Karn Osm Facts (part _07)

1. All Osm Facts about Karn the surya putra
2. 

   
   

3. Karna was conceived inside Kunti’s womb on the first day of Shukla Paksha in the month of Magha.
4. Karna learnt the art of warfare from three preceptors, namely Drona, Kripa and Parashurama.
5. Karna defeated Jarasandha in a wrestling bout.
6. Karna received a divine spear known as Vasavi Shakti from Indra in exchange of his armour and earrings.
7. Karna defeated all the kings in the swayambara of Kalinga princess Bhanumati. Notable kings who were defeated by him included Jarasandha, Shishupala, Nila and Rukmi.
8. Karna conquered the entire earth for political expansion of Hastinapura. He defeated famous kings like Drupada and Bhagadatta en route to performing his world conquest. His world conquest is described in the original Mahabharata composed by Ved Vyasa.
9. The flagpole of Karna's chariot was marked by the symbol of rope used for binding elephants.
10. Karna caught the wheel of Lord Shiva known as Asani with his bare hands which was hurled by Ghatotkacha.
11. Karna killed powerful demons like Paulomas and Yatudhanas who were created by Ghatotkacha.
12. Karna killed Ghatotkacha by hurling Vasavi Shakti.
13. Karna became the commander of Kourava army on the 16th day of Kurukshetra war.
14. Karna arranged the Kourava soilders in crocodile formation known as Makara Vyuha on the 16th day.
15. Karna possessed a weapon known as Pashupata which was mentioned by Lord Krishna to Arjuna.
16. Karna was the originator of Bhargavastra the only weapon which Arjuna failed to counter in Kurukshetra war.
17. Karna was the only warrior apart from Ashwatthama who succeeded in countering Arjuna's Aindrastra.
18. Karna was the warrior who succeeded in destroying Arjuna's indestructible diadem which was revered by the likes of Varuna, Kubera and Lord Shiva.

19. Adhiratha, Karna’s foster father, was the charioteer of Pitamah Bhishma.

 

20. Adhiratha warned the young lad against practicing archery.

Only the Kshatriya clan (the warrior class) had this privilege. Adhiratha feared that his son, due to his divine vest & earrings, and a possible superiority in archery over princes, could easily offend the high and mighty in the capital. 

21. So, he pleaded with Guru Dronacharya (master of advanced military arts) to accept him as a disciple; Dronacharya refused to train Karna due to his low social status.

The royal preceptor to Kuru princes, Dronacharya even insulted Karna for aspiring to learn military arts alongside the royals despite having come from the family of charioteers. Obviously, the young boy was infuriated. He swore to become a disciple of the one who trained Dronacharya himself. On that very day, he was on his way to Parshurama’s abode.

 

22. Karna tried to fool Parshurama into believing that he was a Brahmin.

He faked his identity to become a disciple of Parshurama, a legendary Brahmin warrior who had earlier trained Guru Dronacharya and Pitamah Bheesma.

Although it is hard to believe that a saint and warrior of Parshurama’s stature would get beseeched by Karna, the sage anyhow agreed to train the young boy in military arts.

23. Karna had already acquired Brahmashtra mantra from Parshurama by then.

24. Karna, after having learned  he could from Parshurama, returned to Hastinapur and challenged Arjuna for a duel.

Karna showed up during military arts demonstrations by Kauravas and Pandavas in the arena when Dronacharya proclaimed the Pandav prince Arjuna to be the greatest archer on the planet. There was no way Karna could accept Arjuna, a disciple of Dronacharya, to be the greatest archer.

The spectators, royals, and elite at the arena insulted Karna for challenging a prince despite having lower social status.

Duryodhana, a sworn enemy of Arjuna and his brothers, saw in Karna a counterweight to Pandavas. He at once declared Karna as the king of a small state, putting concerns regarding his social status to rest.

On this day Karna, although a great archer, was humiliated by one and all in the capital, in front of his foster parents and Kunti, his biological mother.

For having stood by his side, Karna swore to forever serve Duryodhana.

 

25. Karna was aware of the fact that Duryodhana and Shakuni had hatched an evil plan to burn Kunti and Pandavas alive at Lakshagrih.

Grieved, he went home to his parents Adhiratha and Radha. Fond of Kunti (his biological mother) as a motherly figure since his childhood years in the capital, he ended up passing on a hint about the plan to Adhiratha.

Adhiratha informed Pitamah Bheesma, who in turn headed straight to rescue Kunti and Pandavas. By then, all 6 of them had escaped.

Karna, anyhow, was saved from the sin of partaking in an evil plan, designed to murder his kin.

 

26. Upon learning the great dilemma Karna was in for having sworn allegiance to Duryodhana, his father Adhiratha advised him to absolve himself of sins by donating his wealth and belongings to the needy.

This is how Karna acquired the name Daanveer – a hero with undying charitable nature.

 

27. Upon Duryodhana’s advice, Karna was all set to kill Arjuna in war on the 11^th day but amogh shakti had to be used on someone else the night before.

Lord Krishna knew well that Karna would use the weapon on Arjuna. The battle on the previous night continued beyond sunset and that’s when Lord Krishna advised Bheema to call in his son, Ghatotkach (a brave warrior who was half demon, half human) to unleash hell on Kaurava army during the wee hours of night.

A helpless Duryodhana had to request Karna to use amogh shakti on Ghatotkach instead. Arjuna’s life was thus saved.

 

28. When Lord Krishna revealed the truth about his birth to Karna, and asked him to join the Pandava camp – it was Karna who had requested him to keep all this secret from his brothers.

“They might not fight me, if they hear the truth,” he said.

 

29. According to a legend, Draupadi had a secret liking for Karna.

The same was disclosed in a story in which Draupadi reveals the names of men she has loved to a tree, in order to save herself from the wrath of a meditating saint.

 

30. Even though Yudhisthir had the right to perform the last rites of Karna, the same was overruled for Dhuryodhan who had been more close to him all his life.

It was Lord Krishna who performed the last rites of Karna.

 

31. Karna’s wife Vrushali committed sati on the funeral pyre of Karna.

In South India, a famous play titled ‘Kattaikkuttu’ is staged on the life events of Karna.

 

32. Believers hold that the Aranmula Parthasarathy Temple in South India was built by Arjuna to absolve himself of his sin of killing an unarmed Karna.

The temple is dedicated to Lord Krishna, for his role of the charioteer in the Kurukshetra war.