Karna - Part 2 of Mahabharata Series

One character i loved since my childhood... note the past tense...

that being said, lemme quote something Nachi said today...
there are certain things that i do like about him...kind of idolized him as a kid. but then, the Mahabharata was all about the particular situation...a general holistic view gives a much different interpretation... he pretty much was the 'standard' for principles and morality...

 i go with Nachi completely... as a whole person i love Karna for his principles, for his ever lasting friendship with Duryodhana, for his generous heart... but wen i take smaller incidents here and there, it hurts to know no one is perfect... 
i feel,he brought his own downfall and death... Karna did everything to learn things, he gets equally cursed by everyone... first he disguises as a Brahman to learn from the reverent guru Parashuram, only to be cursed that he won't remember whatever he had learnt at the most crucial moment of need... but here i laud his patience and tolerance for such excruciating pain..not everyone is capable of this... 
then is the curse by a Brahman for killing a helpless cow... and finally the curse from the Goddess Earth.. but i find the last curse pretty ridiculous... ain't we are all taught that Earth is the epitome of patience.. wen she can tolerate millions of humans, animals and machine stomping over her , she cudnt withstand Karna taking her in his hand for a little girl's sake.. *&^%$ OUCH!! one version says Lord Krishna instructs Goddess Earth to swallow his left wheel during the war... I think i ll go with this version...
one thing i clearly couldn't digest was calling Panchaali as an whore during the cheer-haran... wat more, ordering her cheer-haran in front of the whole court... seriously!! this was the prime thing that turned me against Karna...  Nachi says "well Karna is sort of in a dilemma... should he stick to his principles and morality or step in and object...his sense of loyalty to Duryodhana absolute, him being the only man to accept him and laud him for who he was, a charioteer's son...and still make him a king...".. but that gives him no right to order a woman to be stripped in public...like hell, it doesn't... Piyu says "thats why he was shown no mercy from Lord Krishna in the final battle".. wah wah!!
Nachi says again "Remember she is the same woman he had fair and square won the hand in marriage by shooting the fish but rejected by her"... Rejection demands such a punishment huh?? i don't think so..
As the war approaches Karna goes on a charity spree and is justified that at the end of the day, your good deeds are ur life savior... ummm.. i ll give him the benefit of doubt here... but seriously...
two things i love abt Karna is his friendship with Duryodhana thru thick and thin and his loyalty to his adopted parents Adhiratha and Radha.. his firmness in calling himself Radheya when Kunthi asks him to represent himself as Kaunteya was applaudable..
Ok fine.. i accept i am presently arguing with myself if i like Karna or not... but as i say always no one can be classified as a good or bad person.. its the situations that make them good or bad.. :-)
Coming up next is a post on My Karna...My Zahir...a person who i love more than anything in this world whose life is very much similar to Karna... only hitch there was no Rat in Karna's life :-P

55 comments:

Anonymous said...

Love this Mahabharatha series ! keep 'em coming...

as for Karna,as a kid watching mahabharath on TV Arjuna was my ultimate hero ! he was da dude ! but with time I've realised Karna is the dude who had it all stacked against him... dont you think one has to blame Kunti here for playing with the boon and having to abandon him as a child ? ;)
or would you not like me pinning the blame on another woman :) !
well lets not forget Arjuna's daddy-o had to trick karna into giving up his armor and kuntis promise, and yes the version I read has Krishna causing the mud-wheel thingy !
the only thing he did wrong was to order that thing to, well technically his wife-sis in law,but then the pandavas had gambled her away and yet they didnt have to pay for that did they? hmm... unfair odds I tellya !

Nachi said...

no, nothing calls for Karna being justified for calling Draupadi a whore...

...but then again, not always are we able to maintain our composure and keep a check on our tongues, are we? from being ostracized as a charioteer's son despite being Kunti's first born; to being taunted and denied education; to being ridiculed when he had proven his mettle fair and square; to being rejected by the one he had fought (competed for) and once again proven his worth only to have her accept not just one but five others; to having a God come beg away his power for his arch nemesis; to having to concede to a mother who had abandoned him and had come back only to demand the safety of her other loved sons...

...i agree with Arun that the stacks couldn't be further loaded against him. but in all his triumphs and his ultimate downfall, Karna for me is the ultimate Kafkaesque 'K'...never knowing 'Why'? always questioning 'Why'? and in the end paying a price for simply being himself. a deeply flawed man who simply sought acceptance and instead found a sham of principles and morals that condemned him to his death.

