Biography-of great Karna

Biography-of great Karna

Sham S. Misri

Long ago ,even before the birth of Pandavas & Kaurava , there lived a demon called Sahasrakavach , as the name suggests he had thousand shields as a boon from Lord Brahma himself. The boon was such that  it would take a 100 years to break one shield . No human , not even any divine was able to fight with him for so long. So they went and complained to Lord Vishnu . He understood the harshness of the problem and told that he would help them , so he took the form Nara and Narayana. if Nara would fight for 100 years Narayana would be meditating for 100 years; Then Narayana would fight and Nara would meditate . So, with this arrangement and like that they battled for hundreds of years and took away all his kavachas. In the end only one  was left and that too only 16 days were left for the completion of the last hundred years , so the Asuras got panicked . He went to Surya God for help. Coincidentally at that time only Kunti prayed Lord Surya for blessing her with a son. So Lord Surya immediately converted him (Asura) as a child and  gave it to Kunti.  That is how Karna was born.

Both Nara & Narayana were reincarnated as Arjuna & Krishna in their next life  and killed Karna on the seventh day of the Mahabharata war. Along with Karna his three sons also were killed by Pandavas on the same day.
Krishna had told Karna secretly , before the war ,that he was the eldest of the Pandavas. Parasurama gave the weapon (ashtray) but not the power to use it for the second time. Lord Indra took away his Kavach and Kundal. King Salya , as his charioteer , left him at the crucial moment. Krishna had pressed his chariot , the wheels of which got stuck in soft mud which could not be retrieved. These were some of the facts which resulted in the death of great Karna.

Nara narrowed his eyes angrily. He pulled out some water from his pot and threw it on Surya and cursed him. 'You have gone against my Narayana! He asked you for something and you refused! For this I curse you that you would be born as a human and suffer for this!' Surya bowed his head. He knew that he should not have sheltered a monster but he was willing to pay the price for his devotee. Here the curse is only for lord Surya. Karna is finally killed by Nara - Narayana in a dubious manner. As he was on the wrong side of Dharma , he met his death in the hands of virtuous men. Veda Vyasa has portrayed different characters with their attributes only to project the value of noble virtues. The natural corollary being Karna although as a character was gifted with tremendous unconquerable powers yet he was defeated, through dubious methods though as he was the rebirth of the Asura.
Karna is one of the most fascinating characters of Mahabharata. He was known for his generosity and was an unconquerable warrior. He was the son of Kunti and sun god. The story is that Kunti while still very young , had occasion to serve sage Durvasha. She looked after him with great dedication. The sage Durvasha was very pleased. He gave Kunti a mantra to chant. And said whichever God she would think of after reciting the mantra , would appear before her and bless her with a son gifted with his own godly qualities. Rishi Durvasha could foresee that Kunti would have no issues from her husband. That is why he gave her this boon.  Kunti, out of curiosity, once tried the mantra and remembered Surya, the Sun God. The ordained happened. Surya appeared in his resplendent glory. Kunti got scared and wanted the sun god to go away. But, he pleaded his helplessness against the power of mantra. Surya assured Kunti that even after being blessed with a sun , she would still remain as a virgin. So Karna was born with a  Kavach and kundal (armor which would make him invincible). Kunti was nevertheless afraid of the social stigma and therefore she abandoned the child . She put Karna in a basket and placed the same in the Ganges river, the basket was seen by Adihrath , a charioteer , who had no issue. He picked up the baby and brought him up. That is why Karna is also sometimes called as Sarthiputra. Kunti was later married to king Pandu. One day when Pandu had gone for hunting, Moreover, where my husband is, killed a deer with an arrow. Actually it was a Rishi who had taken the form of a deer and was enjoying with his mate. The Rishi cursed Pandu that he would similarly die whenever he would mate with his wife. King Pandu thereafter retired to the forest and started living a life of abstinence. At this stage, Kunti confided in him the blessing given by Rishi Durvasha. Pandu pressed  her to use the mantras. This is how her other sons Yudhishter, Bhima, and Arjun were born. (Nakul and Sahdev were born off Madri). 

Karna was keen to acquire Brahm astra mantra from the great teacher Parshuram. However, he knew that Parshuram gave instructions to Brahmins only. So, he disguised as a Brahmin and beseeched Parshuram to accept as disciple. Parshuram accepted him and taught him. One day when Parshuram was resting in  Karnas lap, a bee stung Karna on the lower portion of his thigh. It was painful and started bleeding. However, fearing that if he moved his legs , he would awaken Parshuram, he did not move at all and continued to suffer. When Parshuram woke up, he saw Karna bleeding. He told him, son tell me who are you? A Brahmin cannot suffer so much physical pain. Only a Khashtriya (warrior tribe ) can endure so much pain. Karna was obliged to disclose his identity. Parshuram was greatly annoyed because he was a sworn enemy of Khashtriya. He, therefore cursed Karna that as he had learnt through deceit , he shall forget the vidya (skill) which Parshuram had taught him. 

Duryodhana and his 99 brothers were jealous and sworn enemies of their cousins. The Pandava brothers (King Pandavas sons). Meanwhile Duryodhana, the son of Pandu’s brother (and now king)  Dhritrashtra patronized Karna and made him king of Angadesh. Duryodhana, in fact, built him up as a counterweight to Arjuna. In Mahabharata battle, Lord Indra, the rain God and the king of heavens, disguised as an old Brahmin went to Karna and asked for his Kavach and Kundal in donation. Indra was apprehensive that Karna, by virtue of his great skills as a warrior, may be able to overwhelm Arjuna. He therefore asked for his gift so as to reduce his strength. Karna had been cautioned by the Sun God that Lord Indra was going to make such a move. But Karna was so large hearted that he could not refuse any one. Knowing fully well, that Indra was playing a trick on him in disguise of a Brahmin, he yet parted with his Kavach and Kundal, which were parts of his body since birth and which made him invincible. Lord Indra was taken aback at Karna’s capacity to give away anything asked for. He said, “Karna what you have done today, no ordinary mortal could have done. I am immensely pleased with your generosity. You can ask for any boon.” 

Karna said, “ If you are really pleased with me, then you may kindly give me your weapon Shakti  which has the potential to destroy any enemy. Lord Indra gave Shakti to Karna with proviso however that he could use it only once and thereafter the weapon shall return to him (Lord Indra)