Duryodhana, the epic’s antagonist. While
at court, Karna begins a lifelong conflict
with Arjuna, one of the five Pandava
brothers. Arjuna’s comments about
Karna’s unknown parentage are meant to
deny Karna the recognition he deserves
as Arjuna’s equal. As do all the princes,
Karna studies withDrona, the archery
master. When Drona refuses to teach
Karna the secret of the Brahmaweapon
Karna wants to use to kill Arjuna, Karna
goes to the sage Parashuram avatarfor
this instruction. He presents himself as a
brahmin, since Parashuram hates the
kshatriya(ruling) class and refuses to
accept any of them as students.
Parashuram teaches Karna all that he
wants to know. During this period, howev-
er, Karna receives two curses that ulti-
mately determine his fate. Karna kills a
brahmin’s cow, so the brahmin curses him
to have his chariot wheel stick in the mud
and be killed upon it by his enemy. The
second curse comes from Parashuram.
One day as Parashuram sleeps with his
head in Karna’s lap, a beetle bores into
Karna’s thigh, which in the epic is a
euphemism for the genitals. Despite the
pain and blood, Karna remains still so he
will not disturb his sleeping guru. When
Parashuram awakens, he realizes that
Karna’s tolerance for pain means that he is
a kshatriya, thus Karna has gained instruc-
tion under false pretenses. Parashuram
curses Karna that at the critical moment,
he will forget everything he has learned.
Both of these curses eventually come true;
despite fighting with great valor in the
Mahabharata war, Karna is killed by
Arjuna when the wheel of his chariot is
stuck in the mud.
On the eve of the great war, Karna’s
mother, Kunti, comes to him and reveals
his true identity and implores him to
return and fight alongside his brothers.
Karna refuses, saying that things have
gone too far for such measures, but
promises Kunti that he will not harm
any of his brothers except for Arjuna,
whom he has sworn to kill. In his deci-
sion Karna is also bound by his loyalty to
Duryodhana, whose friendship and
support for many years overrides any
obligation to a family he has just discov-
ered. As a man willing to stand by his
friends and his principles, even in a
cause he knows to be flawed, Karna
endures as one of the tragic heroes of
the Mahabharata.Karnaprayag
Himalayan town and sacred site (tirtha)
at the confluence of the Alakananda
and Pindara rivers, in the Chamoli dis-
trict of the state of Uttar Pradesh. As
with all the other river junctions in the
Garhwalregion, this is considered an
especially holy place. Local tradition
ascribes the site’s name to the
Mahabharata hero Karna, who is
believed to have worshiped the sun
at this place. In return he received a
suit of armor that could not be pierced
and a quiver of arrows that could
never be exhausted.Karnata
Southern Indian brahmins who make
up one of the five southern brahmin
communities (Pancha Dravida); the
other four are Gujarati, Maharashtri,
Andhra, and Dravida. The core region
for the Karnata brahmins is the modern
state of Karnataka.Karnataka
One of the four southern Indian states,
whose inhabitants speak a Dravidianlan-
guage, in this case Kannada. Karnataka is
one of the “linguistic” states formed after
India’s independence in 1947, intended to
unite people with a common language and
culture under one state government. The
state was largely formed from the former
kingdom of Mysore. In medieval times,
Karnataka was the seat of important
Hindu kingdoms, particularly the Hoysala
and Vijayanagardynasties; these dynas-
ties built cities at Belur, Halebid, and
Hampi, which are now important archeo-
logical sites. Karnataka is also the home of
the Lingayats, devotees (bhakta) of Shiva,
whose missionary work eventually
squeezed out the thriving Jain community.Karnataka