Karna

Factors that contributed towards Karna's death

1 The first and foremost contributor towards Karna's death was Sage Durvasa himself. While blessing Kunti with a mantra by which she could call upon any god of her choice, he did not tell her the consequence of this incantation. Thus, Kunti calls Surya without being aware of the consequence of the Mantra much before her marriage, panics and subsequently abandons the baby. His upbringing by the charioteer Adiratha denies Karna the recognition of a Kshatriya. It was Karna, not Yudhishtira or Duryodana, who was the true heir to the throne of Hastinapur, but this was not realized as his birth was kept secret.

2 Lord Indra who, in the form of a scorpion

3 When it stings Karna's thigh, angers guru Parasurama, who curses Karna for lying about his caste.

4 The curse of a Brahmin who owned a cow

5 The curse of Bhoomadevi

6 The giving away of his Kavacha and Kundala as alms to Lord Indra, this time disguised as a beggar, because of his extremely generous nature

7 Invoking the Shakti weapon on Gatothkacha

8 Not using the "Nagastra" for the second time in accordance with his second promise to mother Kunti

9 His two promises to mother Kunti

10 Shalya, who dampens Karna's confidence and moral spirit by stating many facts about the Pandavas strength on the seventeenth day of the battle.

11 When Karna comes to know that Pandavas were his brothers by Krishna just before the beginning of the Mahabharath war, then all his hatred towards all Pandavas vanishes. But, to be loyal to Duryodana, Karna decides to fight against Arjuna in the war. On the other hand, none of the Pandavas were aware that Karna was their brother until after Karna's demise

12 Abhimanyu's death

13 Draupadi's insult

14 Lord Krishna, by exhorting Arjun to kill Karna when he was trying to push his chariot out of the mud

15 Bhishma, by declining to accept Karna as a member of the Kaurava army while Bhishma was general

16 Drona, by declining to accept him as a student

17 By the Sun which went down on 17th day of the battle when he had a chance to kill Arjun

18 Arjun with divine weapon

19 Kripacharya making him feel weak when he fights Arjun

20 Lord Indra giving Arjun divine weapons

21 Vishwakarma's gandhiva

22 Lord Shiva's pashupastra

23 Ghandhari doesn't give blessings
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Various curses imparted to Karna
Karna was cursed by his guru Bhagvan Parashurama, a Brahmin and the Earth goddess as described below:

As Karna's training came to completion, Parashurama learned the truth about Karna's origin. One afternoon, he requested Karna to bring a pillow for him to sleep on in a tree's shade. Karna instead offered his teacher his lap. While Parashurama was asleep, a scorpion stung Karna's thigh. Despite the excruciating pain, Karna did not move so as to not disturb his Guru's sleep. As the scorpion bored deeper into Karna's thigh, the wound began to bleed. Parashurama was woken up by the blood from Karna's thigh. He deduced at once that Karna was a Kshatriya and not a Brahmin, as only a Kshatriya would possess the ability to withstand such pain with high patience. Thus, Parashurama, who had sworn vengeance against all Kshatriyas, concluded that Karna lied about being a Brahmin in order to learn from him. So, he cursed Karna that his martial skill including the use of Brahmastra would desert him when he needed them most. This in turn meant that Karna will forget all that he had learnt from Parashurama during his hour of crisis. Karna, who was himself unaware of his royal lineage, pleaded with his Guru that any student in his place would have acted the same way. While he regretted cursing Karna in a moment of anger, Parashurama's curse was irrevocable. He, gifted Karna with a celestial weapon called Bargavastra along with Parashurama's personal bow called Vijaya and blessed him that in the end, Karna would achieve what he wanted the most- an everlasting glory and greatness. Some folklore also tells that, it was Lord Indra himself who took the form of a scorpion to sting Karna's thigh in order to expose his intrinsic identity that he was a Kshatriya.

