lord Krishna’s advice. He took the path of unrighteousness. It was the choices he made that were the cause of Karna’s ultimate destruction.
Yet it is from Karna’s life that we learn that even our enemies and those we consider bad, do have good qualities. We must learn to acknowledge their strengths. We must respect them for their virtues. We can only walk along the path of righteousness if we can recognize the divinity in everyone – friend or enemy.
LIFE LESSONS
1. Unlike Karna let us not dwell on what we do not have.
2. Let us be grateful for all that we do have.
3. Like Karna let us be charitable and give generously
4. Unlike Karna let us not lie to get what we want.
5. Like Karna let us be loyal to our friends and family.
6. Unlike Karna let us not enable our friends in their wrong doings.
7. Let us always appreciate the good qualities in others.
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