कर्ण An overglorified नराधम

●कर्ण : A Wronged दानवीर or an over
glorified नराधम
| ॐ श्रीरामायनम: |
। ॐ श्रीवेदव्यासाय नम: |
। ॐ श्रीकृष्णाय नम: |
। ॐ श्रीसरस्वत्यै नम: |
।ॐ श्रीगुरुभ्यो नम: ।
। हरि: ॐ ।
Preface
महाभारतwritten by भगवान वेदव्यासhas many many personalities (अंशावतार). Except भगवान श्रीकृष्ण,
every other अंशावतार\ अवतारdisplays influence of मोह, मद, ईर्ष्या.
For नराधम like दुर्योधन शकुनि there is unanimous opinion. But one नराधम , कर्ण, has been been falsely
and fraudulently eulogized and has been put on a pedestal.
A lot of this fraud has been done by or at behest of ‘subalterns’ who love eulogizing a नराधम
such as रावणor कर्ण, who are condemned by all including भगवान himself.
कर्णhas been portrayed as invincible, दानवीर ,but unfortunate wronged hero who could have
defeated all पान्डव if he was treated right. In reality is कर्णwas an utter coward who fled from
रणभुमी, used absolutely vulgar terms for द्रौपदी माता, was a blowhard without commensurate
achievements in रणभुमी.
We felt it is necessary for many good सनातनी Hindus to know truth about कर्णand not by
waylaid by subaltern movements eulogizing him. This is a humble effort for the same.
Source
Primary source for our inquiry will be the Gita Press edition of महाभारत. All shlokas with Gita
Press Hindi translation have been given here along with a link to shloka in the online edition of
Gita Press Mahabharata. We will not be giving our ‘opinion’ in a vacuum but will quote the
महाभारतshlokas and derive conclusions based on that.
Mahabharata is divided into पर्वand each पर्वhas उपपर्वand further we have अध्याय and श्लोक. When
giving a reference screenshot and location of the shloka in Mahabharata in पर्वis given.
Numbering of अध्याय is as per पर्वand not उपपर्व(i.e. numbering of अध्याय is reset in beginning of
new पर्वand not in beginning of उपपर्व).
We will 1st list earliest references to Karna in Mahabharata. Then we will list instances of his
fleeing battlefields. And then all instances of his wickedness. To be fair we will also list praise of
Karna as told by others including भगवान श्रीकृष्ण. At end we will list praiseworthy knowledge
displayed by Karna.
Introduction
कर्णis probably amongst the most well known personalities from Mahabharata along with भीष्म,
अर्जुन. We will start our enquiry with 1st reference to कर्णin अनुक्रमणिका पर्वand then attempt to
analyze each of his ‘brave’ acts or ‘दानवीर’ acts.
(There is a reference to कर्णपर्वin अनुक्रमणिका पर्वbut since it is not a reference to कर्णwe have
ignored it.
Ref: महाभारतअनुक्रमणिका पर्व1:90.

Link:https://archive.org/details/Mahabharata_201712/page/n31/mode/2up )
This is how Karna is described when he is mentioned very 1st time in Mahabharata.
Commentary by Gita Press puts meaning of this shloka succinctly.
Translation: Duryoadhana is krodha and Karna Shakuni are his forms.
Then the 1st act of bravery by Karna is given as such. When भगवान श्रीकृष्णwent to Kauravas for
sandhi, then Karna and Duryodhana conspired to arrest भगवान श्रीकृष्ण. Who else but an utter
नराधमcan have such plans.
Birth of Karna
We now come to the birth of Karna which is fairly well known. Kunti was a कन्या when दुर्वासा
visited her father कुन्तीभोज. Pleased by selfless service by Kunti to him, दुर्वासा granted her दिव्य मन्त्र
to beget sons from देवता. Kunti out of कुतुहलused सुर्यमन्त्रand भगवान सुर्य visited her and gave her a
son as तेजस्वि as भगवान सुर्य himself. Kunti was unmarried then and out of fear, put the newborn
son in a box and floated the box in गंगा. A सुतby name of अधिरथand his wife राधा found the box
and raised the son like their own. Hence Karna was referred to as सुतपुत्रby अर्जुन , भीम , भीष्मand
others.
Ref: https://archive.org/details/Mahabharata_201712/page/n381/mode/2up
Instances of Karna fleeing battlefield
1. Karna fled from battle with Drupad.