Departing from Parashurama's ashram, Karna wandered for some time. On his way, while practicing the shabdavedi vidya (the ability to hit a target by just observing the sound), he mistook a cow for a wild animal and shot an arrow at it and killed it. Incensed by this incident, the Brahmin who owned the cow cursed him, stating that as he had killed a helpless unattentive animal, Karna too would be killed in the same way when he was most helpless with his concentration being diverted away from his enemy at that crucial moment.

Andhra folklore further states that on his way, Karna encountered a child who was crying over her pot of spilt ghee. On asking her the reason for her dismay, she stated that she feared her step mother who would be angry over her carelessness. Being generous enough Karna tells her that he will give her new ghee. But, the child insists that she wanted only the ghee that was mixed with the soil and refuses to take the new ghee. Taking pity on the girl, Karna started to take the soil mixed with ghee in his fist and squeezes his hand with all his strength to extract the ghee and pours it back in to the pot. During this process, Karna hears a painful voice of a woman from his hand. When he opens his fist, he finds that it was Bhoomadevi- the Earth goddess. Angered with pain, she criticises Karna for inflicting enormous pain to mother earth just for the sake of a mere child. So, the Earth goddess curses him that in a very crucial battle of his life, she will hold his chariot wheel in the same way he held the fistful of soil thereby making him vulnerable to his enemy.

Thus, Karna is cursed on three separate and independent occasions. Unfortunately, each of these curses becomes operational at the same crucial moment in the Kurukshetra war later making him weaponless, without a chariot and helpless.


Effect of Bhomadevi's curse
The effect of Bhoomadevi's curse is that Karna's chariot wheels will always get stuck on Earth on that crucial day of the battle. In case, Karna happen to use multiple chariots on that particular day, then each chariot wheels would have individually got stuck on Earth. Hence, using multiple chariot by Karna would not eliminate Bhoomadevi's curse.

KRISHNA'S TEST TO KARNA

Before approaching Karna, Krishna assumed the form of an indigent Brahmin. Karna asked him: "Who are you, Sir?" Karna was nearing his last breath. Even at that moment, without any hesitation or faltering in his voice, he put that question to the stranger. Krishna (as the poor Brahmin) replied: "For a longtime I have been hearing about your reputation as a charitable person. You have acquired fame as Daana Karna (Karna the great giver). Today, not knowing about your plight, I came to ask you for a gift. You must give me a donation." "Certainly. I shall give you whatever you want", replied Karna. "I have to perform the marriage of my son. I want a small quantity of gold", said Krishna. "Oh what a pity! Please go to my wife, she will give you as much as gold as you need", said Karna. The Brahmin broke into laughter. He said: "For the sake of a little gold have I to go all he way to Hastinapura? If you say you are not in a position to give me what I ask, I shall leave you." Karna declared: "As long as breath remains in me, I will not say no to anyone." Karna opened his mouth, showed the gold fillings for his teeth and said: "I shall give this to you. You can take them". Assuming a tone of revulsion, Krishna said: "What is it you suggest? Do you expect me to break your teeth and take the gold from them? How can I do such a wicked deed? I am a Brahmin."

KARNA'S PRAYER TO KRISHNA

Immediately, Karna picked up a stone nearby, knocked out his teeth and offered them to the "Brahmin". Krishna in his guise as Brahmin wanted to test Karna further. "What? Are you giving me as gift teeth dripping with blood? I cannot accept this. I am leaving", he said. Karna pleaded: "Swami, please wait for a moment." Even while he was unable to move, Karna took out his arrow and aimed it at the sky. Immediately rain dropped from the clouds, Cleaning the teeth with the rainwater. Karna offered the teeth with both his hands. Krishna then revealed His original form.

