RADHEYA KARNA: The Mortal With Immortal Glory

I don't know if there is another character that has captured the public imagination like that of Radheya Karna. Since my childhood, since the point when I first heard his story, he made an irreplaceable place in my heart.

Many of my friends have asked me the reason for my adoration for Karna. Was it his life's never-ending tragedies, his unfailing charity, his supreme confidence, his infallible loyalty, his bravery or his humanity? But I don't know an answer. But one thing I can say with confidence is that my love and respect for Karna will never change or reduce.

From the last few years, I have been reading up on Karna as well as the epics. The more I read my love for Karna keeps on increasing. There is no excuse or explanation for the cruelties committed against him. For a few person's selfishness, his life was destroyed cruelly. Before becoming active in many debates about the epics, I did not even know that a section of people hated him. Being from Kerala and I am yet to come across a person who hates Karna! Majority of people can see the tragedy he went through. But as I mentioned before, there is a section who hates him with passion, who tag him as villain......But was Karna really a villain? Or was he an adorably unpretentious human?

I think the caste system in India was initially not rigid and was based on one's profession but has started to become abusive by the lifetime of Karna as evident in the epic Mahabharata. Yes, many interpolations are there in the epic but we can come to a solid conclusion based on the many incidents narrated in it. The author of Ramayana, Sage Valmiki, was a tribal man who used to be a hunter initially. But despite this, he goes on to become the ever-revered Adikavi (ancient poet). Krishnadwaipayana Vyasa, author of Mahabharata, despite being the son of a girl from the fishing community, goes on to become the famous Sage. Satyavati herself being from a supposed lower rungs of caste become the Queen Mother of Hasthinapura. But she remains very insecure due to the presence of her stepson, Gangaputhra Bheeshma. So there were these cases....yet Karna was abused from beginning to the end, mostly by his own blood brothers, unknowingly and by his grandfather Bheeshma, knowingly.

Karna was born as the eldest son of Princess Kunti and the Hindu Solar Deity, Surya, out of wedlock. Fearing ignominy, Kunti abandons the newborn infant in the Ganges who goes on to be adopted by Adhiratha Sushena (the Head Charioteer of Hasthinapura King Dhrithrashtra) and his wife, Radha, both belonging to the Suta Class (a mixed race of aristocrat and priestly lineage). But Adiratha Sushena's choice of profession as a charioteer(a job belonged to serving class) later becomes the source for Karna's abuse by the Pandava side. Karna who should have been a Prince originally is thus reduced to the status of becoming the son of a charioteer. I believe it was Karna's mixed lineage that becomes the basis for all the abuse he faces throughout his life.

Despite his father's profession, Karna develops a burning thirst for gaining training in weaponry, that too in advanced weaponry and military science. He approached Drona, the mentor of Kuru and Pandava Princes, for gaining training in the same. There is two version of incidents regarding Karna's education. According to the first version, Karna is not accepted by Drona as the former is a charioteer's son and not a Prince. Also that Drona had taken a pledge that he will only accept Princes as his disciples. According to another version, Karna was indeed accepted by Drona as his disciple but he does not provide Karna with the training in advanced weaponry and military science. The reason Drona cites is that Karna was "jealous" and was not a Brahmin.

I find the second version to be a bit contradictory as Karna always is referred to as "Parashuramashishyah" (disciple of Sage Parashurama) universally and never as Dronashishya. Another fact is that Queen Gandhari had a son named Karna who naturally will be a disciple of Drona, him being a Kuru Prince. Thirdly Drona states that Karna was "jealous" of Arjuna as the former was the friend of Kuru Prince Duryodhana! Yet the puzzling thing is that Duryodhana (being the bosom buddy of Karna), Drona or other Princes fails to recognize Karna when he gatecrashes the military competition organized for Drona's disciples. Why didn't anyone recognize Karna? If Karna was indeed the disciple of Drona then he had the right to compete in it but the authorities deny him the right initially. If Drona was so magnanimous a mentor and could have accepted Karna as his disciple, then he could have accepted the tribal Prince Eklavya as his student as well. But no, Drona instead chops off Eklavya's thump in order to end competition for his favourite pupil, Arjuna. This kind of proves that Karna was never accepted by Drona as Karna, like Eklavya, was again an obstacle to Arjuna's rise. Besides, in the initial parts of the epic, Karna is referred to as Vasusena (the name given by his foster parents), Vrisha (son of Surya) etc and rarely as Karna as he got this name after cutting and donating his armour that was part of his body much later. So I am going to assume that Karna was the disciple of Sage Parashurama(the 6th Incarnation of Hindu God, Vishnu) and not Drona.

