Puranic Encyclopaedia: A Comprehensive Dictionary with Special Reference to the Epic and Puranic Literature c8.1941

c8.1941

There is a story behind Alarka, the beetle that bit Karṇa. This beetle was in his previous birth a demon named Damśa. Damśa once tried to molest the wife of the sage Bhṛgu. The Maharṣi cursed him and made him into a beetle. On his request for mercy he said he would get release from the curse by Paraśurāma. So the beetle became the Rākṣasa again and left the place. Karṇa took leave of Paraśurāma and went to Hastināpura. (Śānti Parva, Chapter 3).