Courtesy, lockdown, old popular serials were being beamed again in Doordarshan. Mahabharat is one among them. Ramayan and Mahabharat are two great Ithihaas of our country. Ithaas means “Thus happened” or “this is how it happened” – these are not mere epics, but real incidents happened. Ramayan and Mahabharat being the earlier versions of our Tele-serial, the original stories were not twisted that much although there are variations. The ones followed these two original ones were highly distorted and were lousy too.
Karna is a fascinating character in the epic Mahabharata. This is a character of self-sympathy. Almost all of us have sympathies with him. At times, the sympathy goes this far that we start expressing him superior to Arjun. We find excuses for all of Karna’s failures and attempt to justify them. This is because, we empathise him. Each of us have found a Karna within ourselves at one point of time in our life. We seek blaming point as an excuse for our failures as did Karna. Just as Karna, a victim of self-sympathy, each one of us is also a victim of self-sympathy at one point or another. Hence, we favour Karna beyond reasons. Due to this, stories related to Karna got distorted from time and again from the VedVyas’s version of depicting Karna. Worse is, giving the colour of caste discrimination in the case of Karna and Ekalavya.
To be precise, Karna failed to live up to his potential in Mahabharata. He could have been great, but, every time he got an opportunity to prove his potential, he disappointed. A lot of people feel a great deal of sympathy for Karna and excuse all his insults to the imaginary fact that he was abandoned at birth and he was ill-treated because of his caste. Karna was called a Suta-Putra because he was born to a Suta.
Bhishma, in Shanti Parva, while in his death bed, mentions 9 categories of sons when Yudhistir asked him about the confusions of biological heirs. Each category had a name. So, to say these names as caste are wrong. The question of ill-treatment never arises as we see from the illustrations. These names were given to classify but wrongly interpreted as caste by a few historians. At the outset, one should understand that Suta Putra does not mean a low caste born. In those days, it was quite common to term people like that. Janaka-Ja means daughter of Janaka, Kaurava means heirs of Kuru, Pandava means heirs of Pandu etc.,
Now who is a Suta? The son born of a Brahman woman from her Kshatriya husband was called a Suta. In Mahabharata, there are lots of characters who are termed Suta & most of them played crucial roles. For instance, Yadu, the ancestor of the Yadavas (the linage of Sri Krishna) was the son of the legendary King Yayathi (Kshatriya) and Devayani (daughter of the Brahman Guru Shukracharya). Yadu was a Suta.
The Sutas of Mahabharata traditionally served the kings as their charioteers (Rathakára); or as messengers. The Sutas were confidants of the king, at times his advisers; and moved closely with the king. But Sutas were never provided living quarters in the palace. The Sutas married among themselves; and followed the customs and avocations their ancestors. Sanjaya, the charioteer who was temporarily bestowed long-distance-vision of the happenings on the battle fields of Kurukshetra (the first man to see a live TV Show) and who narrated the war events to his blind king Dhritarashtra was a Suta.
Ugrashrava (meaning one blessed with loud voice) was a Suta-putra. (the son of a Suta). He was the son of a Suta Lomaharsha. Lomaharshana is the one who narrated the Srimad Bhagavata purana to the sage Saunaka and others at Naimsaranya – a forest named after the king of the yore Nimi. His son Ugrashrava recited in verse the entire epic story of Mahabharata, also to the sages in Naimsaranya. Ugrashrava was revered as one well versed in all puranas.
Some say Vidura, the Chief-Minister of Kauravas too, was a Suta but some say he was a Kshatta. However, by the time Artha-shastra was written, Kshatta had another meaning (a son of a Shudra male & a high-caste woman).
Yuyutsu was the son of Dhritarashtra and his servant-maid. She was a Vaishya. So, Yuyutsu was termed a Mahishya (Kshatriya Father & Vaishya Mother). Yuyutsu was elder to Dushyasan but younger to Duryodhan.