Karna asked: "Who are you, Sir?". Krishna said: "I am Krishna. I admire your spirit of sacrifice. In any circumstance you have never given up your spirit of sacrifice. Ask me what you want. "Beholding Krishna's beauteous form, Karna said with folded hands: "Krishna! Aaapadbaandhava! (Oh! Reliever of troubles!) Lokarakshaka! (Protector of the world!) Oh Lord, who holds the Universe in your palm, what can I seek from you? At this moment of my passing, to close my eyes gazing on your Divine form, this is my greatest blessing. This is boon enough for me. To have the vision of the Lord before one's passing is the goal of human existence. You came to me and blessed me with your form. This is enough for me. I offer my salutations to you".

LESSON FOR ARJUNA

Arjuna was observing the whole scene. Krishna turned to him and said: "Are you prepared for this kind of sacrifice?" Arjuna bowed his head in silence. The Lord praised the greatness of the quality of sacrifice in man. Of all kinds of sacrifice, the greatest is the sacrifice made for God.

"Oh Lord! That heart which you gave unto me. I am offering to you. What else can I bring to offer at your lotus feet? I prostrate before you. Please accept my offering." This was the prayer addressed by Karna to Krishna.

Generosity and character
Following his accession to Anga's throne, Karna took an oath that anyone who approached him with a request at midday, when he would worship the Sun, would not go away with his request unfulfilled. He would never let anyone leave empty-handed. This practice contributed to Karna's fame as well as to his downfall, as Indra and Kunti took advantage of it. Further, Karna gets cursed by Bhoomadevi when he tries to fulfill the request of a girl over a ghee that fell in the soil. In the case of Abhimanyu in Chakravyooh, Karna acts in a different way when Abhimanyu requests him to offer a weapon when Abhimanyu was weaponless

Loss of armour
Indra, king of the gods (Devas) and father of Arjuna, realized that Karna would be invincible and immortal in battle as long as he had the golden armour suit and earrings that he was born with. During the Pandavas' exile, when war was imminent, Indra took it upon himself to weaken Karna. He decided to approach Karna as a poor brahmin during his mid-day worship. . Surya warned Karna of Indra's intentions, exhorting him not to give away his armour and earrings. Karna thanks Surya but explains he is bound by his word and can not send anyone from his door empty handed even if it means his death. As Surya had predicted, a disguised Indra approached Karna and asked for his kavacha (body armour) and kundala (earrings) as alms. Karna readily gives them away, cutting the armor and earrings off his body. Indra, shamed into generosity by Karna's gesture, reciprocates by giving Karna the boon to use Indra's most powerful weapon, the Vasavi shakti, but only once. It is at this point that he earns the name Vaikartana, as he cut the armor off his body without flinching.

Kunti and Karna
As the war approached, Kunti met Karna to reveal his true identity. She told him that she was his mother and that he was her son. Then, both of them shared a touching moment together. She told him to call himself as 'Kaunteya' (son of Kunti) instead of 'Radheya', then Karna replies that he wanted the entire world to recognise him as a Radheya and not as a Kaunteya. Kunti asks Karna to join the Pandavas and become the king. Karna refuses and tells Kunti that had she been willing to call him as Kaunteya many years ago when he appeared at the tournament, then things would have been very different. But it was too late now for him to make this change. He further states that being a friend of Duryodhana, he cannot betray the trust of his friend. However, he promises Kunti that he will not kill any of the Pandavas except Arjuna. Both, Karna and Arjuna have sworn to kill each other, and thus one of them were bound to die. So, he tells Kunti that she can only dream of having five sons- the fifth one being either him or Arjuna. Karna requests his mother to keep their relationship and his royal birth a secret until his death.

Kunti also seeks another promise from Karna of not using an arrow / divine weapon more than once. Karna promises her this too. As a result, Karna could not use the Nagastra weapon more than once in the Kurukshetra war later.