द्रोणाचार्यtaught Pandavas and Kauravas शस्त्रविद्या. As गुरुदक्षिणा , द्रोणाचार्यasked for defeat
of द्रुपद. (Reason for this enmity can be looked up by those interested.)
Kauravas, eager to prove they are better than Pandavas, went with Karna Shakuni to
पान्चालदेशto defeat Drupad. Drupad despite being old was a महारथी and defeated the
entire Kauravas easily. Then Karna, with his chariot broken, fled from the battlefield.
Ref: महाभारतअनुक्रमणिका पर्व110:25 (दाक्षिणात्यपाठ).
Link: https://archive.org/details/Mahabharata_201712/page/n471/mode/2up
2. Karna fleeing from Gandharvas.
Background: When Pandavas in Vanvaas were passing from Hastinapur, Karna had
goaded दुर्योधनto humiliate Pandavas. On the way to where Pandavas in vanvaas had
camped, दुर्योधनgot into an argument with Gandharvas. Gandharvas , led by Chitrasen,
destroyed Kauravas and Karna fled the battlefield immediately. Seeing him flee, all
Kaurava army fled too. As a result Duryodhana was captured by Gandharvas. Arjun
and Bhimsen then rescued Duryodhana from Gandharvas.
Ref: महाभारतवनपर्व241:32.
Link:
https://archive.org/stream/Mahabharata_201712/2_Mahabharata#page/n765/mode/2up
3. Karna fled from Arjuna twice in yudh with Virat.

Background: To lure Pandavas out of अज्ञातवासKauravas decided to steal गोधनof विराट.
Pandavas waged battle with Kauravas to save गोधनof विराट. In the ensuing battle Arjuna
defeated Karna. And Karna fled the battlefield twice.
Ref: महाभारतकर्णपर्व50:32, महाभारतकर्णपर्व60:27.
Link:
4. Karna was defeated repeatedly in the Mahabharata war by

Saatyaki.
4.1 Satyaki defeated Karna in Drona Parva repeatedly and had to be rescued by
Duryodhan, Drona and Jayadrath
Ref: महाभारतद्रोणपर्व32:69
4.2 Satyaki defeated Karna on the day of Jayadratha Vadh again.
4.3 Satyaki defeated Karna after Drona vadh again.

5. Karna fled from Bhima multiple times in Mahabharata war.
5.1 During battle on the day of Jayadratha vadh, Bhim defeated Karna and Karna ran
away.
5.2 During battle on the day of Jayadratha vadh, Bhim defeated Karna and Karna ran
away.
5.3 Karna was defeated repeatedly by Bhim. At the final instance of Bhim Karna battles,
Bhim climbed in the chariot of Karna to cut his tongue off (for his boasts) and left at the
pleading of the charioteer of Karna, Shalya. At the end, Shalya took away defeated
Karna away from battle with Bhimsen.
Ref: महाभारतकर्णपर्व50:32.
Link:
Instances of cruelty and wickedness.
1. Karna Schemed with Dushasana , Duryodhana, Shakuni

to burn Pandavas with Kunti in LakshaGriha.
Ref: महाभारतकर्णपर्व140:1.
Link:
2. Karna was elated when Draupadi Mata was betted by

Yudhishthir.
Ref: महाभारतसभापर्व65:44.
Ref: महाभारतसभापर्व67:44, सभापर्व67:45 and सभापर्व67:46.

