Why Karna is Called Daanveer?

If you have read the epic Mahabharat you will be familiar with one of the main characters called Karna. I will not be covering in details what is the storyline of Mahabharat but I will just add a brief context that it is centred around a great war that was fought many millennias ago between two group of brothers who were paternal cousins. The brothers following the righteous way were called Pandavas and the immoral ones were called Kauravas.

Due to several intervening circumstances the eldest Pandava brother is separated at birth and finds himself fighting the Pandavs as he joins the Kauravas group.

What does the term Daanveer mean?

Daanveer literally means a brave warrior who is know for his unlimited charity. Krishna who is an avatar of God Vishnu always referred to Karna as Daanveer as he was highly impressed by his sense of giving and caring about the less fortunate people.

Krishna is the mentor of Arjun who is one of the Pandavas and this constant praise of Karna made Arjun really jealous. One day when Arjun could not control his envy he asked Krishna that why does he keep praising Karna when he is fighting for the immoral people.

How did Karna Earn the title of Daanveer?

Responding to Arjuns, Krishna says that most of the people give charity to a very limited extend after considering what is the amount they can give away without any discomfort being caused to their day to day life. Karna on the other hand does not think about his comfort before making a donation and only thinks about fulfilling the requirement of the person asking for the charity.

Karna had the habit of giving a poor person alms every morning. He would not consume any food till he had made a donation for that day. In fact it was his dedication to charity that was taken advantage of by the Gods to ensure that he does not defeat his archrival Arjun in the war.

Karna had a divine birth and his father was Surya, the Sun god. He had blessed Karna with a golden armour which could not be broken by any weapon. Krishna knew that with this armour Karna will be impossible to overcome so he asks Indra, the leader of Gods to disguise as a poor priest and ask Karna for his golden armour in donation. Karna was so determined in his sense of charity that he donated his armour despite knowing very well that losing that armour will make him vulnerable in the battlefield against Arjun and it eventually led to his death.

Krishna goes on to narate another recent event to highlight the level of generosity of Karna. A few months back there had been heavy rains around the kingdom. A priest was looking for dry sandalwood to perform a hawan which is a fire ritual that requires burning wood while chanting mantras. The priest can not find any dry sandalwood as due to rains all the wood I the kingdom is totally soaked by water. In despair the priest goes to the palace and one by one asks all the Pandavas for help. They all turn him down saying they did not have any dry sandalwood. Before leaving the palace he decides to ask Karna as well since he had heard so much about his generosity. After listening to his predicament, Karna thinks for a while then asks his guard to go and chop the central pillar in his bedroom which is made of sandalwood, break it into small pieces and hand it over to the priest.

This clearly highlights that Karna never thought about the discomfort that making a donation will cause to him. For him giving charity to the needy was a duty that had to be fulfilled under any circumstance.

Final Act of Charity!

When Arjun finally manages to overcome Karna and lethally injures him with his divine weapons, Krishna exclaims that we have now lost one of the greatest warrior ever. Arjun is again overcome with jealousy and ask Krishna why is he still praising Karna. Krishna says that you have heard so much about the generosity of Karna now I will show you why he is so great. Krishna disguises himself and Arjuna as poor priests seeking alms and approach Karna who is lying on the battlefield waiting for his death. Krishna tells Karna that they are very hungry and need some money to buy food. Karna thinks for a while then takes a stone lying nearby and knocks out a golden tooth in his mouth. He then hands it to Krishna and says that this should be sufficient to buy food for a few days.

Arjun is left baffled and he tells Krishna that he now understands why he always used to praise Karna so much.

Om Namah Shivay!