Karna “A Great Warrior”
Suryaputra Karna, also known as Vasusena, Anga-raja or Radhey was one of the great warriors of Mahabharata. He was a spiritual son of Surya(Sun) and Princess Kunti.
Kunti had a boon to have a child with all the qualities of the divine gods. She wished to test the boon if it was correct or not. she invoked Suryadev by chanting the Mantra of the boon. Suryadev has to bless her with a Son as per the boon. Thus, Karna was born to unmarried teenage Kunti.
Kunti got scared of how people would react to her son as she was not married. Therefore, she decided to abandon the child. She floated the child in a Basket in the River Ganga.
Suta’s Parents Radha and Adhiratha found the basket. They adopted and raised Karna. Karna grows up with the extraordinary abilities of a great warrior.
Who Killed Karna?
Many of us know that Arjuna killed Karna during the war of Kurukshetra. But there are several different factors, which played the main role in the death of Karna.
According to Lord Krishna, Karna Died due to the following 6 cures he was having. Otherwise, it was impossible to kill Karna.
- First, the Brahmin cursed Karna that the wheel of his chariot would sink when he was in an epic fight of his life.
- Second, Lord Parusharam(his guru) cursed Karna that he would forget the knowledge of the weapons, especially the Brahmastra. That too when he needs them the most.
- Third, Indra asked Karna for his Kavach and Kundal as a donation from him before the Kurukshetra war.
- Fourth, Kunti asks Karna to promise her not to kill any of the Pandavas except Arjuna. And also not to use the Nagastram on Arjuna more than once.
- Fifth, Shalya, Karna’s charioteer, leaves him during the war at the most critical time.
- Sixth, Krishna went to Karna in the form of a Brahmin when he was waiting for his death. And asked him to donate all the charitable acts and merits which he had done since birth. Including the honor collected by donating these at the time of death.
As per historical belief, two more curses are as follows.
- Sugriva, the representative of Lord Surya, was killed by Bali, the representative of Lord Indra. Later, in Treta Yuga in the Mahabharata, Arjuna, the representative of Lord Indra, killed Karna, the representative of Lord Surya, with the guidance of Krishna, the representative of Lord Vishnu.
- one day Karna was roaming around alone with a bow and a sword seeing no one around he started practicing his archery skills with his bow and arrow, but he accidentally killed a cow. the brahman to whom the cow belonged gets very angry he curses Karna to be killed by his enemy when his attention is diverted in the middle of combat.
These were the main factors due to which Karna was able to kill during the Kurukshetra war.
History of Surya Putra Karna’s Death
On the 16th day of the Kurukshetra war, Karna fought and defeated all the Pandavas except Arjuna, sparing their lives as promised to Kunti, though he insulted them.
He then ordered his charioteer, Shalya, to drive towards Arjuna and prepare the Nagastra.
Despite Shalya’s advice to aim at Arjuna’s chest, Karna aimed at his head. Krishna saved Arjuna by lowering their chariot, causing the arrow to strike Arjuna’s crown instead of his head.
On the 17th day of the Kurukshetra war, Arjuna and Karna faced off in a battle witnessed by devas, rishis, and Gandharvas.
During the fight, Karna’s chariot wheel got stuck in the mud due to a Brahmana’s curse. Despite defending himself, he forgot the mantra to invoke the Brahmastra because of Parshuram’s curse.
Karna asked Arjuna to pause while he freed the wheel, reminding him of the rules of war. However, Krishna urged Arjuna to attack. Arjuna struck the weaponless Karna from behind, killing him.
Though against the rules, it was seen as karma for Karna’s role in Abhimanyu’s death earlier in the war.
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