Adhiratha was born of Satyakarma (satkarma) the king of Anga (a region around the present-day Bhagalpur in Bihar) from his Brahman wife. It appears that Satyakarma’s sons from his Kshatriya wife succeeded him as Kings of Anga. However, his other son Adhiratha begotten from his Brahman wife was a Suta. Hence, as per the tradition, became a charioteer. Adhiratha, at one time, served the king Dhritharastra of Hasthinapur, as his charioteer. Adhiratha, also called as Surasena, married Radha, another Suta offspring. When Adhiratha and Radha found the baby- Karna in a box set adrift on the Ganga, they had no children. However, after adopting Karna as their son, the couple were blessed with four sons namely Shatruntapa, Dhruma, Vrtharatha and Vipata.
The word Atiratha (Atirathi), means 'great warrior', a class considerably lower than Maharathas (Maharathis). Infact, Atiratha is the name of Surasena, the adoptive father of Vasusena (Karna’s original name). This shows that Adhiratha was a soldier in Dhritarashtra's army- similar to the ranks of a Colonel/ Brigadier.
As you see/ hear various versions of Mahabharata that has been retold, it perplexes one whether VedVyas who authored this great epic with more clarity despite numerous characters, got confused with Karan. VedVyas cannot be so biased that all of Kunti’s sons were so great and all of Gandhari’s sons were so bad. Perhaps, the manner in which this itihaas was re-told, had created such perception. From time and again, Karna’s story was amended as preferred by the narrator.
The biographic details of Karna are mentioned at four different places in the Mahabharata - Adi-Parva (Sambhava Parva); Vana Parva; Udyoga Parva: and Shanti Parva. More elaborate at the 4th instance, post his death, through the words of Saint Narada. Karna was initially named Vasusena as he was found with ornaments of gold. He was later called as Karna because he was adorned with most precious and glowing ear-ornaments. He had other names too - Radheya (son of Radha, his foster mother); Vrikartana (the Sun); Bhanuj (Sun’s son); Goputr; Vaikarttana (because he gave away the kavacha and earrings he was born with); Angaraj (the king of Anga); Champadhipa (king of Champa, a region along the banks of the Ganga). He was also termed Sutaputra; Sutaj (son of suta) Kanina (one born to a Kanya an unmarried girl); Bhishma called him Ardha-rathi, one who has only half the fighting capacity of a valiant warrior.
Does Karan deserve all these praises? I would like to share my view on Karan which is seen from the other side. Let us see a few illustrations from Mahabharat itself.
Karna’s introduction: After their successful training course, the coach, Dronacharya, wanted to exhibit the skills of his students. He organized it. No outsiders were invited. It was a private school event strictly for those who are concerned with the family. However, Karan barges into the function and claims his skills are better than others. Imagine this: A high school is conducting a function to display the skills of their students. Suddenly a college student who has no relation to the school (considering the age of Karan) bumps in and claims he is better than all of those students. What a shame? Yet, Karan is glorified by others. It is the magnanimity of those scholars present there who allowed Karan to go ahead despite his arrogance and immature behaviour.
Age Difference between Karan & Arjun: Karan was born on Magha Bright half (Shukla paksha) 1st day. It is said that he was older than Yudhisthir by 16 years. Arjun was born on Srimukha Phalguna Full Moon Day during the day in Uttara Star. The age difference between Karan & Arjun was 18 years. Even if the gap is not 18 years, it must be more than 10 at the least. This is almost a generation gap, I would say. Thus, comparing Karan & Arjun, at the outset, is absurd. The age difference between Karan & Arjun is more than 10 years. At the time of Rangbhoomi incident happened, Arjun must be around 12 or 14 years old that means while Arjun was a boy then, Karan was a matured(?) adult. Thus, Karan should not have challenged a mere boy (Arjun) for a duel. However, Karan was notorious to do the things he ought not to. This characteristic weakness of Karan is evident from time & again in this epic. He would have acquired the skills of a Kshatriya but never mastered the values.
