Karna: The Son of the Sun Who Gave Everything Away
Some heroes are remembered for what they won. Karna is remembered for what he gave away. He was the eldest son of Kunti and Surya, the Sun himself — yet he lived his whole life as the son of a charioteer, and learned who he really was only on the eve of the war in which he would face his own brothers.
This is his story, told through the moments that made him.
Karna at a glance
Born to
Kunti and Surya, the Sun god
Raised by
Adhiratha, a charioteer, and his wife Radha
Birth name
Vasusena
Also called
Radheya, Suryaputra, Vaikartana, Angaraja
Teacher
Parashurama
Kingdom
Anga, given to him by Duryodhana
Fell
Day 17 of the Kurukshetra war
The life of Karna
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Birth · Adi & Vana ParvaA child of the Sun, set adriftYoung Kunti tests a mantra given to her by the sage Durvasa and calls upon Surya. She bears a son born wearing golden armour and earrings. Unmarried and afraid, she places the baby in a basket and lets the river carry him away.
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ChildhoodThe charioteer's sonThe charioteer Adhiratha and his wife Radha find the basket and raise the boy as their own. They name him Vasusena; the world will call him Radheya, son of Radha.
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Training · Shanti ParvaParashurama's student — and his curseKarna learns the art of weapons from Parashurama. When the guru discovers Karna is not a Brahmin, he curses him to forget the most powerful weapon he knows at the moment he needs it most. A Brahmin whose cow Karna killed by accident adds a second curse: in his final battle, his chariot wheel will sink into the earth.
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The tournament · Adi ParvaCrowned king of AngaAt the princes' tournament in Hastinapura, Karna matches every feat of Arjuna. Asked about his birth, he has no royal name to give. Duryodhana crowns him king of Anga on the spot — and wins a friend for life.
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The gift · Vana ParvaThe armour given awaySurya warns his son in a dream that Indra will come begging for his armour and earrings. Karna gives them anyway, cutting them from his own body — and is named Vaikartana. In return Indra gives him a spear that can be used only once.
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Before the war · Udyoga ParvaThe truth, too lateKrishna, and then Kunti herself, tell Karna that he is the eldest Pandava. He refuses to leave Duryodhana, but promises Kunti he will spare four of her sons and fight only Arjuna: either way, she will still have five sons.
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Day 14, night · Drona ParvaThe spear spentTo stop Ghatotkacha, Bhima's son, who is destroying the Kaurava army, Karna uses Indra's once-only spear — the weapon he had saved for Arjuna.
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Day 17 · Karna ParvaThe wheel sinksFacing Arjuna at last, Karna's chariot wheel sinks into the earth and his knowledge of the great weapon fails him, just as the curses foretold. Arjuna's arrow ends his life.
In his own words
सूतो वा सूतपुत्रो वा यो वा को वा भवाम्यहम्।
दैवायत्तं कुले जन्म मदायत्तं तु पौरुषम्॥
दैवायत्तं कुले जन्म मदायत्तं तु पौरुषम्॥
sūto vā sūtaputro vā yo vā ko vā bhavāmyaham
daivāyattaṃ kule janma madāyattaṃ tu pauruṣam
daivāyattaṃ kule janma madāyattaṃ tu pauruṣam
“Charioteer or charioteer's son, whoever I may be — the family I was born into was in the hands of fate; my courage is in my own.”
Veṇīsaṃhāra 3.37 by Bhaṭṭa Nārāyaṇa · a later Sanskrit play, not Vyasa's Mahabharata
That line is why Karna still speaks to people. He did not choose where he was born, and he was judged for it all his life. What he chose was how he lived: loyal to the one friend who stood by him, and generous even when generosity cost him his armour and, in the end, his life.
Karna on your wall
