He was son of kunti …great warrior in mahabharata who taught a lot to humanity…he was great ..but he supported wrong people…..i felt its important to share this story...because karna even though technically advanced....good with brahmastra bharagavastra ....and one of the excellent archer..and intelligent mind...but he supported wrong person... . But, the killing of Karna in the war is justified as "Karna got killed because, he stood on the side of adharma"
But this great warrior proved that friend in need is friend in deed….and he got punished because he insulted women with whom he could not marry…who was wife of his brothers…..wherever a women is insulted …there only ashes remained…there are many karnas in this society ....
ALWAYS SUPPORT YOUR FRIEND BUT NOT THEIR MISTAKES.....this post is lenghty but its good....
Karna was brought up by a charioteer whereas Duriyordana was raised as a prince, throughout his life, Karna lived a life of humiliation and downfall but Duriyordana lead a life of kingship. In war perspective Karna was a great archer while Duriyordana was a brilliant maze builder. Karna was hated even by his close allied but Duriyordana was loved by all his family. Karna stands for his generosity and good deeds whereas Duriyordan for his non abidance of virtue and values. Karna is associated with dharma while Duriyoudana for adharma. According to the mythology Karna was cursed with misfortune but Duriyordana was fortunate enough to have a friend like Karna. Even though they were destined to be different souls Karna and Duriyordana are considered to be the greatest friends ever lived.
The friendship - between the two
A very intense bond of friendship develops between the two, and Duryodhana becomes very close to Karna. It is held that if there was one good quality in Duryodhana, it was his deep affection for his friend Karna.
The friendship between karna and Duriyordan was so strong that once Karan and Duryodhan's wife were playing chess and at that time Duryodhan entered the room. The wife seeing him gets up. Karan, not realizing Duryodhan's arrival grabs her Mekhala (it is a jewel worn by women at their hip) says, "where r u going? Complete the game”. The mekhala breaks 'cause of that. Duryodhan sees all this and helps his wife with her jewel, without saying a word in anger, meaning he trusted Karna so much.
In an instance when Karnas wife asked, what will he gain by slaying the Pandavas, his own (half-) brothers? In her opinion Duryodhana has ‘bought’ Karna’s love by making him king of Anga. Karna says he values Duryodhana’s friendship and loyalty above unreliable family relations.
In another instance when Duryodhana's wife Bhanumati fears that her husband may die during the Kurukshetra war. Duryodhana tries to allay her fears but becomes unsuccessful. At that time Karna enters the scene. Karna tells her that he lives only for Duryodhana and he will wipe out the Pandavas for the sake of Duryodhana. He says that that he will fire arrow after arrow and fight and fight until the last drop of blood running in his body. He says he will make Duryodhana the unconquerable king of the empire. Karna's words have the desired effect on her.
When the kurukshetra war began, Kunti met Karna to reveal him that she was his mother. Both of them shared a touching moment together but when she asked him to join the Pandavas, Karna refused, he told his mother that, He could not betray the trust of his friend.
In the Kurukshetra War, Karna is Duryodhana's greatest hope for victory. He truly believes that Karna superior to Arjuna, and will inevitably destroy him and his four brothers. When Karna is killed, Duryodhana mourns his death intensely, even more than the death of his brothers.
If we compare both these characters there was a difference of sky and earth between them. There was nothing common between them.
During the war, arjun shoots at Karna's chariot and it moves back several feet. karna does the same and arjun's chariot moves back fraction of a foot. Krishna applauds Karna. Arjun asks Krishna "When I shot at him, his chariot moved back several feet and when he shot at me, mine moved back a little. But you applauded him and not me. Why?" Krishna tells him "I, the lord of trilok, I am the sarathi of your chariot and Pawanputra is at top of your chariot with the mountain in his hands. There is no comparison between what Karn did and what you did".
Karna as a figure of adulation
Even though Karna devoted his services to the evil Duryodhana, in the epic story told in the Mahābhārata, he remains a figure of adulation for millions of Hindus and Indians, who regard him as the greatest warrior of all time. Many Hindus consider Karna as a man who fought against his misfortunes throughout his life without a single pause. He never got his due, but never gave up his efforts, his courageous spirit led him to brave impossible odds in his life and he died with unique courage, valour and honour. In the Mahābhārata, Bheeshma and Lord Krishna concede that Karna was a noble spirit who rarely appears in the human race. Karna is especially adored for his generosity. He is idealized as an inspiration for struggling humanity not to lose heart. He is also considered an example of how misjudgment can render all the finer qualities of an individual futile.
Karna was praised even by Krishna in the Mahābhārata. During his battle with Arjuna, when Arjuna questions the reason for this praise, Krishna reminds Arjuna that, by having Krishna as his charioteer, Arjuna's chariot contains the whole weight of the universe and yet Karna is still able to rock it by the force of his arrows. When the battle is ended and multiple levels of divine protection are removed from Arjuna's chariot, it explodes into dust through the blows it has received. Arjuna realizes his mistake and praises Karna as well.
Karna's ethics are admired. During his duel with Arjuna, when, by a blow from one of Karna's arrows Arjuna is rendered unconscious, the cobra king Ashwasen creeps out of hiding from Karna's chariot and asks Karna if he may use his poison against Arjuna, because Arjuna had burnt his forest to the ground. Karna refuses. He will not use a snake against any human, because it would be treachery towards humanity.
