The Life of Karna

Have you ever had one of those lives in which you just can’t seem to win? I was born the son of the sun god and a chief rani. I should have had a fantastic life.  Don’t get me wrong, I loved the way I grew up.  My adopted parents may have been low-caste, but they were good to me and loved me with all their hearts.  They taught me how to care for others, to care for myself, and to always remember where I came from, both as their son and the son of royalty and gods. 

When I was a child, I learned how to fire a bow with deadly accuracy.  I spent years practicing until I could split hairs at a hundred yards.  At this time, my father revealed to me the gifts that I was found with: golden armor and celestial earrings.  He also gave me a gift he had bought himself: a many colored bow that he had spent years saving money for. It must have cost him a small fortune and it meant the world to me.

He then told me that I had to leave home to find my blood family.  And so I left, travelling from city to city, in search of the woman who was my mother. My father told me she would recognize me when she was me from my armor and earrings.  Eventually, I came upon a tournament, and almost immediately, I heard a woman cry out.  Kunti, the mother and aunt of the princes that were in the midst of a tournament, had recognized me.  I knew that I had to prove me prowess and claim my birthright as a prince, so I challenged the current champion, Arjuna.  One side of the arena, who I would later learn were the Kauravas, the sons of Dhritarashtra, and the cousins of the Pandavas.  They were also assholes, but hey, they were supporting me, which was new.  I’d always been an outcast as the highborn son of a low caste family. They accepted me into their family.

Over the years, I began to realize just how stupid and crazy the Kauravas were.  They spent every hour of every day trying to destroy the Pandavas.  I tried to thwart their plans as often as possible, but there was one plan that I couldn’t stop and it was the deadliest plan of them all.  Duryodhana was an evil man and he wanted to see all the Pandavas dead, including their mother (and mine).  He built a palace for the Pandavas that was soaked in oil, and then burnt it down while they were sleeping.  Everyone thought they were dead and I was stuck with these morons for life.  Honestly, Arjuna and I may not have gotten off on the best of terms, but we were still brothers.  If I had to choose again, I would definitely have sided with the Pandavas, even if they hated me for challenging Arjuna.

Several years passed, and I spent my time looking for a wife.  I was searching for a woman who would accept my apparent humble beginnings, even if I had the blood of Kunti and a god running through my veins.  It seemed like being raised by charioteers would haunt me for the rest of my life.  I had been accepted into the royal household as an equal, but no woman could look past my adopted parent’s caste. 

Eventually, a woman named Draupadi’s swayamwara came around.  It was said that she would wed the man who could draw a special bow and bring down the golden fish.  I knew that I could do this and win her for my wife.  She would have to accept my birthright as a prince, even if I was the adopted son of a charioteer.

I showed up at the swayamwara and watched many a rajah try and fail to so much as string the bow.  There were even men lying on the ground moaning and groaning from trying to string it while the crowd laughed at them. Finally, I grew tired of the pathetic show and stepped forward, hoping to end the misery of us all.  I easily strung the bow and tested the bowstring.  It seemed like it would hold so stepped forward to pick up an arrow. 

As I took aim, a voice cried out. Draupadi, the woman who claimed that she would accept the champion as her lord, proclaimed, “I am a king's daughter, and will not wed with the base-born.” She publicly embarrassed me because of how I was raised, despite my royal blood.  I would never be ashamed of my parents, but she publicly humiliated me.  I gave her a bitter smile, despite the anger that I felt rising inside me.  I started to stalk away, but out of spite, I shouted to the sky, “O Sun! Be my witness that I cast aside the bow, not because I am unable to hit the mark, but because Draupadi scorns me.”

I just hoped that the Kauravas didn’t catch wind of this.  I was humiliated and they would take any chance they could to rub it in my face.  Honestly, what had I done to deserve this life? Was I that horrible in my last life? Vishnu, but I wished Arjuna and the Pandavas were still alive. 

Author’s Note:

I chose to write about the life of Karna as we’ve seen it so far.  I liked the idea of his character, as he kind of reminded me of Lakshmana. We’ve just seen little bits about him so far, throughout the epic as we learn the story of the Pandavas, so I thought it would be fun to tell his side of the story.    I gave some short summaries of the stories we’ve read so far and included some commentary of my own.  We met him during the tournament between the Pandavas and the Kauravas, when he enters and challenges Arjuna.  He is supported by the Kauravas and was welcomed into their fold.  We meet him again at Draupadi’s swayamwara, during which he is completely humiliated by her and Arjuna ends up winning her hand.  I also gave a glimpse into his life before entering the story of as an adult.  I just wanted to give him a little more depth as a character since he intrigued me while I was reading. 

Bibliography: Indian Myth and Legend by Donald Mackenzie (1913). PDE Mahabharata. 

Image Info: Chariot. Source: Pixabay