That is what happened to Karna, the great friend of the Kaurava King Duryodhana.
Karna was actually an abandoned child brought up by a poor charioteer. So, all through his life, he was ridiculed as a ‘Soota Putra’, meaning a charioteer’s son.
Actually, Karna was none other than the eldest son of Kunti, the mother of Pandavas.
When Kunti was still a small girl, she was given the responsibility to take care of a great sage who had visited her father’s house. The sage was very much pleased and he gave 5 mantras to Kunti. He told her that if she chanted one of these mantras and invoked any deity, that deity would appear before her and give her a son! Probably, it was stupid of that great sage to give a young girl such a Mantra.
With a childlike curiosity Kunti wanted to see if the Mantra really worked! So, she chanted one of the Mantras and invoked the Sun God. And to her surprise, the Sun God indeed appeared before her and gave her a child that had divine ornaments on its body! More prominently, the child had divine ear ornaments called Karna Kundala.
Perplexed by whatever happened, the little girl Kunti was too scared. She did not know what to do with that kid. She was afraid if someone asked her about how she got the kid. So, she put the kid in a box and let it float in the river.
Luckily, a poor woman named Radha found the child floating in the river and rescued it. Radha was the wife of a charioteer. Since Radha brought up the child as her own, the male child came to be called Radheya. Since he had conspicuous ear ornaments, he was also called Karna – one who had Karna Kundala or ear ornaments.
But throughout his life, Karna was looked down as a son of a poor man – a soota putra – a charioteer’s son, though in reality he was the son of great Sun God and of course Kunti to whom he was given.
When Karna grew up, he was refused admission to the royal school since he was not a person from any royal family.
Finally, he disguised himself as a brahmin and went to a great sage Parashurama for studies. Parashurama was a great Brahmin warrior. He taught Karna all that he knew.
But one day, when Parashuram was asleep by reclining on the lap of Karna, a bee came and stung Karna. The pain was unbearable, But Karna controlled himself and made no move since he did not want to disturb his teacher who was asleep.
Later, when Parashurama woke up and came to know of whatever had happened, he at once guessed that Karna could not have been a Brahmin. He said that a Brahmin could not bear such a pain. He demanded Karna to tell him the truth.
Karna had no choice but to admit the truth. Parashurama was furious to know that Karna had cheated him by masking his identity. So, he cursed Karna that whatever he had learnt from him would be of no use when he really needed it!
Sad Karna, greatly pained and humiliated, left his teacher’s place.
When he came to Hastinapur, he came to know that there was a contest between the royal princes – Kauravas and the Pandavas. Karna also wanted to take part in the contest and showcase his abilities.
But unfortunately, he was disallowed from taking part in the contest on the pretext that he was not from any royal family. To make things worse, Karna’s foster father – the poor charioteer came running to greet Karna.
Now, it was all very clear. Karna was a low born charioteer’s son and not a prince.
Kunti who was watching the contest, could recognize Karna as her first-born child by the distinct ear ornaments he was wearing. But she did not have the courage to openly admit that Karna was indeed her son.
So, Karna was humiliated and there was none to support him. It was only Duryodhana who came forward and welcomed Karna. Duryodhana – the eldest Kaurava prince at that time, at once declared Karna to be a King of a small kingdom namely Anga. He also, extended a friendly hand to Karna.
That is how Karna became a close friend of Duryodhana. Karna vowed that he would give up life to help Duryodhana at any cost. He felt greatly indebted to Duryodhana’s kind gesture when the entire Royal family looked down on him as a low born. His own mother did not bother to come to his rescue.
Before the war started, Krishna approached Karna and told him that the Pandavas were actually his own younger brothers and he was the eldest. As an elder brother, he could side with the Pandavas and Duryodhana would have no choice but to give up the fight. Krishna even offered the throne to Karna.
But Karna did not want to betray his friend Duryodhana. So, he politely rejected Krishna’s offer.
Krishna then sent Kunti to Karna. Kunti revealed to Karna that he was her eldest son and there was no point in his fighting against his own younger brothers. She tried to show her motherly affection to him, the affection she never showed when Karna needed it the most.
Karna, refused to get moved by Kunti’s tears. All that he could promise to Kunti was that he would spare all her children except Arjuna. He said that either he would kill Arjuna in the battle or get killed by him. He also promised her that he would never reuse the same weapon on Arjuna if in case he missed his aim.
It was with such a loyalty Karna supported the evil Duryodhana. He never questioned Duryodhana’s deeds though he himself was a very righteous man.