Karan always, was “mean” to others. The justifying reason being he was abandoned by his mother when he was an infant. Can this be an excuse? Bhishma had a mother who was a murderer – she killed 7 of her sons and did not see his father till he attained teenage. Yet, he gave up his right to life, family or partner for the sake of his father’s wishing to marry a fisherwoman. Bhishma’s brothers were useless, his King was a blind but biased, his grandnephews never got along but quarrelled all the time. Bhishma never complained of all these but carried on and delivered.
Kunti was adopted & sent to live away from her family. She had son from accidental encounter only to abandon the child. She was married to an anaemic man, was widowed young. She had to live as a “dependant” throughout her life. Attempts were made to kill her, lost a good status due to the gambling habit of her son, lost all her grandsons in an unwanted war. Yet, she never complained but carried on.
Sri Krishna, Krip, Kripi, even VedVyas were abandoned as a child. None of them complained about it throughout their life. Karan kept on whining about being abandoned throughout his lifetime. He justified his actions of being mean to others because he was abandoned.
Karna’s supporters often claim that he was never allowed to learn from the tutor of his choice – education worthy of his talent. Conveniently a colour of caste was given to this issue – to say that the education system was rigged against of those from the lower caste whereas the reality was no caste system existed in those periods. Sri Parashuram had his own ideological reasons of not teaching Kshatriya. Yet, Karan lied to this great Saint as to learn. Lying is considered a sin, his integrity, his credibility was at stake. Drona was teaching in a school belonged to the Kingdom and Drona had no say in enrolling the students there. If Ashwatthama studied there, because of the Management quota which happens even at this date, but none opposes it.
Karna could have gone to other teachers who had no restrictions in accepting students. Sri Krishna did not learn from Drona but went to Sandipani rishi’s ashram where Brahman and Vaishya were taught Vedas side by side. He could have asked Lord Shiva or even his own father Lord Surya. It seems Karan’s desire for learning was not for the sake of learning but to display his skills, compete with others and prove that he was better than his peers, which he was not. One should also notice that once he became the king of Anga, he stopped learning. He became stagnant. This proves that his education or learning was induced by pride or acceptance by the society. Just as in today’s world we get educated only to land on a job and not to gain knowledge, Karan wanted to learn only to be appreciated.
An attempt is made to create sympathy on this character – making it melodramatic – and caste comes handy. He was blamed as a Suta-putra. In those days, everyone had a name that told their Jati. Jati means parentage. Jaa means daughter and Ja means son. Girija means daughter of Hills or Parvati. Jati does not mean caste. Krishna was called a cowherd, Vidur dasi-putra, Pandavas for being sons of Pandu etc. It was not an insult; it was simply the way people addressed each other in those days. Even now, the surname tells people where they came from, their ancestral job, etc. This is the same as Shahs, Singh, Hajji, Gazi, Khan, Smith, MacMillan, etc. So when you call your higher official “Mr.Mistry” – are you insulting him by reminding him his father was a carpenter? Suta-putra was a referential term as to who Karan was brought up as.
Kavach-Kundal (Armor & Earrings): It is mentioned that when Karan barged into the Rangbhoomi – talent-display event, Kunti identified him as her son because of his Kavach-Kundal. We have also seen that Karan was rejected by Drona earlier and he went to Parashuram for learning. Obviously, when Karan challenged others in the event, he would have learnt the skills from Parashuram. If Karan had lied to Parashuram that he was a Brahman, what did he do with his Kavach & Kundal? Where did he hide them? Also, nowhere it is mentioned in the Epic that the Armor and earring protected Karan. Karan had to flee from Gandharvas, Karan had to flee from Arjun during the war in Virata. If the Armor and earrings were to protect, why did he run away? This is not explained. Nor it is mentioned.
Battle with Gandharvas: After the dice game, Karan with Duryodhan & Dusashan went on a “Go-shayatra” – cattle inspection tour. They intentionally go to the spot closer to where Pandava stayed. It was a pleasure-picnic for the trio with the objective of spending time with wine and women. At that point of time, Duryodhan gets into a quarrel with Gandharvas who also were also on a picnic. Gandharvas gave a drubbing to the trio in the melee. Karan had to run away for his life and he took refuge in a nearby village. Pandavas rescued Duryodhan from Gandharvas. By then, Bhishma had already started with an army to rescue Duryodhan. When Karan met Duryodhan and asked about his well-being, Bhishma drubs him for his failure to protect and also insulted him as Karan ran away from lesser known Gandharvas.
