Mahabharata 1.104: caturadhikaśatatamo'dhyāyaḥ

1.104.1

vaiśaṃpāyana uvāca |
śūro nāma yaduśreṣṭho vasudevapitābhavat |
tasya kanyā pṛthā nāma rūpeṇāsadṛśī bhuvi || 1 ||

"Vaisampayana continued, 'There was amongst the Yadavas a chief named Sura. He was the father of Vasudeva. And he had a daughter called Pritha, who was unrivalled for beauty on earth. And, O thou of Bharata's race, Sura, always truthful in speech, gave from friendship this his firstborn daughter unto his childless cousin and friend, the illustrious Kuntibhoja--the son of his paternal aunt--pursuant to a former promise. And Pritha in the house of her adoptive father was engaged in looking after the duties of hospitality to Brahmanas and other guests. Once she gratified by her attentions the terrible Brahmana of rigid vows, who was known by the name of Durvasa and was well-acquainted with the hidden truths of morality. Gratified with her respectful attentions, the sage, anticipating by his spiritual power the future (season of) distress (consequent upon the curse to be pronounced upon Pandu for his unrighteous act of slaying a deer while serving its mate) imparted to her a formula of invocation for summoning any of the celestials she liked to give her children. And the Rishi said, 'Those celestials that thou shall summon by this Mantra shall certainly approach thee and give thee children.' 'Thus addressed by the Brahmana, the amiable Kunti (Pritha) became curious, and in her maidenhood summoned the god Arka (Sun). And as soon as he pronounced the Mantra, she beheld that effulgent deity--that beholder of everything in the world--approaching her. And beholding that extraordinary sight, the maiden of faultless features was overcome with surprise. But the god Vivaswat (Sun) approaching her, said, 'Here I am, O black-eyed girl! Tell me what I am to do for thee.'

1.104.2

paitṛṣvaseyāya sa tāmanapatyāya vīryavān |
agryamagre pratijñāya svasyāpatyasya vīryavān || 2 ||

1.104.3

agrajāteti tāṃ kanyāmagryānugrahakāṅkṣiṇe |
pradadau kuntibhojāya sakhā sakhye mahātmane || 3 ||

1.104.4

sā niyuktā piturgehe devatātithipūjane |
ugraṃ paryacaradghoraṃ brāhmaṇaṃ saṃśitavratam || 4 ||

1.104.5

nigūḍhaniścayaṃ dharme yaṃ taṃ durvāsasaṃ viduḥ |
tamugraṃ saṃśitātmānaṃ sarvayatnairatoṣayat || 5 ||

1.104.6

tasyai sa pradadau mantramāpaddharmānvavekṣayā |
abhicārābhisaṃyuktamabravīccaiva tāṃ muniḥ || 6 ||

1.104.7

yaṃ yaṃ devaṃ tvametena mantreṇāvāhayiṣyasi |
tasya tasya prasādena putrastava bhaviṣyati || 7 ||

1.104.8

tathoktā sā tu vipreṇa tena kautūhalāttadā |
kanyā satī devamarkamājuhāva yaśasvinī || 8 ||

1.104.9

sā dadarśa tamāyāntaṃ bhāskaraṃ lokabhāvanam |
vismitā cānavadyāṅgī dṛṣṭvā tanmahadadbhutam || 9 ||

1.104.10

prakāśakarmā tapanastasyāṃ garbhaṃ dadhau tataḥ |
ajījanattato vīraṃ sarvaśastrabhṛtāṃ varam |
āmuktakavacaḥ śrīmāndevagarbhaḥ śriyāvṛtaḥ || 10 ||