Karna used to pray to his father Surya, the sun god, at noon every day. This tradition of praying to Surya is still carried out in parts of Bihar, Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh in the form of Chhath Puja.
Karna and draupadi…
Karna was a suitor for Draupadi at her swayamvara. Unlike most other contenders, he was easily able to wield and string the bow, but as he got up to take part, Draupadi refused him the honor of taking part in the competition. She refused to be the wife of a suta-putra (son of a charioteer). This insult by Draupadi thus was one of the reasons of her downfall in the court room after the 'dice game' course. The Pandavas were also present in the swayamvara, disguised as brahmanas. Following the failure of the other princes, Arjuna stepped into the ring and successfully hit the target, winning Draupadi's hand. Karna insulted Draupadi by saying that Pandavas were all like sesame seeds removed from the kernel and she should now find some other worthy husbands.
Karna serves as an excellent example of a gifted, generous, righteous and brave individual who was still doomed because of his loyalty towards Duryodhana. Karna had the five perfect qualities of a husband for Draupadi, but being with Duryodhana nullified these and allowed Arjuna to take her instead. Karna's affection for Duryodhana led him, albeit unwillingly, to assist his dear friend in all his actions against the Pandavas. Karna was aware of Duryodhana's malicious plans against the Pandavas. Karna was also aware of his own imminent downfall on assisting the evil against the good. He is criticised for insulting Draupadi in the Hastinapur court and for supporting Duryodhan in his act of dishonoring her. His role in the killing of an unarmed and outnumbered Abhimanyu can be interpreted as an act that more directly damaged his image as an honorable warrior and doomed him to a similar fate. According to some interpretations of the Mahābhārata, it was this deed that cemented Karna's status as a warrior on the wrong side of the war and sealed his fate, that of being killed by Arjuna in the same way, being unarmed, chariotless and with his back turned to Arjuna.
One may criticize Arjuna for killing Karna while he was pulling his chariot from the mud. However, if we remember from the Adi Parva, Karna was cursed by a brahmana to be killed while his chariot wheel was stuck in the earth. Arjuna was the instrument to fulfill that curse. According to the code of warfare, an enemy should not be killed when he is not properly armed, and Karna requested that Arjuna not kill him till his chariot was out of the earth. However, Lord Krishna reminded Karna of his lack of virtue and morality, and asked him why he was now requesting mercy, when he previously gave none. If Lord Krishna requested Arjuna not to show mercy to Karna, then that is the highest morality. Karna surely attained an exalted destination for seeing Lord Krishna and Arjuna at the last moment of his life. Lord Krishna informed Arjuna before the battle, anta-kale ca mam eva, smaran muktva kalevaram, yah prayati sa mad-bhavam, yati nasty atra samsayah, "And whoever, at the time of death, quits his body, remembering Me alone, at once attains My nature. Of this there is no doubt." (BHAGVAD GEETA.. 8.5) Karna was fortunate to be killed while looking at Lord Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
Legend has it that one day while his techer was resting on his lap, Karna was stung by a giant bee on his thigh. Despite the excruciating pain, Karna did not move so as not to disturb his guru's sleep. As the bee bored deeper into Karna's thigh, the wound began to bleed. Parashuram was woken up by the blood from Karna's thigh. He soon realized that Karna was a not a Brahmin as no one in the priestly class could bear the gruesome pain for such a long time. Thus, Parashuram, who had sworn vengeance against all Kshatriyas, concluded that Karna lied about being a in order to learn from him. So, he cursed Karna that his martial skills including the use of Brahmastra would desert him when he needed them most. This in turn meant that Karna would forget all that he had learnt from Parashuram during his hour of crisis. Karna, who was unaware of his royal lineage, pleaded with his master that any student in his place would have acted the same way.
While he regretted cursing Karna in a moment of anger, Parashuram's curse was irrevocable. He, gifted Karna with a celestial weapon called Bhargavastra along with Parashuram's personal bow called Vijaya and blessed him that in the end, Karna would achieve what every mortal aspires the most - everlasting glory and immortal fame. In fact mythological sources say that it was the king of Gods - Indra who had stung Karna in the form of the bee so that he would be cursed by the great sage. The same Indra later exploited Karna's generosity and took away the the Kavacha (body armour) and Kundana (ear rings) that virtually made Karna invincible. It is beyond any doubt that had Indra, father of Karna's sworn enemy, Arjuna, not interfered in the matter, Arjuna would have never been able to beat Karna.
Dejected at being cursed by his own Guru, Karna is said to have wandered in the forests. While he was practising the 'Shabdavedi Vidhya' (art of hitting the target by detecting the source of sound), he mistook a Brahmin's cow for a wild animal and shot it. Enraged, the Brahmin cursed Karna that as he had killed a helpless animal, he too would be killed when he was the most helpless, when his concentration was diverted from his enemy
Karna made some mistakes in his life and got punished for each of them. Karna's story is a story of double standards by our society. He was wronged by his teachers, mother, brothers, friends, seniors (Bhishma) and even by Gods (Indra).
He refused to give up even after so many setbacks and defeats, stood by his friend till end, fulfilled his promises, fought with all the odds. He made mistakes and paid for all of them, at the end of his life his slate was clear, he didn't owe anything to anybody. Even people who killed him, hated him also came to pay homage after his death because of his bravery, honesty and loyalty. For me he will always remain a symbol of mans fight with his destiny.
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