Mahabharat Karna Story and Family. Karna is a very important and popular character in the Hindu epic Mahabharata. He had a disastrous life story that ended in the Kurukshetra battle in a bad way. This post shares with you Mahabharat Karna Story and Family. Actually, Karna was the eldest son of Kunti (he was the spiritual son of Lord Surya). Read Mahabharat katha in Hindi, Mahabharat yudh, Mahabharat war video, kurukshetra war, Hastinapura महाभारत के बारे में आप.

Karna is a very important and popular character in the Hindu epic Mahabharata. He had a disastrous life story that ended in the Kurukshetra battle in a bad way. This post shares with you Mahabharat Karna Story and Family.

Actually, Karna was the eldest son of Kunti (he was the spiritual son of Lord Surya). She abandoned him when he was just a few days old, fearing backlash from society as he was born premarital when Kunti was in her teenage.

He was brought up as a charioteer’s son by Radha and Athiratha, who loved him immensely. Karna became a competent warrior of extraordinary abilities. However, he was denied training by Dronacharya as he was a Suta Putra (a lower class than the Kshatriyas).

Karna was very close to Duryodhana and became Angaraja – the king of Anga. He fought for Duryodhana in the Kurukshetra War. Eventually, he was killed at the hands of Arjuna during the battle of Kurukshetra.

So, he turns out to be a tragic hero in the Mahabharata. He has been recorded as a man of exceptional abilities who gave up his life for friendship.

Here, we share with you some of the most important events and facts about Karna.

Karna Story

• Karna has been called by many names such as Sutaputra, Radheya, Angaraja, Danveer, Suryaputra, Vasusena, Vrisha, and Vijayadhari
• Karna means “the ear-ringed one.”
• He has been described as a baby born with the golden ear-rings and armored breastplate, like his father, Lord Surya.
• Karna was abandoned by his mother (Kunti). Kunti had a boon by Sage Durvasa that she could call any god (by invoking a mantra) and have a child.

While still unmarried, Kunti called Surya (Sun God), and thus Karna was born. However, Kunti became ashamed of her actions and didn’t know how to explain the birth. So, she left the child in a basket on a river.

• Karna went to Dronacharya to learn warfare. However, Drona rejected his proposal because he was a Sutaputra (a class much lower than the mighty Kshatriyas).
• He disguised himself in the form of a Brahmin to learn the art of warfare from Parashurama. He was immensely dedicated and learned everything about warfare. He became a mighty and competent warrior.
• Parashurama came to know that Karna was not a Brahmin. So, he cursed Karna that he would forget all the essential knowledge of weapons when he would need them the most.
• When the Pandavas and Kauravas had finished their training, a grand ceremony was organized to show their remarkable skills.

Karna made his way to this ceremony and performed such amazing feats of warfare that all the Pandavas and Kauravas were embarrassed.

• Karna shot the fish before Arjuna at Draupadi’s Swayamvara. However, Draupadi rejected Karna saying that she would never marry a Sutaputra (the lowly caste).
• Once he was practicing his archery when he accidentally killed a cow. The cow belonged to a Brahmin who was much enraged with Karna and cursed him that he would also be killed by an arrow when he is the most helpless. In the Kurukshetra War, he was killed by Arjuna’s arrow when he tried to remove his chariot wheel from the mud.
• Once a little girl was carrying a bowl of ghee for her mother, but she accidentally spilled it on the ground. The girl was much afraid that her mother would scold her.

He decided to help her.

He squeezed the ghee out of Earth itself by invoking powerful incantations. This caused a lot of pain to Mother Earth, and she cursed Karna that she would abandon him when he is most vulnerable.

It so happened that in the Kurukshetra War, Karna’s chariot wheel got stuck in the mud, and it could not be taken out.

• Duryodhana had nominated Karna as the commander-in-chief in the Kurukshetra War.

However, Bhisma refused to fight under Karna as he was not a Kshatriya.

Karna felt humiliated and had to wait until Bhisma fell so that he could take part in the Kurukshetra battle.

• Karna had an impenetrable golden armor that was attached to his body. Lord Indra (Arjuna’s father) knew that he was invincible because of this armor.

So, he went in a disguise and asked for the armor. Karna accepted and ripped out the armor and gave it away to Indra.