On the seventeenth day of the battle, the much awaited duel between Karna and Arjuna finally took place. Both were evenly matched during this spectacular combat. Karna has been gifted with a bow called Vijaya by his guru Parashurama. This bow was designed by Vishwakarma himself. On Duryodhana's request, Shalya reluctantly agreed to drive Karna's chariot. His charioteer skills were equal to that of Lord Krishna after having mastered Ashwahridaya - "Art of Horses".

During the battle, when Arjuna's arrows struck Karna's chariot, it moved back by several feet. However, when Karna's arrows struck Arjuna's chariot, it moved back only by a few inches. Krishna praised Karna for this. But, Arjuna got astonished and asked him the reason for his praise, since his (Arjuna's) arrows were more effective than that of Karna. In response, Krishna told Arjuna that Karna's chariot bore only the weight of Karna and Shalya. On the other hand, Arjuna's chariot bore the weight of the entire universe since Krishna and Hanuman were on the chariot. Despite this, Karna was able to move it by inches.

Similarly, Karna cuts the string of Arjuna's bow multiple times. But, at each instant he finds that Arjuna was able to tie back the bow string at a wink of an eye (in extremely short time). For this, Karna praises Arjuna and remarks to Shalya that now he understood as why people call him the greatest archer in the world.

Karna and Arjuna fought a long and intense duel utilizing their full knowledge of divine weaponry and tactics against each other. Karna uses his "Nagastra" and aims it at Arjuna's head in an effort to sever it from Arjuna's body. But, Lord Krishna cleverly saves Arjuna by plunging the chariot into the earth at the right time. As a result, the "Nagastra" just pierces Arjuna's crown istead of his head. The snake Ashwasena that was present as a Nagastra came before Karna and requested him to reuse this weapon again, so that it will not spare Arjuna this time. Karna refused to use this arrow again (due to his second promise to mother Kunti). Though the duel was initially held at a stalemate, Karna is hampered when his chariot wheel sinks into the ground on a loose wet soil (The Bhooma Devi's curse thus came into effect). He also finds himself unable to remember the incantations for divine weapons, as his teacher Parashurama had foretold. Descending from his chariot to remove the wheel, he requests Arjuna to wait until it is set right as per the rules of battle. Krishna told Arjuna that Karna has no right to refer to the rules at this point, after having violated the same by himself while killing Abhimanyu (See below). He urged Arjuna to shoot him while he is helpless (The Brahman's curse came into effect here). Lord Krishna told Arjuna that if he does not kill Karna at this critical juncture of the war, he may never be able to kill him and the Pandavas may never win the war. Thus, Arjuna decapitates Karna by using a divine arrow


After Karna's death
Following the war, funeral rites were performed for all the fallen. Kunti then requests her sons to perform the rites for Karna as well. When they protest, saying he was a suta, she reveals the truth of his birth. The brothers are shocked to find they have committed fratricide. Yudhishtira in particular is furious with his mother, and curses all women to never be able to keep a secret from that point on.

Yudhisthira and Duryodhana both wanted to perform the last rites for Karna. Yudhisthira claimed that the right was his, given the fact that he was Karna's own younger brother. Duryodhana claimed that Yudhisthira never treated Karna as a brother and couldn't claim any rights at this point of time. At this point, Lord Krishna intervened and convinced Yudhisthira that the bond of friendship is greater, and that Duryodhana should be given the right to perform Karna's last rites.

After the 18-day Mahabharata war at Kurukshetra ends, Lord Krishna asks Arjuna to step down from his chariot. When Arjuna does so, Krishna then takes Arjuna some distance away from the chariot. Then he signals to Lord Hanuman seated on the chariot to get up. The moment Lord Hanuman jumps off the chariot, Arjuna's horses are burnt alive and his chariot explodes into pieces. Seeing this, Arjuna is shocked. Krishna then tells him that the deadly astras of Bheeshma, Drona, Karna and Ashwattama had caused the destruction of Arjuna's horses and chariot. It was the divine presence of Lord Hanuman that maintained the chariot in a proper condition by postponing the effects of their divine weapons.