So after being rejected by Drona, Karna approaches the legendary Sage Parashurama, incidentally the guru of Drona and Bheeshma as well. But Parashurama hates anyone who is a royalty. Parashurama had pledged that he will give education, including advanced military training, to anyone other than a Kshatriya (royalty). But he did mentor Bheeshma but then again the latter was the son of Goddess Ganga. Here, Karna lies that he was a Brahmin; obviously a psychological reaction as the result of the rejection he faced till then. Some hold this against Karna that he lied to his own Guru but forgets that he did it to gain knowledge. Some even argue that Karna had no right to become what he became, as he was not a Brahmin. I cannot believe that there are still many people in this country who still believe in oligarchy! Karna, Of course, goes on to become the favourite student of Parashurama and attains knowledge in Vedas (scriptures), Shastras (sciences) and of all Divyasthras (super weapons) including Bramhastra (whose description makes it more powerful than today's weapons of mass destruction).

But as usual, Indra who was the biological father of Arjuna became worried that Karna will usurp the glory that was destined for his son and decides to ruin all that Karna attained through hard work and dedication. Indra takes the shape of a flesh-eating bug and starts eating away the flesh of Karna who remain motionless and bear the pain as his guru was resting his head on his lap. For this amazing act of perseverance, instead of getting appreciated, Karna receives a damning curse. Parashurama believed that Brahmanas as they are of softer disposition, cannot tolerate such gruesome pain and hence Karna must be of Kshatriya lineage. Karna who till then knew nothing of his royal lineage is cursed that the critical moment when he needs to use Bramhsasthra, he will forget how to invoke it. But Karna pleads his case and Parashurama softens his stance. The mentor gifts his entire weapons as well as a divine bow named Vijaya to Karna and blesses him that Karna was the best among all of his disciples and that his fame will reach all the 7 worlds. Parashurama's insistence that Karna was a Kshatriya sows the seeds of the deep angst in his mind. On his way back to Hastinapura, Karna receives his second and the most damning curse from Goddess Earth that at a critical moment she will grip his chariot wheel and that will lead to his death. Karna is further depressed and his biological father Suryadeva appears in front of him and reveals the truth about his birth but refuses to name his mother as Surya had promised to keep it a secret. But the Sun God does reveal the fact that his mother was indeed a Princess, confirming Parashurama's words that he indeed was a Prince.

Karna returns to Hasthinapura at the critical moment when Drona's disciples are showing off their skills to the public as well as the invited Kings.  Duryodhana and Bheema do not see eye to eye and both had to be restrained by Ashwathama before they killed each other. But the television serials show that Bheema easily overpowered Duryodhana which is nothing but a lie. Balarama, the great wrestler, rated Duryodhana much above Bheema as the former was technically miles ahead of Bheema in mace fighting and wrestling. Besides, Bheema never manages to beat Duryodhana not even once on the whole epic. Bheema had to resort to cheating to defeat Duryodhana, that too at the very end. Drona proudly presents his favourite disciple Arjuna whose glory moment gets smashed by Karna's entry. Karna again is denied right to duel with Arjuna as he is not royalty and is gravely insulted by Bheema. Here Duryodhana does the noblest thing by anointing Karna as the King of Angadesha. As per my readings, the then Angadesha extended to the vast areas covering the modern day eastern India like Bihar, Bengal, Orissa, Assam, as well as Bangladesh and parts of Myanmar. The strange thing is Duryodhana who is demonized in modern as well as older retellings or portrayals of the epic, does the noble deed. Yet the so-called pious and morally upright Pandavas chooses to insult Karna rather than appreciate his talent! The epic is full of such hilarious contradictions. Bheema takes a vicious jibe at Karna for being a charioteer's son and refers to the latter as 'stray dog'. 