3. Declared in wicked manner that Duryodhana has won
Draupadi ‘per dharma’.
Ref: महाभारतसभापर्व67:44, सभापर्व67:45 and सभापर्व68:32.
4. Suggested Dushasana to disrobe Draupadi Mata.
5. Suggested Draupadi being a Daasi should be स्वेच्छाचारी and

choose a new husband.
6. Suggested Dushasana should take Draupadi Mata home as
Daasi.
7. Used extremely abusive terms for Draupadi Mata.

Pinnacle of the subaltern moment of Karna was an extremely vulgar statement about
Draupadi Mata.
Translation: Since Draupadi Mata has 5 husbands she is a वेश्या and even if she was नग्न
she could be brought in sabha.
8. Wanted to mock Pandavas when they were in vanvas
(before Gandharvas defeated Kauravas)
Background: Pandavas were sent to exile for losing द्युतक्रीडा. For अज्ञातवासPandavas
decided to live in मत्स्यदेश. On the way to मत्स्यदेशthey had halted near हस्तिनापुर. कर्ण शकुनि
persuaded दुर्योधनto visit Pandavas and show off his wealth to make Pandavas more
miserable.
Ref: महाभारतवनपर्व237:19.
Link:
9. Tried to capture Bhagvan ShriKrishna when he came for

Sandhi.
Reference: उद्योगपर्व130:4
Link:
10. Killed Abhimanyu in a cowardly way (though the idea to
kill Abhimanyu was that of Dronacharya.)
Reference: द्रोणपर्व48:31
Link:
11. Laughed when Abhimanyu was killed in wicked and
cowardly manner.
Reference: कर्णपर्व73:81
Link:
Was Karna really अद्वितीयदानवीर?

No. Often cited story of Karna giving Kavach Kundal to Indra was not a daan but a विनिमय(‘quid
pro quo’ i.e. exchange of goods). Karna gave up Kavach Kundal only after Indra promised him
to give IndraShakti.
Reference: वनपर्व310:23
Link:https://archive.org/stream/Mahabharata_201712/2_Mahabharata#page/n965/mode/2up
At the end of Mahabharata though , there is a reference to this exchange as दान. But since
exchange is clearly mentioned, we cannot treat this as a दान.
Did Karna win Draupadi Mata in swayamwar?

No. He was unable to tie pratyancha too. Following is a condensed snippet of following
references. This is mentioned in 4 different places in Mahabharata. There is a Shloka contrary
to these which is आदिपर्व186:25, where it is mentioned Karna tied pratyancha and was told by
Draupadi Mata that she will not marry a SutaPutra. This shloka is accompanied by commentary
by Gita Press that this particular shloka doesn’t appear in दाक्षिणात्यedition of Mahabharata.
Ref: आदिपर्व186:15
Karna was condemned by others including
Bhagvaan ShriKrishna.
1. Bhishma , Drona and Kripachaya repeatedly stop Karna

from boastfulness
a. Kripacharya lambasts Karna for bosts before Virat Yudha.
Ref: महाभारतविराटपर्व49th Adhyay.
Link:
https://archive.org/stream/Mahabharata_201712/2_Mahabharata#page/n1135/m
ode/2up
b.
2. Ashwathama mocks Karna before Virat parva.
Background: Karna was boasting about defeating Arjuna before yudha versus मत्स्यनरेश
Virat. For his boastful behaviour he was lambasted by Dronacharya and Kripacharya.
Karna then resorted to badmouthing both Drona and Kripacharya. Following is part of a
reply by Ashwathama to Karna.
Ref: महाभारतविराटपर्व50:13.
Link:
Bhagvaan ShriKrishna lists his crimes before
Karna’s death.
Most important and final word about Karna has to be when Bhagvaan ShriKrishna lists
all crimes of Karna just as Arjuna is about to behead Karna in their battle. Karna’s
chariot wheel gets stuck in earth as a result of a Brahmin's curse. Karna 1st speaks ill
about धर्मand then proceeds to preach Bhagvaan ShriKrishna. Later Karna gets down
from the chariot to remove the chariot wheel from earth. At this moment Bhagvaan
ShriKrishna asked Arjuna to kill Karna. At that moment Karna preaches Arjuna about
behaving as per धर्मand not shooting arrows at him as Karna is off his chariot.
Bhagwan ShriKrishna succinctly puts it.
Ref: कर्णपर्वअध्याय91
Karna praised by others including Bhagvaan
1. Bhagvaan ShriKrishna praises his skill in battle.