When the Kauravas were on the mission of cattle-stealing from Virata, it was Arjun who fought the Kauravas alone and Karan had to flee the battlefield once again. It was also mentioned that Arjun not only defeated them but also took their clothes to be given as a gift to Uttarakumari. Karan was also beaten by Arjun during the mini-battle happened post-Swayamvar episode of Draupadi.
Now confirm yourself Is Karan really a great warrior to be compared with Arjun?
It is also claimed that Draupadi insulted Karan by rejected him at the Swayamvar. Swayam-var means choosing the groom of her choice. She upholds a contest and the winner, if she liked, can marry her. As a princess, she had that right to marry a person of her choice. Draupadi first saw Karan there. Perhaps, she was not impressed with him or his looks. She chose not to become a Mrs.Suta. She didn’t like that surname. It’s her choice. She thought perhaps Karan is a whiner and might have rejected him. Karan was there when the Kauravas tried to conquer Panchal and were defeated. Maybe she would have known about Karan and his prowess that did not impress her. Infact, in that contest, Karan’s first son was also present. Draupadi would have thought that Karan is too old for her.
Karan claims himself a victim of “Who Am I?” syndrome throughout his life. As you grow, one should realize that the “I” is dynamic and hence seeking an answer to who am I is irrelevant. Seeking sympathy with this question defies logic.
Karan’s Family: Karan was not a loner as it is always shown invariably in all the Mahabharat stories as to gain sympathy. In Udyog Parva, Karan in a conversation with Sri Krishna, says, “I married three wives – all Sutas as per the selection of my (adoptive) father Athirata. Through them I have been born my sons and grandsons”. Karna’s had three wives namely Vrushali, Prabhavathi and Supriya. Karan had several sons and the names of nine of his sons are mentioned.
Of the nine, only one survived the Kurukshetra war. Vrasasena; Sudhama; Shatrunjaya; Dvipata; Sushena; Satyasea; Chitrasena; Susharma(Banasena); and Vrishakethu are the names of his sons. In Drona Parva, however, it is mentioned that Shatrunjay & Vipata were Karna’s foster sons and his own sons. Of these, Sudhama died in the melee that followed Draupadi’s swayamvar. This shows that Karan was too old to marry Draupadi and perhaps this also was one of the reasons for her to reject him.
Shatrunjaya and Dvipata died in the Kurukshetra war at the hands of Arjuna during the days when Drona commanded the Kaurava forces. Sushena was killed in the war by Bhima. Satyasena, Chitrasena and Susharma died in the hands of Nakula. Karna’s eldest son Vrasasena died during the last days of the war when Karan commanded the battle forces. Vrasasena was killed by Arjuna just before he killed Karan and this has been explained in detailed but gruesome manner in the Mahabharat.
Tag of Ardhrathi: As the war was announced, Bhishma listed Maharathis (warriors who were accomplished fighters from chariots) and Ardhrathis (those who had only half the qualities). Ardha-rathi is a rank inferior to Maha-rathi, Ati-rathi and Rathi. [A warrior capable of fighting 60,000 warriors simultaneously; having mastery over all forms of weapons & combat skills, who can drive the chariot & can shoot arrows from a running chariot was termed Maharathi.
Bhishma put Karan in the second category because Karan did not know chariot riding, Karan was impulsive etc., conveniently, a colour of caste was given here too – some stories claim Bhishma did not include because he was a Suta-putra. Karan considering him a Kshatriya refused to learn chariot-riding (rathi) but learnt all other skills. Bhishma, Drona & Arjun knew fighting and driving. Karan could only fight from the chariot but never learnt driving it. In order to shoot arrows from a running chariot, one should know nuances of driving a chariot – but Karan is Karan.