If Yudhishthira (eldest of 5 Pandavas) had stood up against Karna's abuse, things would have been much different. The 'evil' Duryodhana stands up for his new friend yet the most 'noble' Yudhishthira chooses silence over correcting his brother irascible Bheema. This is the crucial point where Karna takes up the side of Duryodhana, for life. Anyway, the new King of Angadesha, Karna goes on to perform all the archery tricks that Arjuna performed, with ease, much to the chagrin of the latter. The enemies are all drawn at this critical point. But before a winner is declared the Sun sets and the competition is over.

The next momentous incident arrives in the form of Princess Draupadi's controversial wedding competition. Yes, "wedding competition" as it was no Swayamwara(self-choice) and she was a Prize (Veeryashulka) given away to the victor in the archery competition organized by her father. 

In the beginning of the event, Draupadi's brother, Prince Drishtadyumna, announces that the person who lifts the heavy metal bow and hits the eye of the rapidly swinging fish, all by looking through water reflection, will get her as his prize. Nowhere it says anything about the caste of the contenders. And the bride had no choice as well as she was 'veeryashulka' or 'prize of valour'. No other terms were announced. 

Karna alongside Duryodhana, Shakuni and other Kuru Princes were all invitees for the event. Pandavas who were in hiding after an attempt on their lives in Varanavatha (the whole conspiracy solely the brainchild of their Paternal Uncle Drithrashtra and not Shakuni or Duryodhana) are also present in the disguise of Brahmin beggars. One by one the invitees compete and fail as none of them are not even able to lift the metal bow. Duryodhana lifts it easily but misses the aim by a fraction.

Karna is frustrated by the failure of his friends and enters it only when all the other invitees fail and as the last contestant. Karna picks up and wields the bow with ease but before hitting the target he is stopped by the bride. Draupadi publically calls out on his caste and says, "won't take a Suta as my Lord". Karna says nothing and withdraws from it. Of course, Arjuna goes on to compete and wins and importantly Draupadi does not stop him even though he is a beggar. But more importantly, for her, he was a Brahmin! This incident brings out the casteism harboured by the much eulogized Draupadi. 

Famous Indian mythologist, Devdutt Pattanaik, says the following about Draupadi's actions: ".....there is no such romance in Draupadi’s life. In fact, she prevents Karna from participating in the archery contest as he is of low caste and ends up marrying a Brahmin who turns out to be Arjuna disguised. Draupadi is shared by Arjuna’s four brothers, all of whom have many other wives, experiences polyandry and polygamy. Draupadi pays disproportionately for her own actions. She insults her husbands’ cousin, Duryodhana, the eldest Kaurava, when he falls in a pool of water calling him the blind son of a blind man, not realizing how oversensitive he was. As a result, Duryodhana goes out of her way to publicly humiliate her, getting her husbands to wage her in a gambling match, and having lost her, watch helplessly while he gets her dragged in front of in full of the court and proceeds to disrobe her....."

Yudhishthira, went on to gamble his country, subjects except for Brahmanas (priestly class), serving women, own brothers, himself as well as the wife, is known as the noblest or "dharmik" man of the age! He is never pulled up for his crimes. Arjuna who goes on to share his wedded wife with his brothers is never blamed for it. But Karna who lashed out against his abuse, at the hands of Pandavas as well as Draupadi, is always blamed. 

