A Classical Dictionary of Hindu Mythology and Religion, Geography, History, and Literature c5.819

c5.819

KARNA. Son of Prithā or Kuntī by Sūrya, the sun, before her marriage to Pāndu. Karna was thus half-brother of the Pāndavas, but this relationship was not known to them till after his death. Kuntī, on one occasion, paid such attention to the sage Dur-vāsas, that he gave her a charm by virtue of which she might have a child by any god she preferred to invoke. She chose the sun, and the result was Karna, who was born equipped with arms and armour. Afraid of censure and disgrace, Kuntī exposed the child on the banks of the Yamunā, where it was found by Nandana or Adhiratha, the sūta or charioteer, of Dhrita-rāshtra. The charioteer and his wife, Rādhā, brought him up as their own, and the child passed as such. When he grew up, Indra disguised himself as a Brāhman, and cajoled him out of his divine cuirass. He gave him in return great strength and a javelin charged with certain death to whomsoever it was hurled against. Karna became king of Anga or Bengal. Some authorities represent his foster-father as having been ruler of that country, but others say that Karna was made king of Anga by Dur-yodhana, in order to qualify him to fight in the passage of arms at the swayam-vara of Draupadī. This princess haughtily rejected him, saying, “I wed not with the base-born.” Karna knew that he was half-brother of the Pāndavas, but he took the side of their cousins, the Kauravas, and he had especial rivalry and animosity against Arjuna, whom he vowed to kill. In the great battle he killed Ghatotkacha, the son of Bhīma, with Indra’s javelin. Afterwards there was a terrific combat between him and Arjuna, in which the latter was nearly overpowered, but he killed Karna with a crescent-shaped arrow. After Karna’s death his relationship to the Pāndavas became known to them, and they showed their regret for his loss by great kindness to his widows, children, and dependants. From his father, Vikarttana (the sun), Karna was called Vaikarttana; from his foster-parents, Vāsu-sena; from his foster-father’s profession, Ādhirathi and Sūta; and from his foster-mother, Rādheya. He was also called Anga-rāja, ‘king of Anga;’ Champādhipa, ‘king of Champā;’ and Kānīna, ‘the bastard.’