Obviously, Karna was the natural choice for Duryodhana to lead the army after the death of Drona.
How did Karna repay his debt to his close friend Duryodhana? We will see that in the next episode.
When Kunti was still a small girl, she was given the responsibility to take care of a great sage who had visited her father’s house. The sage was very much pleased and he gave 5 mantras to Kunti. He told her that if she chanted one of these mantras and invoked any deity, that deity would appear before her and give her a son! Probably, it was stupid of that great sage to give a young girl such a Mantra.
With a childlike curiosity Kunti wanted to see if the Mantra really worked! So, she chanted one of the Mantras and invoked the Sun God. And to her surprise, the Sun God indeed appeared before her and gave her a child that had divine ornaments on its body! More prominently, the child had divine ear ornaments called Karna Kundala.
Luckily, a poor woman named Radha found the child floating in the river and rescued it. Radha was the wife of a charioteer. Since Radha brought up the child as her own, the male child came to be called Radheya. Since he had conspicuous ear ornaments, he was also called Karna – one who had Karna Kundala or ear ornaments.
But throughout his life, Karna was looked down as a son of a poor man – a soota putra – a charioteer’s son, though in reality he was the son of great Sun God and of course Kunti to whom he was given.
When Karna grew up, he was refused admission to the royal school since he was not a person from any royal family.
Finally, he disguised himself as a brahmin and went to a great sage Parashurama for studies. Parashurama was a great Brahmin warrior. He taught Karna all that he knew.
But one day, when Parashuram was asleep by reclining on the lap of Karna, a bee came and stung Karna. The pain was unbearable, But Karna controlled himself and made no move since he did not want to disturb his teacher who was asleep.
Later, when Parashurama woke up and came to know of whatever had happened, he at once guessed that Karna could not have been a Brahmin. He said that a Brahmin could not bear such a pain. He demanded Karna to tell him the truth.
Karna had no choice but to admit the truth. Parashurama was furious to know that Karna had cheated him by masking his identity. So, he cursed Karna that whatever he had learnt from him would be of no use when he really needed it!
Sad Karna, greatly pained and humiliated, left his teacher’s place.
When he came to Hastinapur, he came to know that there was a contest between the royal princes – Kauravas and the Pandavas. Karna also wanted to take part in the contest and showcase his abilities.
But unfortunately, he was disallowed from taking part in the contest on the pretext that he was not from any royal family. To make things worse, Karna’s foster father – the poor charioteer came running to greet Karna.
Now, it was all very clear. Karna was a low born charioteer’s son and not a prince.
Kunti who was watching the contest, could recognize Karna as her first-born child by the distinct ear ornaments he was wearing. But she did not have the courage to openly admit that Karna was indeed her son.
So, Karna was humiliated and there was none to support him. It was only Duryodhana who came forward and welcomed Karna. Duryodhana – the eldest Kaurava prince at that time, at once declared Karna to be a King of a small kingdom namely Anga. He also, extended a friendly hand to Karna.
That is how Karna became a close friend of Duryodhana. Karna vowed that he would give up life to help Duryodhana at any cost. He felt greatly indebted to Duryodhana’s kind gesture when the entire Royal family looked down on him as a low born. His own mother did not bother to come to his rescue.
Before the war started, Krishna approached Karna and told him that the Pandavas were actually his own younger brothers and he was the eldest. As an elder brother, he could side with the Pandavas and Duryodhana would have no choice but to give up the fight. Krishna even offered the throne to Karna.
But Karna did not want to betray his friend Duryodhana. So, he politely rejected Krishna’s offer.
Krishna then sent Kunti to Karna. Kunti revealed to Karna that he was her eldest son and there was no point in his fighting against his own younger brothers. She tried to show her motherly affection to him, the affection she never showed when Karna needed it the most.
Karna, refused to get moved by Kunti’s tears. All that he could promise to Kunti was that he would spare all her children except Arjuna. He said that either he would kill Arjuna in the battle or get killed by him. He also promised her that he would never reuse the same weapon on Arjuna if in case he missed his aim.
It was with such a loyalty Karna supported the evil Duryodhana. He never questioned Duryodhana’s deeds though he himself was a very righteous man.
Obviously, Karna was the natural choice for Duryodhana to lead the army after the death of Drona.
How did Karna repay his debt to his close friend Duryodhana? We will see that in the next episode.
That was Mahabharata episode 14
Based on the 5000 year old Indian Epic namely Mahabharata. © Dr.King 2019.
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