What he uttered during the gambling game was to rub salt on Draupadi's bruised humongous ego. She found it convenient and a norm to insult others but when the tables were turned on her, she cried abuse. She insulted Karna and Duryodhana (then a state guest of Indraprastha) publicly but she almost seems to get away with it as she is a woman. Karna referred to her as 'characterless' not a 'whore' as it is widely publicized. Kunti herself says a "woman who consorts with more than 3 men is a whore" which in her own words maker her one as she 'consorted' with Surya, Pandu, Yama, Vayu and Indra. But when Draupadi saves the day for her husbands Karna immediately praises her nobility. But Bheema seethes as he couldn't believe they needed Draupadi's help! 

This trait of Karna is what I love...accepting nobility or skill even if it is his enemies. I am a woman myself and what happened to Draupadi in the court of Hastinapura was wrong but it was her husbands who were completely responsible for it. People speak as if it was Karna's responsibility to protect her but Karna was not even a family member. Her husbands, grandfather, paternal uncle, father's friend etc did nothing but people say, Karna, whom Draupadi herself considered inferior to her, should save her! Well, I say karma hit her like a hurricane!

Post the exile of Pandavas, Karna goes on to conquer all Kingdoms as well as the three worlds and made them all the vassals of Duryodhana. He also beats the ferocious Jarasandha (later killed through deceit by Bheema) in battle whom even the mighty Bheeshma did not mess with. Karna suggests Duryodhana that they should go an check it out how Pandavas are faring in the forest. Yes, a wrong thing to do but again these negative shades is what makes him very human and he wanted to humiliate those who always humiliated him. The idea backfires but this incident go on to unravel the most brutal group attack on a person. 

The Gandharvas attack the Kuru group and capture their women. Karna fights them single-handedly and is gravely injured. He retreats from battle, gains strength and returns as soon as his wounds are stitched up. Chitrasena, a friend and servant of Arjuna's father heads the brutal group attack on Karna the mortal enemy of Indra as well as Arjuna. Karna manages to kill majority but weariness sets in and that are when he retreats. At that point, Pandavas enters the scene and the 5 brothers fight the Gandharvas who are already weakened and number lessened. Karna returns but by that time, Pandavas had beaten the opponents. This is again held to up as a bad trait of Karna, saying he "ran away" but almost all warriors did this that time. Later on in the epic, Arjuna ran away from ordinary robbers in Dwaraka never to return but this is not at all mentioned by anyone.

Karna's glorious moments comes during the climax of the epic......Karna is robbed of his protective armour and earring by Indra to help Arjuna. Indra comes in the guise of a Brahmin beggar and asks for the divine armour which Karna donates without any diffidence. When told to ask for boons by Indra, Karna asks two: that no scars should form on his body as consequent of cutting off his armoured skin and that he be provided with a divyasthra, 'Vaasavi Shakthi'. 

Pandavas are traced to Virata kingdom and Arjuna comes out in his transgender form and faces the Kurus. He "beats" them by using Sammohan Astra, against the rules of war, renders all including Bheeshma, Karna, Drona etc unconscious. Peace talks with Kurus fail and war is declared. 

On the eve of war, Kunti commits the most heinous crime on Karna by revealing that she was his biological parent and he should change sides. But Karna coolly refuses this but again Kunti manages to extracts two boons out of her noble son: he won't kill any of the Pandava brothers except Arjuna and that he would spare their lives and that he won't use a Divyastra twice in the battle. 

Then it was Krishna's turn: Krishna tries to tempt him with the kingdom (the cause of the war), riches and other material things including Draupadi to share his bed as he was the eldest of Kounteyas. He could have easily taken revenge on Draupadi but he shows a nobility that was completely missing in his biological mother, sister in law or brothers. But he says the most beautiful thing that he won't desert his friend, parents or wedded wife for the sake of kinship, kingship or bodily pleasure. He chose death over wealth and power and the only thing he hoped for was the glory which was previously denied to him by the society and his own mother.

Before, the war, Bheeshma declares that he won't fight alongside a low- caste Karna so the latter back off from the war till the fall of Bheeshma. Then he enters the battle to attain eternal glory. 

