SuryaPutran Karnan

One of the main characters in the Hindu epic Mahabharata is Karna. He was the eldest of the Pandavas and the first son of Kunti, making him their half-brother. Although he is named king of Anga by Duryodhana of the Kauravas, his significance in the epic beyond that of a monarch. At the crucial conflict of Kurukshetra, he fought on behalf of the Kauravas. As a result, the name Karna (and several other variants) is a popular first name in India.

During his one year stay at her father's castle, the princess Kunti looked after the sage Durvasa. The sage appreciated her assistance and bestowed upon her a blessing that allowed her to invoke any god she choose and have a kid in his likeness. Being still single and unsure of whether the boon would be actually given, Kunti made the decision to put the boon to the test by making a request of Surya, the sun god. Even though she didn't desire a kid, Surya granted her a boy who was as radiant and powerful as his father thanks to the power of the mantra (wishing only to test the power). Kunti was able to keep her virginity because of his divine power.Karna's birth followed. Karna was given an armour (the "Kavacha") and a set of earrings (the "Kundala") by Surya that were bonded to him from birth.

Kunti abandoned Karna and placed him afloat in a box in a river because she was unwilling to face the world as an unmarried mother.

Karna the child was carried across the river by Adhiratha, a sudra charioteer for King Dhritarashtra. Because of Karna's innate armour and earrings, he and his wife Radha—a different Radha than the one who served as Lord Krishna's companion in Mathura—raised him as their son and gave him the name Vasusena, which means "born with wealth." Because of the jewellery he was discovered with, they were aware of his parentage and never tried to hide it from him. Because his mother's name was Radha, he was also known by the name Radheya.

Despite the lack of a genetic connection, Karna and his foster family shared a relationship based only on love, respect, and affection. In spite of his ascent to the position of king of Anga and the eventual admission of his true origins, Karna honoured Adhiratha in front of all the warrior race. Karna also tenderly discharged his responsibilities as a son and a brother within his foster family.

Karna wanted to be a warrior as he got older. He went to Dronacharya, who had just started his school and was instructing the Kuru princes, and asked for admittance to his institution. Because he was a "sutaputra," or the son of a charioteer, Drona declined to train him. Karna understood that his caste would continue to stand in the way of his pursuit of knowledge. He ultimately made the decision to speak with Parashurama, who was renowned for teaching Bramhins alone. Karna, who pretended to be a Brahmin and asked Parashurama for instruction in the techniques of war with the intention of using them to uphold order as Parashurama had done, was accepted as his pupil. Karna is referred to as a conscientious student. Karna was so well-trained by Parashurama that Parashurama declared Karna to be superior to him in the skills of war.

After Karna's training came to an end, Parashurama discovered the truth of Karna's ancestry. He asked Karna to bring a pillow one day so he could rest in the shade outside. Instead, Karna offered to be his pillow: his lap. An bug visited while Parashurama was dozing off and bit Karna when it landed on his leg. Karna was in pain, yet he did not move because doing so would bother his Guru. Parashurama was awakened by the warmth and sensation of the blood that was gushing from the insect's deep bite into Karna's thigh. Being able to endure such anguish without quivering, only a warrior could, led him to immediately conclude that Karna was a kshatriya. Karna was cursed by him for being unable to remember the incantation for an astra (divine weapon) when he most needed it. Even though he was a kshatriya, Radheya pleaded with him, telling him that this was not appropriate behaviour for a disciple to exhibit towards his guru. After hearing his pleading, a Parashurama informed him that his curse was unbreakable, that he would give him the Vijaya, Parashurama's own bow, and that in the end, Karna would obtain what he most desired, everlasting honour.

Karna left Parashurama's ashram and went wandering for a while. He shot an arrow at it, killing it, thinking it was a wild animal. The cow's owner, a brahmin, was furious and cursed Karna, saying that when he fought the most important battle of his life, his wheel would become stuck in the mud, leaving him open to attack by his foe. As Karna got back home, he told his family about his training while keeping the curses a secret. Therefore, he made the decision to look for work in the Hastinapura court.

Hastinapura hosted a competition for Drona to showcase the Kuru princes' talents. In this competition, Arjuna demonstrated his exceptional talent as an archer. After surpassing Arjuna's achievements when he arrived at the competition, Karna challenged him to a duel. To confront Arjuna, who is a prince of the Kuru house, only a prince may do so, but Kripacharya refused to challenge Karna, instead demanding his clan and kingdom.The oldest Kaurava, Duryodhana, offers Karna the throne of Anga (modern-day Bhagalpur in Bihar), making him a king and therefore more than qualified to combat his cousin. Karna, who is devastated by this, asks what he can do to pay him back. Duryodhana replies that all he wants in return is his friendship. He replies, "I want your heart," to which Karna responds, "It is already mine."