Before the final battle between Arjuna and Karna, Bhagvaan ShriKrishna praises Karna
for his battle skills. (Readers should note praise by Bhagvaan ShriKrishna is for his battle
skills and not any other qualities. )
Ref: कर्णपर्वअध्याय 86.
2. Indra praises Karna.

3. BrahminBhakti.
Karna was a genuine Brahmin bhakt and never denied anything asked by a Brahamana.
This is indeed a redeeming quality.
(Though we have to keep in mind this was द्वापारयुग, where virulent ब्राह्मणद्वेषhad not
entered भारतवर्ष.)
Ref: कर्णपर्व94:46
Link:
4. After death of Karna, description by Bhagvaan VedVyas
Description by Bhagvaan VedVyas after the death of Karna is very poignant. It tells how
the entire world became sad due to his death.
Karna’s knowledge
1. Discusses Mahabharata as RanYadnya with Bhagvaan

ShriKrishna.
This is , in our view, the pinnacle of देवांशwithin Karna. Karna displays amazing clarity
here in talk with Bhagvaan ShriKrishna. He brings out beautiful similarity between
Mahabharata and यज्ञ and also shows knowledge that he is fighting on side of अधर्म.
उद्योगपर्वअध्याय 141.
2. Karna tells us about the high culture of Panchnad pradesh.

शल्य, maternal uncle of Yudhishthir and मद्रनरेशwas charioteer of Karna. शल्यwas asked
by Yudhishthir to demoralize Karna when he goes to battle with Arjuna. As a result शल्य
kept needling Karna before battle and called him names. Karna tolerated for a while and
then started replying in the same coin. In ensuing conversation Karna talked about
मद्रनिवासि , पन्चनदनिवासि and helped us with ‘high culture’ prevalent in पन्चनद (today’s
Panjab) since times of Mahabharata. Observations Karna makes about पन्चनदनिवासि are
seen even today as well, well after 5000 years since Mahabharata happened.
Why do subalterns love Karna?

Subalterns (अनुलोमा and प्रतिलोमा) have been rooting for Karna since times of Mahabharata. Their
descendents just carry out the same tradition.
Ref: कर्णपर्व87:48
Link: https://archive.org/stream/Mahabharata_201712/4_Mahabharata#page/n1065/mode/2up
Why did Karna despite being SuryaPutra behave in