Under the Generalship of Drona, Abhimanyu gets trapped inside Chakravyuha (a war formation) after getting the assurance of 4 Pandavas that they will support him. In Chakravyuha, the rule states that one warrior fights against multiple ones. But as usual, Yudhishthira makes another moronic decision. He clearly knew that only Arjuna out of Pandavas knew how to enter and exit the Vyuha yet he made a false promise to Abhimanyu who clearly states that he does not know how to get out of it. 

Basically, Yudhishthira willingly sends Abhimanyu to his death. Abhimanyu gets inside the formation but Pandavas are unable to do so. TV serials and re-tellings say Karna alongside Kurus stabbed Abhimanyu to death. But this is a big lie to vilify Karna further. 

In the epic, Drona asked Karna to break the bows of Abhimanyu which he dutifully does. and that is it. A one on one duel is fought between Abhimanyu and Durmashan (Dushasana's son) and both fall unconscious. Durmashan who recovers first proceed to kill Abhimanyu. So no, neither Karna nor Kurus broke any rules of war but Pandavas broke every single one of them. Pandavas send Ghatothkacha, the demon son of Bheema, to conduct a night attack on Kurus, against the laws of war. As a result, Karna had to use up the Vaasavi Shakthi weapon that was intended for Arjuna, on Ghatothkacha. This was shown the other way round in Star Plus Mahabharata which was the height of whitewashing of Pandavas.

Finally, Arjuna and Karna come face to face on the battlefield. Arjuna's life is saved countless times by Krishna using every trick in the book. Karna even spared Arjuna's life as the Sun had set before he used the weapon. But as the fate would have it, Karna's chariot wheel gets trapped in the mud and his charioteer Shalya (the mega irritant) refuses to lift it. So Karna proceeds to retrieve it and at that time, when he was weaponless and had his back turned to the enemy, Arjuna used Divyastra to kill Karna. And thus the valiant man died in the battlefield and attained a state of God in Suryalok (Surya's realm). Post the apocalyptic war, when the survivors are doing funeral rights for the dead kins, Kunti finally reveals the truth that her eldest son was not Yudhishthira but Karna. Pandavas are devastated and finally post his death, Karna gets his due acceptance.

The reason for the war wasa quest for power and not avenging a woman, clearly stated in the epic by Arjuna when Draupadi asks him to avenge her dishonour. The epic also shows another trait, greed for power, of Yudhishthira. Even though he pretends that the Emperorship at the very end was thrust upon him his own words shows the truth. While he laments the death of Karna in bitter words, he goes on to says that if Karna alongside Bheema and Arjuna was on his sides, he would have become the undisputed ruler of the earth! 

I mean, if Karna was acknowledged by Kunti then Karna, and not Yudhishthira, would be the Emperor.....this clearly shows "Dharmaraj's" lust for power and KIngdom. 

Actually, the root cause of Pandavas miserable life is Kunti's crimes against Karna. If she had accepted publicly when Karna was getting insulted left and right at the competition, instead of moronic Yudhishthira, Pandavas would have had a loving and protective eldest brother who would have steered them clear of all the pitfalls created by the sadistic Yudhishthira. Actually, Yudhishthira would have got no chance to mess things up, at all. As they say, children suffer for the crimes of their parents....Pandavas suffered for the crimes of their mother Kunti.

If I have to really pinpoint a reason...then this would be it. 

My love for Karna is based on the fact that he is the most human character in the epic...as he is the only one who owns up his mistakes. He regrets insulting Draupadi, he refuses Krishna's offer to take Draupadi as his sexual partner. And he is a monogamist as well. He refuses the kingdom for which the war was about to take place; he accepts his punishment unlike Kunti, Yudhishthir, Draupadi etc who would rather blame others than to own up their mistakes. 

Karna made mistakes but he accepted that.  That is why I adore Karna and not because he is perfection.

References:

1. The Mahabharata by K.M. Ganguli
2. Mrityunjaya by Shivaji Savant