Key relationships in the Mahbhrata are established as a result of this incident, including the close friendship between Duryodhana and Karna, their fierce competition, and their general animosity for Karna.Duryodhana is said to have a real and devoted friend in Karna. While he ultimately participated in the infamous game of dice to appease Duryodhana, he first opposed it. Karna loathed Shakuni, and he frequently counselled Duryodhana to vanquish his foes via strength and ability rather than through guile and trickery. Duryodhana is chastised by Karna in his despair after the attempt to assassinate the Pandavas in the mansion of Lac fails, warning him that cowards' paths are doomed to failure and urging him to be a warrior and win his way through heroism.

Karna joined the Hastinapura court as Duryodhana's companion, warrior, and ruler. He continued by imitating Bheeshma's acts in bringing the Kashi princesses to Duryodhana as wives, showing up at the Kashi court, capturing the princesses, and admonishing the kings and princes to steal them from him if they could.

Another instance was when Karna helped Duryodhana wed the Chitragandha princess (not to be confused with Princess Chitrangada of Manipur). The princess rejected Duryodhana in her swayamvar, and he then forcibly removed her. At the swayamvar, the other monarchs chased Duryodhana. Karna, however, overcame them by himself. The princess of Chitragandha's swayamvar was attended by Jarasandha, Shishupala, Dantavakra, and Rukmi, among other kings. Jarasandha gave Karna a portion of Magadha as a thank-you gift.

Karna was more known than the Gods in all of the realms for his benevolence. After being crowned king, he swore that anybody who came to him with a request at noon, when he would worship the Sun, would have their desire granted. Never would he allow anyone to leave without something. The fact that Indra and Kunti exploited this technique led to both Karna's glory and his ruin.

Karna was one of Draupadi's suitors at the renowned swayamvar. He was more adept than other candidates at handling and stringing the bow. However, Draupadi intervened and said she would not marry a suta before he could fire.

Karna stormed out of the arena in a rage over the slur. The Pandavas, posing as brahmanas, were also present in the swayamvara. After the other princes failed, Arjuna entered the ring and successfully tackled the opponent, winning Draupadi's hand in the process. Along with it, he engaged in a combat with Karna, who praised his prowess.

Karna feels even more rivalry when Arjuna's identity is eventually exposed.

Shakuni's strategy of using deception and guile to defeat the Pandavas did not sit well with Karna. He frequently urged Duryodhana to take the path of battle since he preferred it. Yet he decided to play along in order to appease Duryodhana, which resulted in the frightening Cheer-haran incident.

Following Shakuni's cunning victory in the dice game, the queen of the Pandavas, Draupadi, was taken into the court by Duhsassana, who made an effort to strip her while being encouraged by Karna, Duryodhana, and his evil brothers. Karna refers to Draupadi as a "whore," even going so far as to claim that since prostitutes have no rights, it is acceptable to expose her in her undies in front of everyone.

Bhima immediately makes a promise to kill Duryodhana and his brothers in combat.

Karna took it upon himself to make Duryodhana the Universal Emperor while the Pandavas were exiled. Karna sent an army to conquer rulers in various regions of the nation and forced them to pledge allegiance to Duryodhana, the ruler of Hastinapura, or perish in battle. Karna prevailed in every conflict. Karna is said to have waged wars and brought many kingdoms under his control in this military adventure, including the Kambojas, Shakas, Kekayas, Avantyas, Gandharas, Madarakas, Trigartas, Tanganas, Panchalas, Videhas, Suhmas, Angas, Vangas, Nishadas, Kalingas, Vatsa, Ashmakas, Rishikas (i.e south-western Rishikas located in Maharashtra) and numerous others including mlecchas and the forest tribes.

Karna would be unbeatable in battle as long as he had the golden armour suit and earrings that he was born with, Indra, the king of the gods (Devas) and the father of Arjuna, recognised. When battle was about to break out during the exile of the Pandavas, Indra decided to weaken Karna. He made the choice to approach Karna at his midday prayer as a lowly brahmin. He was aware of Karna's moral code and that, at that time of day, he would never turn down a plea from a Brahmin or a beggar. Indra will pose as a beggar and request Karna's armour and earrings as alms, predicted Karna's father, the Sun deity Surya, to him in a dream. He was admonished by Surya not to surrender his defense. Karna ignores the advice because he was unaware that Surya was his father. As predicted by Surya, an impersonated Indra went up to Karna and requested his kavacha (body armour) and kundala (earrings) as alms. Karna willingly gives the armour and earrings away despite knowing that they were his means of defence. In fact, he does it without even flinching, removing his birthsuit armour and earrings from his body. Indra gives back to Karna after being moved to generosity by his act of kindness by granting him permission to employ the Vasavi shakti, Indra's most potent weapon, only once.