• When the Kurukshetra War was going on, and the Pandavas were facing the brunt of Karna’s might, Kunti approached him and requested him not to kill any Pandavas. he consented and told Kunti that she would have all her five sons.
• When Arjuna faced Karna, his chariot wheel was stuck in the mud while fighting Karna. So, he followed the warfare rules and stopped the fighting until Arjuna pulled the chariot wheel free from the mud.
• He was killed in the most wretched fashion. His chariot wheel was stuck in the mud. All the curses followed him, and he forgot the incantations to divine weapons. Then, Arjuna killed him when he was the most vulnerable.

• When he was dying, Lord Krishna came forth in a Brahmin’s disguise and asked for some alms from Karna. So, he took a stone, broke two of his gold teeth, and gave it to the Brahmin.

However, the Brahmin cursed Karna for giving him teeth with saliva on it. Then, Karna took a bow and arrow and punctured the Earth so that he could wash the teeth clean with a gush of water.

So, he offered his clean gold teeth to Krishna. Lord Krishna became very impressed with Karna and showed him his Vishwaroop.

Thus, we find out that Karna lived a righteous life even though fate was cruel to him. He never stopped giving. He gave away all his valuables at a request without the fear of failure. His life teaches us that we should live our lives in humility, generosity, and dignity.

Family of Karna – Wife & Sons

Not much is available about the family of Karna. So, we briefly tell you about the family of this great archer. Vrushali has been named as the popular wife of the great warrior Karna. However, not much material is available on her.

In fact, it is sad that he had two wives:

• Vrushali – from whom he had seven sons
• Supriya – a friend of Bhanumati (she was the wife of Duryodhana)

Vrushali had committed Sati on Karna’s funeral pyre.

In the Mahabharata, there is mention of Karna’s seven sons. Their names are as follows:

• Vrishasen
• Sushen
• Bhanusen
• Satyasen
• Prasenjit
• Satyasandh
• Vrishketu

Vrishketu was the only son of Karna to survive the tragic war of Kurukshetra. The Pandavas later patronized him. He even accompanied Arjuna to Rajasuya Yagna. The Pandavas killed Vrishasen, Bhanusen, Sushen, and Satyasen during the Great War of Kurukshetra.

So, that’s all from us in this post on Mahabharat Karna Story and Family. We hope that you would have found the post interesting and full of information. Thanks for visiting. We welcome your comments and suggestions.

INTRODUCTION

The Mahabharata, is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India, the other being the Ramayana. With more than 74,000 verses, plus long prose passages, it is one of the longest epic poems in the world. It contains eighteen Parvas or sections, each containing many subsections.This wonderful epic was composed by sage Vyasa, who was the ancestor of the heroes of this legend. It has been called the national epic of India and is considered as the Hindu bible. The best scholarly evidence indicates that the earliest layers of the epic were composed between 2500 and 3000 years ago. The text had reached pretty much its present form by about 300-400 C.E.
There are great creation stories, favorite myths and fairy tales, jokes and a great number of codes of moral, ethical and natural law. But Mahabharata is not a mere random collection of tales. Every digressive bit of the Mahabharata is there to shed light on a central story. The core event of that story is the great battle that was fought on the field of Kurukshetra between Kauravas and Pandavas. The battle was the culmination of a long history of struggle and diplomatic maneuvering. In fact, it was a tragic war, that pitted brothers against brothers, sons against fathers and uncles, brave noble men against brave noble men. And it was so devastating that nearly all of the best men died in the long battle. The Pandavas survived, but there was no victory, for the war had destroyed the world.
According to Hindu philosophy Yuga is the name of an era within a cycle of four ages. They are the Krita Yuga, the Treta Yuga, the Dvapara Yuga, and finally the Kali Yuga. The story of the Mahabharata war has cosmological significance because it marks the end of Dvapara Yuga and the beginning of Kali Yuga. Apart from the extent of its vision, Mahabharata has a captivating plot and a compelling dramatic structure. Its characters are complex and real, with depth of personality that is unmatched in any other epical story. The Mahabharata is full of wisdom. Since the story has cosmic significance, its ultimate beginnings are lost in the mists of time and the minds of unknowable immensities; a wealth of family histories, myths, and fables lead up to the events that I will tell you about.

