Having failed to convince Duryodhana about the futility of the war, Krishna set out on the next strategy namely Bheda or ‘divide and rule’. He wanted to weaken Duryodhana and force him to give up war.
On the way back from Hastinapur, Krishna meets Karna and takes him along in his chariot for a heart to heart talk. Karna was one of the main strengths of Duryodhana. Confidant about Karna’s support and his bravery, Duryodhana dared to take on everybody. It was this close bond between Karna and Duryodhana that Krishna wanted to weaken.
Karna had a strange past known only to a few, including Krishna. Karna was actually Kunti’s eldest son born before her marriage!
Krishna divulges this secret to Karna. Krishna tells Karna that being Kunti’s eldest son, he automatically becomes the eldest of the Pandavas. So, he ought to have been the inheritor to the entire Kingdom of King Pandu, now usurped by Duryodhana. As per the ancient Indian laws a son born to an unmarried girl was considered to be the moral son of the person who later married such a girl. Such a son was called Kanina – son born to a virgin before marriage. Since King Pandu married Kunti, Karna automatically became his first son.
Just a little background on this strange birth of Karna and his being virgin born.
When Kunti was still an unmarried girl, once a sage by name Durvasa visited her father Kuntibhoja. Kunti looked after that sage very well, and pleased with her service, the sage gave her 5 Mantras. He said that if Kunti chanted any of those Mantras, a divinity associated with that Mantra would come and give her a child. It is strange why the sage chose to give such mantras to a young girl like Kunti! Maybe it was predestined.
Being a young and playful girl, Kunti wanted to check the veracity of those mantras, just out of curiosity. So, she chanted the first mantra addressed to Sun God. And Lo! Sun God appeared before her and bore her a male child! Kunti was worried about the consequences of such an illegitimate birth. She somehow hid that incident from becoming public. But what was she supposed to do with the child? Kunti put the child in a box and floated it in the river!
A childless person called Adhiratha luckily found that box with the divine child in it. He happily handed over the child to his wife Radha. And Radha looked after that child with great joy. Since that divine child had special earrings, they called the child as Karna. ‘Karna’ means ear. Since the child was adopted by Radha, he was also called Radheya. That was the story of Karna.
When Karna grew up, he wanted to go to the palace school where the Pandavas and Kauravas were studying. But he was denied entry into the school since he did not belong to any warrior family. The school was open only for princes and Karna was the son of a poor charioteer Adhiratha. At least that was how the entire world knew him as.
Karna faced humiliation all through his life because of his strange upbringing. Kunti never dared to openly accept him as her own son though she knew everything. It was only Duryodhana who openly embraced Karna and made him the King of a small Kingdom so that Karna too could proudly claim himself to be a warrior. That made Karna always indebted to Duryodhana. When the entire world had rejected him, it was only Duryodhana who accepted him. But Duryodhana had no idea about who Karna actually was!
Krishna told Karna that since he was the eldest son of Kunti, he had every right to be the King. In terms of age, he was even elder to Duryodhana and in terms of relation he was Duryodhana’s elder brother too. Neither the Pandavas nor Duryodhana would have any objection to Karna becoming the King of the entire empire if they came to know the real background of Karna. That would put an end to all the quarrel. Karna not only would regain his lost pride but also would automatically become the King, flanked by both the Pandavas and Kauravas!
Karna merely laughed at Krishna. He said that he always knew about his past but pretended to be ignorant. He said that he was not after any kingdom. Besides, projecting himself as a high born would be belittling his humble adapted parents who had all along taken care of him as their own. He was proud to be their son. Neither he could betray Duryodhana, since it was Duryodhana who stood for his support when everyone else had rejected him. How could he now change the sides when Duryodhana needed him the most?
Karna told Krishna that the war was predestined and Krishna very well knew about that. Lot of kings were going to be wiped out from the earth in that violent war which was bound to take place. None could stop that. Karna wanted to have the satisfaction that he repaid the debt he owed to his friend Duryodhana by laying down his life for his sake.
Karna also asked Krishna not to disclose this secret about his birth to the Pandavas. If Yudhishthira came to know that Karna was his own elder brother, Karna said, he would abandon the war. Yudhishthira would never wish to fight against his own elder brother. That would end in a stalemate.
On the other hand, if Duryodhana came to know about his secret, he would gladly give up his claim for the Kingdom for the sake of his best friend Karna. Karna felt that to be betraying his friendship. Duryodhana always wanted to be the King and Karna did not want to snatch that opportunity from his friend.
Neither Krishna’s lure, nor the ‘divide and rule tactic’ worked. Karna was a great soul who could not be lured so easily. At last, Karna bid farewell to Krishna by hugging him. He hoped that they would meet once again after the war or in heaven if Karna attained death in the war. So saying, Karna rode away in his own chariot to his palace.
It was not just Krishna who was trying to woo Karna to Pandava side. There was one more person. It was his real mother Kunti. Kunti met Karna in a secluded place and tried to show him her motherly affection. She pleaded to Karna to give up supporting Duryodhana and come back to Pandava fold. Like Krishna, she even promised Karna the Kingship of the entire world since he was not only the eldest of the Pandavas but also, he had the support of brave Pandava brothers.
Karna refused to accept Kunti as his mother. He reminded her that his mother was none other than Radha who looked after him and showered motherly love. He asked Kunti why she never showed her affection before, when he needed it the most. He said that he could never think of betraying his friend Duryodhana and would fight on his side.
But Karna promised Kunti that he would never harm her children except Arjuna who was his sworn enemy. He would either kill Arjuna on the war field or get killed by him. He taunted to Kunti that either way, she would continue to have five children as she always did!
With all attempts to avert the war failed, Pandavas counselled with Krishna and prepared for the inevitable war. That was the last option, namely Danda.
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