Fearing a battle, Kunti contacted Karna and introduced herself as his mother. As she urges him to stop calling himself "Radheya" and start calling himself "Kaunteya" (Kunti's firstborn), they share a moving moment. He responds that it is the day he has been waiting for his entire life. But, when she asks him to go with her and Surya himself confirms the request from above, Karna declines. He informs Kunti that things may have turned out differently if she had been willing to refer to him as Kaunteya when he first showed up at the tournament, but it is too late now. He must battle the Pandavas since he owes Duryodhana too much and is Duryodhana's buddy first and foremost. He assures her, nevertheless, that he will only murder Arjuna out of the five. He and Arjuna made a blood oath to murder one another, and that person must perish. According to him, Kunti can only wish for six sons. He or Arjuna will always be the father of her five sons. He promises Kunti he will only use naga-astram once to harm Arjuna.

Karna asks his mother to conceal their relationship and his royal ancestry until his passing. She won't be able to publicly admit that he was her firstborn until after that. It is interesting that Karna refuses to divulge this information, making him the legitimate ruler of the Pandavas as the oldest.

Karna is not selected by Bhishma, the supreme commander of the Kaurava force, as one of his important generals and is instead given a lesser role before the conflict begins (to curb his undue hatred of the Pandavas). Karna rebels against Bhishma after being insulted and refuses to follow his orders to fight. When Duryodhana does not step in to help him get reinstated, he is horrified. Even though Bhishma, the great warrior patriarch who has been unbeatable for several generations, has openly stated that the Pandavas are also precious to him and that he would not murder them, Duryodhana, the cunning politician that he is, is fully aware of the benefit of having Bhishma on his side.

When Bhishma was killed the day before, Karna doesn't join the combat until the eleventh day. It's also interesting to note that despite having defeated the Pandavas and having the chance to do so, he chooses not to take any of them prisoner.

Dronacharya (Drona) developed a unique arrangement for the phalanxes on the thirteenth day of the war, known as the Chakravyuha/Padmavyuha. (The military formations Chakravyuh and Padmavyuha are distinct from one another. Padmavyuh signifies a lotus formation, and Chakravyuh means a circle layout. Only Arjuna and Krishna, who were on the side of the Pandavas, knew how to foil the plan, but both were purposefully removed from the battlefield by two monarchs who were on Duryodhana's side. When his mother, Subhadra, fell asleep on Arjuna's lap while he was explaining the Chakravyuha arrangement to her, Abhimanyu, Arjuna's son, heard some of the explanation but not all of it, so he only had a partial understanding of the construction.He could therefore enter the Chakravyuha but was unsure of how to leave it. Abhimanyu would lead the Pandavas into the Chakravyuha, and they would then engage in combat to escape. Nobody was able to stop Abhimanyu that day when he entered the Chakravyuha, a circle of troops. The other Pandavas attempted to join the formation, but were stopped by Jayadratha, a king in the Kaurava army. In the middle of the hostile formation, Abhimanyu was left all by himself. While inside, he bravely fought and outlasted nearly every renowned Kaurava commander, including Karna, Drona, and Duryodhana. As instructed by Drona, Duryodhana and Karna made the decision to help kill Abhimanyu. While the Kauravas overpowered him, Karna fired arrows that destroyed Abhimanyu's bow and the reins of his chariot. With Abhimanyu's demise, the conflict is over. Arjuna, his father, makes the horrible commitment to kill Jayadratha the following day before dusk, or else he will commit suicide by setting himself on fire.

The combat unexpectedly continued into the night on the fourteenth day, and Ghatotkacha, the half-asura son of the Pandava Bhima, started destroying the Kaurava soldiers (Asuras became extraordinarily powerful at night). Karna and Duryodhana valiantly joined him in the fight. Duryodhana finally asked Karna to intervene when it appeared that Ghatotkacha would destroy all of the Kaurava soldiers that very night. He was so compelled to attack Ghatotkacha with the Shakti weapon. This was a gift that Indra had given him in recognition of his exceptional kindness. Karna was only permitted to wield the weapon once, after which it had to be returned to Indra. Karna was suddenly devoid of his deadly sword, armour, and earrings. Now that Arjuna was armed with a greater variety of divine weapons, Karna would have to rely solely on his abilities and prowess to defeat him. Karna did not possess a divine weapon that posed a significant threat to Arjuna. Karna was aware that he would have to engage Arjuna in combat and that one of them would undoubtedly perish.