THE STORY OF MAHABHARATA

The epic is the story of the descendents of King Bharat; rather it is the story of ancient India. It revolves around the struggle for the throne of the kingdom of Hastinapura between two branches of the same family, the Kauravas and Pandavas. Pandu and Dhritarashtra were brothers. The Kauravas were collectively the hundred sons of the blind king Dhritarashtra and the Pandavas were the five sons of Pandu. Pandu died of a curse. After the death of King Pandu, his blind brother Dhritrashtra succeeded the throne. He brought up the five sons of Pandu.
The five brothers named Yudhisthira (eldest son), Arjuna, Bheema, Nakula and Sahdeva were always obedient and dutiful, which made them the most loved in the kingdom. Each of the Pandavas had a special virtue in them that made them stand apart from the rest of the world. The eldest son of Dhritrashtra, Duryodhana, became jealous of the virtuous Pandavas and planned to get rid of them. However the Pandavas escaped his devious plans and lived in the forest disguised as Brahmins.. However, Duryodhana and the rest of the world believed them to be dead.

Mahabharat Full Story In English

King Draupad proclamed to hold a Swayamvara for his daughter's marriage. Suitors including Duryodhana had gathered from all over India. The Pandavas too had gone there. Each suitor was required to bend a bow of enormous strength and hit a revolving small fish while watching only its shadow in boiling oil. Only Arjun, third of the Pandavas, could bent the bow and hit the target and Draupadi chose him as her husband. However as per their mother Kunti's wish it was decided that Draupadi would marry all the brothers together.Dhritrashtra and his son came to know that Pandavas were alive. On the advice of Bhishma, Dhritrashtra's uncle, half of the kingdom was resentfully handed over to Pandavas. Yudhishthira, the eldest brother of the Pandavas, was crowned king. Falling prey to Duryodhan's wicked plans, Yudhishthira played dice with him and lost his kingdom and went back to the forest with his brothers to live in exile for 12 years as per the condition. At the end of the exile Yudhishthira legitimately claimed for the return of his kingdom, but the selfish and greedy Duryodhana refused to relent. War became inevitable. Both sides wanted the help of Lord Krishna (a manifestation of God according to Hindus). 'Either you have my army or me alone; But I shall take no part in fighting,' Krishna offered both the same choice.
Duryodhana wanted to have the army but Arjuna chose Krishna, and asked him to be his personal charioteer. The battle was fought on the plane of Kurukshetra. Just before the commencement of the battle Arjuna had fallen into an illusion and refuses to fight against his own kin. Lord Krishna, who had been the sole advisor, guide and true friend of the virtuous Pandavas and helped them all through the time of anguish and distress, taught him the righteous nature of the Kurukshetra war and the need for him to fight the battle without hesitation. He imparted valuable and practical lessons of the great Indian epic, Bhagawad Gita. Arjuna heeded to Lord Krishna's advices and decided to fight.
The war lasted for only 18 days and the Pandavas won the battle. They ruled over Hastinapura for a number of years. It is said that Dhritarashtra and his wife retired into the forest to lead a life of an ascetic. Krishna is believed to leave around thirty six years after the battle. When the Pandavas felt that it was time to leave this earth, they all set out on a journey towards the North on foot. It is said that the gates of Heaven were open for them on the northern horizon.

MAHABHARATA AS A WORK IN PROGRESS

There are 'hundreds of Mahabharata, hundreds of different manuscripts and innumerable oral versions'. The Mahabharata is a story which is constantly retold and rewritten. When it moved from 'one storyteller to another, new tales were added, tales of ancestors and descendants, of teachers and students'. Each of them, while remaining faithful to the central story line, interprets the events and the morals drawn from it, in his own way, to suit the ethos of his time and region. Successive generations have added their own philosophical and metaphysical insights; their knowledge of genealogy, history, geography, politics, economics; their understanding of science and technology etc. This is reason why Mahabharata is called 'a work in progress'.

Mahabharat Full Story In Hindi

Mahabharata describes itself an all-inclusive text which is unlimited in both time and space. It unmistakenly states this in the following line: 'Poets have told it before, and are telling it now, and will tell it again. What is here is also found elsewhere, but what is not here is found nowhere else.'

TEACHINGS OF MAHABHARATA

Mahabharat Full Story Pdf In Hindi

Satya (Truth) and Dharma (righteousness) are the core teachings of Mahabharata. Through its innumerable and detailed narratives, it tries to create moral awakening among mankind and drives home the need to do good deeds, practise dharma, cultivate dispassion and refrain from indulging in evil deeds by realising the illusory nature of this universe. Even in the most excruciating circumstances, it urges everyone to stick resolutely to the path of dharma which practice will lead to attainment of 'fame, prosperity, long life, eternal bliss, everlasting peace and immortality.'

Mahabharat Story Pdf