such a vile manner?
Karna did indeed display some redeeming qualities. But for one explanation of why SuryaPutra
(or Surya himself) behaved as such we have to go back to 24th Treta Yuga. At that time
SuryaPutra was सुग्रीव , Indra Putra was वालि and Bhagvaan had taken अवतारof भगवान श्रीराम.
Then भगवान श्रीरामhelped Surya Putra सुग्रीव versus Indra Putra वालि. At the time of his death at
hands of भगवान श्रीराम, वालि surrendered completely at the चरणकमलof भगवान श्रीराम.
Ref: Ramayana किष्किन्धाकाण्ड18:66
Link:
https://archive.org/details/valmikiramayanawithhinditranslationvolume1gitapress1976_202003_2
84_X/page/n747/mode/2up
Why is this important? Because in the 28th द्वापारयुग(when Mahabharata happened) roles of
Surya Putra and Indra Putra were reversed. Bhagvaan was helping Indra Putra versus Surya
Putra in the 28th द्वापारयुग. This was to balance Bhagvaan’s avatar helping Surya Putra versus
Indra Putra in 24th त्रेतायुग (when Ramayana happened).
Readers can notice surrender by वालि at the चरणकमलof भगवान श्रीरामin his last moment. This was
completely missing when Karna was about to meet his end.
Vali (Indra or IndraPutra) was explicitly told by भगवान श्रीरामthat elder brother is like a पिता. Ergo
पत्नी of an elder brother is like a माता. This talk by भगवान श्रीरामwas in front of Sugriva (Surya or
SuryaPutra in TretaYuga) as well. In the same talk भगवान श्रीरामtold वालि reason for भगवान श्रीराम
killing वालि was because he was cohabiting with wife of younger brother.
Sugriva heard from भगवान श्रीरामhimself and observed punishment given to वालि. Still Sugriva
went ahead and cohabited with the wife of the elder brother. For this he wasn’t punished in
Sugriva रुप. We can say Surya Putra paid for this act in the next life as Karna.
Ref: Ramayana किष्किन्धाकाण्ड17:13 to किष्किन्धाकाण्ड17:19.
Link;
https://archive.org/details/valmikiramayanawithhinditranslationvolume1gitapress1976_202003_2
84_X/page/n745/mode/2up
Also at one place Mahabharata, Bhagvan VedVyaas tells us that after Bhagvaan ShriKrishna
killed Narakasura, Narakasura entered the body of Karna. Narakasura was responsible for the
enmity of Karna with Arjuna.
Ref: वनपर्व252:20
Conclusion
We can say that Karna had many good qualities but Karna (even if under influence of
Narakasura) acted in a wicked and vile manner is beyond doubt. अश्वत्थामा (रुद्रhimself) is called
नराधम for killing sleeping Pandava children and using ब्रह्मास्त्रon परिक्षितwho was in the womb. कर्ण
cannot escape responsibility of his actions because of having ‘difficult childhood’. There is
Subaltern interpretation or any interpretation allowed of धर्मशास्त्र. Karna was by no way on the
side of the धर्म. भीमसेन, अर्जुन, भीष्म, सात्यकि were far far better क्षत्रियthan Karna. Karna should be
treated the same way as we treat अश्वत्थामा or द्रोणाचार्य: great warrior but on side of अधर्म. But
definitely Karna wasn’t even an outstanding क्षत्रियor दानवीर.

कर्ण An overglorified नराधम​​

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●कर्ण : A Wronged दानवीर or an over

Ref: महाभारत​अनुक्रमणिका पर्व​1:90.

Instances of Karna fleeing battlefield

1. Karna fled from battle with Drupad.

3. Karna fled from Arjuna twice in yudh with Virat.

4. Karna was defeated repeatedly in the Mahabharata war by

4.3 Satyaki defeated Karna after Drona vadh again.

1. Karna Schemed with Dushasana , Duryodhana, Shakuni

2. Karna was elated when Draupadi Mata was betted by

Ref: महाभारत​सभापर्व​67:44, सभापर्व​67:45 and सभापर्व​67:46.

5. Suggested Draupadi being a Daasi should be स्वेच्छाचारी and

7. Used extremely abusive terms for Draupadi Mata.

9. Tried to capture Bhagvan ShriKrishna when he came for

Was Karna really अद्वितीय​दानवीर​?

Did Karna win Draupadi Mata in swayamwar?

1. Bhishma , Drona and Kripachaya repeatedly stop Karna

Karna praised by others including Bhagvaan

1. Bhagvaan ShriKrishna praises his skill in battle.

2. Indra praises Karna.

1. Discusses Mahabharata as RanYadnya with Bhagvaan

2. Karna tells us about the high culture of Panchnad pradesh.

Why do subalterns love Karna?

Why did Karna despite being SuryaPutra behave in

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कर्ण An overglorified नराधम

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Ref: महाभारतअनुक्रमणिका पर्व1:90.

Ref: महाभारतसभापर्व67:44, सभापर्व67:45 and सभापर्व67:46.

Was Karna really अद्वितीयदानवीर?