Top 5 reasons why karna was one of the "strongest" warriors in Mahabharata.

 

Karna ©Vimanika comics
Book-The Sixth: The Legend of Karna: Part 1

Mahabharata was one of the destructive wars that ever happened on this beautiful planet. It was a battle that the gods failed to stop because it was a battle to finish Adharma(injustice) once and for all. Though a lot of people disagree with the fact that “Mahabharata was real” instead they deem this epic as a fictional battle to inspire people. But my view regarding it is completely the opposite. I think Mahabharata did happen in the ancient period and was propagated by our ancestors for generations. Anyways it’s a matter of personal perceptions which shouldn’t be questioned.

What should be questioned is the character of Karna. Was Karna a good person? If he was a good person then why he shook hands with Duryodhana? Karna has always been in a grey shadow where we can perceive him as a mortal who was partly good and bad.

He was the son of Surya dev (the sun god) who eventually ended up as a warrior who led a life full of hardships and pain. He was ridiculed, mistreated and misbehaved by his own brothers. He was discriminated and rejected due to the unfair and oppressive caste system of ancient “Bharat”. Despite all the problems he faced, he never showed his back to his duties.

Do you know why Karna is called as ‘Suryaputra’ or ‘Radheya”?

image source: Google |image by: Abhinav Agarwal

 Allow me to share an interesting tale about the origin of Karna. Kunti was granted a boon by Sage Durvasa that she could chant a mantra to summon any god and can have a child. Kunti tested the mantra and she summoned Surya dev who gifted her an infant. A child who was born with armour and earrings but shone like a sun. He was Karna.

But life was unfair to him as his mother (Kunti) was unmarried, she abandoned Karna by putting him in a basket on a river. That basket float across the riverbed and was found by a charioteer who didn’t have a child, he and his wife adopted Karna and gave him the name “Radhe”. 

Allow me to share 5 amazing facts regarding the “Suryaputra”, who teamed up with evil but died like a hero:

Karna© Vimanika comics

1)     The unfortunate curses: The death of Karna was an indirect cause of the curses he acknowledged from three different persons. He was cursed by his Guru Parshurama. Guru Parshurama found out that Karna was a Kshatriya who disguised himself as a Brahmin and trained under his guidance. He was enraged and cursed him(Karna) that he will forget the important knowledge of weapons when he would need the most.Once Karna had accidentally killed a cow that belonged to a Brahmin. Infuriated by his deed the Brahmin cursed him that he would be killed by an arrow when he would have no chance of assistance.

Once Karna had helped a scared girl who accidentally spills ghee on the ground. He helped that girl by drawing out ghee from the earth surface which caused pain to mother earth and she cursed Karna that when he would be most susceptible to weapons she would abandon him.

These three curses were indirectly involved in the death of Karna in the Kurukshetra War.

2)     Karna was a ‘daanveer’ by heart: Despite all sorts of mistreatment he endured as a warrior he never showed his back to his duties. He never abstains himself from his nature of giving something to the needy ones. His ideal temperament had made him a person who is dharmic by intent. Let me share an interesting story.

 

Image source: google|image by:Abhilash Rajendran 

Lord Indra had met Karna in disguise and asked him to give away his armour and earrings. The interesting part is that Karna's armour had the capability to protect him from any sorts of weapons. If he removed his armour he would be vulnerable to weapons and can die. Despite knowing the significance of his sheathing he tears it apart from his skin(he was born with armour) and gave it to Dev Indra.

His intent and his nature of thoughts had helped him to gain the title of ‘Danveer’

 

Karna© Vimanika Comics

3)     An unfair rejection: Many of them may not know that Karna was the first warrior who shot an arrow in the fish’s eye during Draupadi’s Swayamvar. Unfortunately due to the iniquity of caste system back then Draupadi rejected Karna because he belonged to a Suta(low caste) family. Karna accepted her decision and walked away.

 

4)   Did Bhima defeat Jarasandha first?

B.R Chopra missed out the fight between Karna and Jarasandha in his version of Mahabharat series due to which many didn’t know about the fact that Karna was the first warrior to defeat Jarasandha.

Jarasandha was impressed by the warfare adroitness of Karna and gave him a large portion of his dominion.

5)     Karna’s involvement in the elopement of Bhanumati: Many of them don’t know that Bhanumati slipped away with Duryodhana by the help of Karna from her swayamvar. Karna had singlehandedly vanquished all the suitors who attended the swayamvara of Bhanumati unaware of the might of Karna.

This gesture by Karna showed his affability towards his friend Duryodhana. He was a true friend to him.

karna© Vimanika Comics

Karna’s only fault was his support for the wrong person. Despite knowing the evil intent of Duryodhana he joined hands with him in his misdeeds and wrongdoings due to which he was called as an Adharmic person and his end was must for the sanctity of the society.

Karna was a hero who joined hands with the wrongdoers.