"Vaisampayana continued, 'Vivaswat thus spoke unto her many things with a view to allay her fears, but, O Bharata, the amiable maiden, from modesty and fear of her relatives, consented not to grant his request. And, O bull of Bharata's race, Arka addressed her again and said, 'O princess, for my sake, it shall not be sinful for thee to grant my wish.' Thus speaking unto the daughter of Kuntibhoja, the illustrious Tapana--the illuminator of the universe--gratified his wish. And of this connection there was immediately born a son known all over the world as Karna accountred with natural armour and with face brightened by ear-rings. And the heroic Karna was the first of all wielders of weapons, blessed with good fortune, and endued with the beauty of a celestial child. And after the birth of this child, the illustrious Tapana granted unto Pritha her maidenhood and ascended to heaven. And the princess of the Vrishni race beholding with sorrow that son born of her, reflected intently upon what was then the best for her to do. And from fear of her relatives she resolved to conceal that evidence of her folly. And she cast her offspring endued with great physical strength into the water. Then the well-known husband of Radha, of the Suta caste, took up the child thus cast into the water, and he and his wife brought him up as their own son. And Radha and her husband bestowed on him the name of Vasusena (born with wealth) because he was born with a natural armour and ear-rings. And endued as he was born with great strength, as he grew up, he became skilled in all weapons. Possessed of great energy, he used to adore the sun until his back was heated by his rays (i.e., from dawn to midday), and during the hours of worship, there was nothing on earth that the heroic and intelligent Vasusena would not give unto the Brahmanas. And Indra desirous of benefiting his own son Phalguni (Arjuna), assuming the form of a Brahmana, approached Vasusena on one occasion and begged of him his natural armour. Thus asked Karna took off his natural armour, and joining his hands in reverence gave it unto [paragraph continues] Indra in the guise of a Brahmana. And the chief of the celestials accepted the gift and was exceedingly gratified with Karna's liberality. He therefore, gave unto him a fine dart, saying, 'That one (and one only) among the celestials, the Asuras, men, the Gandharvas, the Nagas, and the Rakshasas, whom thou desirest to conquer, shall be certainly slain with this dart.'

1.104.11

sahajaṃ kavacaṃ bibhratkuṇḍaloddyotitānanaḥ |
ajāyata sutaḥ karṇaḥ sarvalokeṣu viśrutaḥ || 11 ||

1.104.12

prādācca tasyāḥ kanyātvaṃ punaḥ sa paramadyutiḥ |
dattvā ca dadatāṃ śreṣṭho divamācakrame tataḥ || 12 ||

1.104.13

gūhamānāpacāraṃ taṃ bandhupakṣabhayāttadā |
utsasarja jale kuntī taṃ kumāraṃ salakṣaṇam || 13 ||

1.104.14

tamutsṛṣṭaṃ tadā garbhaṃ rādhābhartā mahāyaśāḥ |
putratve kalpayāmāsa sabhāryaḥ sūtanandanaḥ || 14 ||

1.104.15

nāmadheyaṃ ca cakrāte tasya bālasya tāvubhau |
vasunā saha jāto'yaṃ vasuṣeṇo bhavatviti || 15 ||

1.104.16

sa vardhamāno balavānsarvāstreṣūdyato'bhavat |
ā pṛṣṭhatāpādādityamupatasthe sa vīryavān || 16 ||

1.104.17

yasminkāle japannāste sa vīraḥ satyasaṃgaraḥ |
nādeyaṃ brāhmaṇeṣvāsīttasminkāle mahātmanaḥ || 17 ||

1.104.18

tamindro brāhmaṇo bhūtvā bhikṣārthaṃ bhūtabhāvanaḥ |
kuṇḍale prārthayāmāsa kavacaṃ ca mahādyutiḥ || 18 ||

1.104.19

utkṛtya vimanāḥ svāṅgātkavacaṃ rudhirasravam |
karṇastu kuṇḍale chittvā prāyacchatsa kṛtāñjaliḥ || 19 ||

1.104.20

śaktiṃ tasmai dadau śakraḥ vismito vākyamabravīt |
devāsuramanuṣyāṇāṃ gandharvoragarakṣasām |
yasmai kṣepsyasi ruṣṭaḥ sanso'nayā na bhaviṣyati || 20 ||

1.104.21

purā nāma tu tasyāsīdvasuṣeṇa iti śrutam |
tato vaikartanaḥ karṇaḥ karmaṇā tena so'bhavat || 21 ||

"The son of Surya was before this known by the name of Vasusena. But since he cut off his natural armour, he came to be called Karna (the cutter or peeler of his own cover).'"