Karṇa
Sign in to saveAlso known as Vaikartana, Vasuṣeṇa, Rādheya, Sūtaputra, Aṅgarāja, Sūryaputra, Dānavīra, Kaunteya
Karna (Sanskrit: कर्णः, IAST: Karṇa), also known as Vasusena, Anga-Raja, Sutaputra and Radheya, is one of the major characters in the Hindu epic Mahābhārata. He is the spiritual son of Surya (the solar deity) and princess Kunti (later the Pandava queen). His birth occurred after Kunti invoked a divine boon to test its power in her youth; fearing societal stigma over her premarital motherhood, she is forced to abandon the infant in a basket on the Ganges. He is discovered and fostered by Radha and Adhiratha Nandana, the sūta (charioteer) of King Dhritarashtra. Karna grows up to be an accomplish
Key facts
- Character.image
- Karna in Kurukshetra.jpg
- Character.image_size
- 250px
- Character.alt
- Karna
- Character.info hdr
- Information
- Character.caption
- Karna seated on a chariot during Kurukshetra War, Pahari painting, c. 1820
- Character.children
- Vrishasena, Sushena, Vrishaketu and other sons
- Character.aliases
- Vasusena, Angaraja, Radheya
- Character.title
- King of Anga
- Character.gender
- Male
- Character.weapon
- Vijaya (bow) and arrows
- Character.spouses
- Unnamed Sūta women
via Wikipedia infobox
Wikidata facts
- Image
- Karna in Kurukshetra.jpg
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- Commons category
- Karna
Sources (1)
via Wikidata · CC0
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Article
26 sectionsContents
- Nomenclature and epithets
- Mythology and sources: Mahābhārata
- Manuscripts, many versions
- Biography
- Birth and early life
- Relationship with Duryodhana
- Conquests and defeats
- Hostilities with the Pandavas
- Discovery of his biological mother
- Role in Kurukshetra War
- Death
- Marital life
- Themes and symbolism
- Vedic and Indo-European parallelism
- Dharma-ethics
- Circumstances and subjective morality
- Human behaviour
- Flawed, tragic hero
- Secondary literature
- Literature
- In popular culture
- Film and television
- Notes
- References
- Bibliography
- External links
Karna (Sanskrit: कर्णः, IAST: Karṇa), also known as Vasusena, Anga-Raja, Sutaputra and Radheya, is one of the major characters in the Hindu epic Mahābhārata. He is the spiritual son of Surya (the solar deity) and princess Kunti (later the Pandava queen). His birth occurred after Kunti invoked a divine boon to test its power in her youth; fearing societal stigma over her premarital motherhood, she is forced to abandon the infant in a basket on the Ganges. He is discovered and fostered by Radha and Adhiratha Nandana, the sūta (charioteer) of King Dhritarashtra. Karna grows up to be an accomplished warrior of extraordinary abilities, and a gifted speaker. He becomes a loyal friend of Duryodhana, and is appointed the king of Anga (Bihar-Bengal) by the prince. Karna joins the Kaurava side of the Kurukshetra War, and is ultimately slain by Arjuna.
He is a tragic hero in the Mahabharata, in a manner similar to Aristotle's literary category of "flawed good man". He meets his biological mother late in the epic then discovers that he is the older half-brother of those he is fighting against. Karna is a symbol of someone who is rejected by those who should love him but do not given the circumstances, yet becomes a man of exceptional abilities willing to give his love and life as a loyal friend. His character is developed in the epic to raise and discuss major emotional and dharma (duty, ethics, moral) dilemmas. His story has inspired many secondary works, poetry and dramatic plays in the Hindu arts tradition, both in India and in southeast Asia.