Vrushali, also spelled Vrishali, is a Hindu female first name. The name is mentioned in the ancient Mahabharata epic as the wife of famed warrior Karna.
Very little known is known about Vrushali, except that she was from the charioteer caste and chosen by Karna's adoptive father Adhiratha, also of the same caste. According to the Udyoga Parva Bhagavatayana, in shloka #1011, where Karna declines Lord Krishna's offer to defect from Duryodhana's camp, the warrior states :
Naama vai vasusheneti kaarayaamaasa maadhava I
Bhaaryaashchoda mama praapte yauvane tatparichhaat II
Unfortunately, M.N. Dutt's Mahabharata translation has been incorrectly rephrased as "On attaining my youth too did I marry wives according to his choice." Grammatically speaking however, the word "bhaaryaa" in Sanskrit means "the wife" or "one of the wives".
In addition, in the Stree Parva's Jalapradanikaparva, when Gandhari laments the massacre on the battlefield, she devotes four lengthier shlokas (#10, #11, #12, and #14) to one sole woman whom she identifies as Karna's wife, albeit with no name. Gandhari does state the names of the couple's two sons, Vrishasena and Sushena.
Although the names Supriya and Prabhavati have recently surfaced on the internet as possible co-wives of Karna, they appear nowhere in any reputed translation of the Mahabharata. Interestingly, a far later version of Karna's story appears in Tamil literature, where the wife is named Ponnaruvi. Since Karna was crowned king of the Anga province by his emperor and best friend Duryodhana, and both Anga andHastinapura are in North India, it is unlikely that members of this Sanskrit-speaking area would give their children Dravidian names.
my reply:
i think the multiple wives theory is a more recent one, not from vyasa. i'm still readin but only heard about vrushali from MB. supriya was added by Shivaji Sawant sir in his 'Mrityunjaya'. if i remember correctly, in the novel itself it is said that supriya will be an identical 1 to the name subhadra as panchali & vrushali ! prabhavati, i think, was BRC MB creation. do correct me if i'm wrong. i read 'Mrityunjaya' as well as the MB from drauapdi's point of view (forgot the name, was it YAANJASENI ?)some yrs back, i do not own these books but i got it from library😳. then about ponnuruvi, i also heard is from Tamil folklore. i think kane, the author of the book Karna's wife (THE OUTCAST'S QUEEN right), got the name Uruvi from the same above said folklore...
BY THE WAY, IN MALAYALAM ALSO 'BHAARYAA' MEANS WIFE😊.