The guru of the fighters on both sides, Dronacharya, is unfairly assassinated on the fifteenth day of combat. As Yudishtra was unable to tell lies, he calls an elephant Ashwathatmma—the son of Drona—and then kills it. The word "elephant" is suddenly drowned out as he declares that Ashwathama, the elephant, has died. In his grief, Drona is put to death, and Karna is named the leader of the Kaurava army. All the Pandavas, with the exception of Arjuna, are defeated by Karna in one-on-one battles on the battlefield, but he decides to spare their deaths in keeping with his promise to his mother Kunti.

The eagerly anticipated showdown between Karna and Arjuna eventually occurs on the seventeenth day of combat. Throughout the thrilling struggle, they were on equal footing. Vijaya (pinakin), a bow made by Vishwakarma himself, was given to Karna by Parashurama. Shalya, a maternal uncle of the Pandavas, grudgingly agreed to drive Karna's chariot at Duryodhana's request, giving him a charioteer to match Krishna (Shalya had mastered the Ashwahridaya - "Art of Horses").

Karna lacked a specific method to kill Arjuna in the absence of the Shakti sword. He was forced to rely on his personal skill. Karna and Arjuna engaged and expended all of their intelligence, wisdom, and passion in a wondrous, passionate exhibition of incredible archery, bravery, and strength. Based on his own abilities, Karna came up with a clever plan. He shot a barrage of arrows into Arjuna's chest, stunning him. And as soon as Arjuna became blinded, Karna unleashed another devastating volley meant to dispatch his formidable adversary. King Shalya of Madra, Karna's charioteer, advised Karna to take a safe approach by aiming the "naga-astram" arrow at Arjuna's chest. Shalya, who was the uncle of Nakula and Sahadeva, had been duped into fighting on the Kaurava side, but had made a promise to Yudhisthira that he would not permit Karna to kill Arjuna. Karna shot the arrow at Arjuna's head in defiance of that advice. But, Lord Krishna intervened to save his friend and disciple by using his power to drive the chariot into the ground, which allowed the fatal arrow to miss Arjuna by a pitiful few inches and strike Arjuna's crown instead.

Due to a curse placed on Karna by a Brahmin whose cow Karna had unintentionally murdered, one of his chariot wheels became caught in the mud during the battle. King Shalya, his charioteer, refused to get out of the chariot and pull the wheel out of the muck. Karna therefore ordered Arjuna to stop fighting while he dismounted his chariot and pulled the wheel out of the muck. Arjuna concurred. But, Krishna was aware of Karna's past transgressions and instructed Arjuna to fire at Karna as he struggled to get his wheel out of the muck. The chariot wheel was still stuck, and due to Parashurama's curse, Karna was unable to recall the mantras required to activate the Brahmastra, one of the more potent weapons of mass destruction. Krishna reminds Arjuna of Karna's brutality towards Abhimanyu, who was similarly stripped of his chariot and weapons.

As Arjuna beheaded a helpless Karna with the fatal shaft Anjalika, all of his grief, suffering, and rage welled up within of him.

Kunti revealed to the Pandavas that she was Karna's mother and that he was the oldest of the Pandavas after Karna passed away. Karna was mourned by the Pandavas. Yudhisthira, in particular, was furious to learn that his mother had concealed Karna's true identity from him and his brothers, whom it would have been their responsibility to serve and revere as their elders, just as his four brothers had done. He swore at all women, saying they would never be able to keep a secret again.

For millions of Hindus and Indians, Karna is still a tragic character. He continues to be a brave hero, a strong soul that faced insurmountable challenges throughout his life and died with great bravery, valour, and honor to achieve famous immortality. His generosity is extremely well known. He also serves as an illustration of how bad judgement negates all of a person's positive traits.

Karna is the name of a city in Haryana that is close to Kurukshetra.

Karna is a great illustration of a talented, upright, and valiant person who was yet doomed because of his allegiance to the tyrant Duryodhana. Karna, despite his reluctance, helped Duryodhana in all of his immoral and unfair activities against the Pandavas because of his blind love for him. Duryodhana's nefarious schemes to harm the Pandavas were known to Karna. Karna was also conscious of his own impending doom for aiding evil against good. His treatment of Draupadi and his involvement in the murder of the defenseless and outnumbered Abhimanyu are the only blemishes on his record.