Drona too fully agreed with Bhishma’s judgment of Karan as Ardhrathi. “Karan is headstrong, shows misplaced kindness, runs away from battle and makes mistakes in judgment. And so, I would not give him full marks as a warrior.” If at all Karan was positive, he should have taken this comment as a constructive criticism, alas! Karan never respected others. He was not given to self-examination.
War-fatigue: One should not forget that in the battle of Mahabharata, Kana joined the battle only on the 11th day, fresh & unhurt, whereas Arjun had been battling the Kauravas for 10 long days. For supposedly being better than Arjun, Karna didn’t last in the battle more than 7 days. (I cannot validate this as the war did not happen for 18 days on a trot. It was held in phases and we have many reasons to consider this based on facts cited in Mahabharata).
Karan & Shalya: Before reaching the battlefield, a long conversation took place between Karna - Shalya. The dialog is not described in good language but in bad taste; it also refers to slang and abusive oaths and cusses of the women of Madra region (Punjab – Sialkot area). This part seems to be alien to the style written in Mahabharata.
Shalya said, “Don’t boast now, for I know that you shall lose heart on seeing Arjuna.”
Though taunts of this sort were usually offered to warriors in order to rouse their anger, Karna misunderstood them, went off at a tangent and started abusing Shalya and his country. Similar taunting was done by Krishna to Arjuna too. This was done not to discourage a warrior but to rouse his anger and to make him perform better in battle. Karan said that the women of Madra, Shalya’s country, were immoral, drank wine and ate beef. He threatened to kill Shalya and accused him of immorality.
Karan’s choice of horses: Shalya kept mum after Karan’s outburst. Karan ordered white horses to be yoked to his chariot against the choice of Shalya. Karan perhaps wanted to imitate Arjuna and hence demanded white horses. This was foolish because the warrior should be familiar with the charioteer and the charioteer should be well-versed with the horses. This applies in vice-versa too. Karan already had a strange charioteer in Shalya, and now he wanted new horses. Wasn’t it suicidal?
Karan’s friendship: Irony is, the friendship of Karan & Duryodhan is considered great whereas this relationship was purely built on serving mutual needs. Karan wanted recognition and Duryodhan wanted someone challenge if not equal or better than Arjun to fight with. This relation was built on gratitude than affection. If Karan was such a good friend, he should have accepted the offer of Krishna and handed over the dynasty to Duryodhan. He did not do that. Is this an illustration to friendship?
When Bhishma rated him as Ardhrathi, he vowed not to fight under the leadership of Bhishma though he knew Bhishma would never kill Pandavas and this was unfair to Duryodhan. In all fairness, Karan should have joined the army and fought irrespective of ranks, but he did not. For Karan, his own pride was important than supporting Duryodhan. Is this a good friendship?
When his mother Kunti meets him and reveals the real identity, he does the same. He was indifferent to his mother & his so-called brothers. When Karan promised Kunti that he will not kill any of the Pandavas other than Arjun, it was not because of love for brothers but he always thought they are not equal to him in fighting. This contempt and overconfidence are not good characters of a Kshatriya. It was a war not a contest. In all fairness, it was his duty to support Duryodhan in winning the war. He opted to boast and brag. He was doing injustice to Duryodhan by not killing the other Pandavas. Imagine had he arrested Yudishtir, what Arjun would have done to him? Was he practising Dharm? To be precise, Karan rejected Duryodhan's need but relied on boasting his greatness.
Karan & Draupadi: Few even go the extent of saying that Karan & Draupadi had a secret love affair. This is absurd. Karan may have numerous reasons of so-called inequalities against him; however, this does not mean he took out his frustration on Draupadi, a woman. His insult to Draupadi was the lowest point in his life. Even if we agreed that he was insulted by her in the Swayamvar, if he was a real man of honour, he would not have asked a married woman to be stripped in public. He took his frustration out by attacking her because he could not win over her husbands.
From time and again, through various incidents and situations, once can see that Karan never learnt to “deal with it” – he remained a whiner all through his life. He was a master in wasting his potential with his immature approach. Pity that such a potential was wasted for no valid reason. Was he a real Hero? As others say, Karan was not an unsung hero but a Super Villain indeed.
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