Arv said...

well... he certainly was some character... but it shows us that no matter how good one person is, it doesnt really help unless he is on the right side :)

take care... cheers...

Anonymous said...

thanks for sharing this with us Rat.. an interesting read...

Saim said...

its d situations really...Karna was aman of principles and one mistake does not wash away all tht...n me wud pick Karna anyday over Arjun.

Anonymous said...

interesting read!
This series bring sto fore your viewpoint in a very vry explainable manner!
Thank you for this perspective:)
I read the last post that I missed too.
Keep it coming...
and waiting for your next post on Zahir

Anonymous said...

Raty do you really think Mahabharta and Ramayna actually happened or these are just great epic stories???

Keshi said...

ty for ur email today Rat!

I can see ur rolling beautifully, just the way u r and still hvn loads of fun :) Good on ya and hey keep it up!

*HUGZ*
Keshi.

Ratzzz said...

@ Arun...

wen i ranted abt Bheesma blaming everything on women, i was talking just abt him.. i haven't dissected Kunthi, Gandhari or the mighty ol' Paanchaali yet.. (more to come)

and Pandavas did more un-forgivable things than the Kuru clan put together... i am not reserving my opinions on anyone .. only thing is i am choosing to individual posts on each character..

sighzzz... ain't i love doing this Series too..

Ratzzz said...

@ Nachi..

as i said b4 i love Karna except for that Dice scene part... everything went against him right from his birth and mind u it was never his mistake...

i hold Karna close to my heart as i see a real life person in him...

Ratzzz said...

@ Arv..

Exactly.. its the side u take which ultimately boosts ur glory..

but seriously speaking , i Don't think Padavas wr the right side either...

Ratzzz said...

@ orchid..

oww.. tx dear.. plz keep reading i intend to continue this till i am exhausted of epic characters

Anonymous said...

I am watching you!!!!

Ratzzz said...

@ Raka..

Whore??? no... never... i wud kick anyone n everyone who says that

Ratzzz said...

@ CN..

i never liked arjuna.period...

Ratzzz said...

@ Mithe..

soon, dear soon... i need the next post to get something out my system... :-)

Ratzzz said...

@ Mann..

i don't care if this was a Splitsvilla season 0 or some random fragment of Vyasa's imagination... but the point is "if it's there, y shudnt i introspect abt it"

Ratzzz said...

@ Keshi

oi Girlie... hugzz... missing u arnd

Ratzzz said...

@ Mann

Keep it on... i am reminded of a Bollywood song " i'm watching u"

The Furobiker said...

dun remember the story in so detail. I used to watch it years ago when i was a little kid.

Why r u taking it so seriously, it was just another story.

Kabhi ajkal ke Kekta kapoor Kserials nahi dekhe?

Ratzzz said...

@ abi..

i never watched that serial nor do i watch any of the Ekta kapoor Soaps... apne per mein khudh kulaatti maarna kaun chahega?? :-P

just another story is fodder to me!!! :-P

essel1 said...

Lovely summary. I am a hindu living in Karachi, Pakistan and have read the mahabarat many times , have even watched it a couple of times on dvd's. Karna was one of the major figures of the Mahabarat, but he commited one more major sin in addition to calling Drupadi a whore,,,that was the killing of Arjun's son Abhimanyu. I hope to read more of your blogs in the future...kind rgds....Sachal Lakhwani

Anonymous said...

Karan has always been my favorite and I also agree that how he behaved with Draupadi was unforgivable - wrath of a man scorn'd - we see men throwing acid today because a woman rejected them? It seems some things don't change.

And then I read Panchali's Mahabharata - this one is by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni. In this one Panchali has a crush on Karan and with good reason to. She has explained the chir-haran scene (changed it a little too) - won't spoil it for you but I recommend you read it - I had also felt that his courage in letting a teacher sleep should have been rewarded not cursed! That was a bad example for teachers today ;) They aren't much better :)

Anonymous said...

i am fully agree with you

dhiru said...

as i will clarify all of u that karna never said whore to panchali actually u people talking like this u dont have real knowledge of karna character. but this is not ur fualts what u had seen in BR chopra mahabharta u are thinking from that angle.
i would like to advise all of u that if u really want to analyse the character of karna pl read the book of renowned hindi Luereate RAMDHARI SHING DINKAR's Danveer KARNA than u get to know how great he was.

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