Arjuna and karna in war: Wikimedia
Before the Kunti, princess of the Kunti Kingdom, was married to Pandu she was given a great gift from the sage Durvasa. The mantra given would allow her to ask any deity to give her a child. Being curious she invoked the mantra to call upon the god of the sun, Surya. Kunti was given a son named Karna. She realized this was dangerous as she was still unmarried yet had a son. This lead her to send her son down a river in a basket. He was found by a charioteer and raised by him and his wife.
Karna was trained by the king of the Hastinapur after convicting him that he was a Brahmin. The king acknowledge him as an equal in combat. However, the king found out Karna was lying. Karna was cursed to lose his knowledge of Brahmastra, a divine weapon, when against a weaker opponent. He was cursed once again by Brahmin for killing a cow. This curse would have Karna die helpless as the cow he killed.
Karna on his journeys found his way to a tournament. He was amazed by an archer named Arjuna. However, Karna knew his own skills surpassed Arjuna. Karna wished to challenge him with the blessing of Drona, the guru of the Kauravas and Pandavas. Drona agreed to let Karna display his skill as Arjuna had. Karna performed every feat that Arjuna had and won the crowds support.
Arjuna annoyed refused Karna challenge has he was only the son of a charioteer. Duryodhana seeing an ally made Karna king of Anga, so that he may fight. Arjuna now feeling he must fight agreed to the dual. This however made Kunti make a heartfelt plea for them not to kill each other. Both Karna and Arjuna were bewildered. Arjuna even felt his own mother doubted him. Karna agreed to Kunti request, while Arjuna merely nodded his head looking at his mother. The fight ended as soon as it started with Karna having an arrow though his right shoulder and Arjuna with a gash on his leg. Both worrying that they would kill each other reluctantly agreed to a draw. Karna went with the Kauravas and Arjuna with his brothers.
Karna was trained by the king of the Hastinapur after convicting him that he was a Brahmin. The king acknowledge him as an equal in combat. However, the king found out Karna was lying. Karna was cursed to lose his knowledge of Brahmastra, a divine weapon, when against a weaker opponent. He was cursed once again by Brahmin for killing a cow. This curse would have Karna die helpless as the cow he killed.
Karna on his journeys found his way to a tournament. He was amazed by an archer named Arjuna. However, Karna knew his own skills surpassed Arjuna. Karna wished to challenge him with the blessing of Drona, the guru of the Kauravas and Pandavas. Drona agreed to let Karna display his skill as Arjuna had. Karna performed every feat that Arjuna had and won the crowds support.
Arjuna annoyed refused Karna challenge has he was only the son of a charioteer. Duryodhana seeing an ally made Karna king of Anga, so that he may fight. Arjuna now feeling he must fight agreed to the dual. This however made Kunti make a heartfelt plea for them not to kill each other. Both Karna and Arjuna were bewildered. Arjuna even felt his own mother doubted him. Karna agreed to Kunti request, while Arjuna merely nodded his head looking at his mother. The fight ended as soon as it started with Karna having an arrow though his right shoulder and Arjuna with a gash on his leg. Both worrying that they would kill each other reluctantly agreed to a draw. Karna went with the Kauravas and Arjuna with his brothers.
Writer’s Note:
Before reading the Mahabharata I knew Karna was considered the god of charity. I was curious about him, so I did a little more research on him and wrote a story about him. It is mostly based on “The Arrival of Karna”, but I added some more about his childbirth. I found it amusing that Duryodhana welcomed Karna as a brother. Whereas Arjuna was hostile to him and they do have the same mother. The only change I really make was Karna and Arjuna did have a fight.
Bibliography:
PDE Mahabharata: The Arrival of Karna
Wikipedia
Hey Jonathan!
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading your story “The arrival of Karna.” I liked how you added more detail about Karna’s childbirth into your story. I also thought it was cool that you had Karna and Arjuna actually have a fight. I think that made your story really interesting. Overall, I think you did a great job on your story and I can’t wait to see what you come up with next!
Hi Jonathan! I also wrote about Karna. His relationship with Arjuna was so odd, and I really wanted to fix it. I see that you also found it ironic that Karna was rejected by his own brother, but taken in by someone else. Was the bit about the training and curse from your research? Or did you make this up? You might want to clarify this in your author's note. Nice job!
ReplyDeleteHey again Jonathan. It was nice to have all the information about Karna in one place. The way you wrote this brought all the details of his life up to the fight together in a nice way. I am happy you had Karna and Arjuna fight in your story. It adds a nice bit of tension and gives more detail of their weird relationship. Nice work.
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