something interesting from fb! don't know whether its correct thread to ppst or not! if not move it to correct thread
Udyoga Parva: Who is a Son? (Revised and
edited)
Krishna said to Karna that by sastras he is
Kanina putra and hence morally son of Pandu
and can inherit the throne.
The sastras actually does not say it. It was
Krishna's half-truth.
Karna was the Kanina son of Pandu but he is
not the son of Pandu and neither was he a
Kuru heir. This is as per the same Sastras
which Karna also cites as his reason for not
joining with Pandavas.
Bhishma mentioned in Chapter 49 of
Anushasana parva, what are sons and what
are heirs.
'The son of one's loins is regarded as one's
own self.
The son that is begotten upon one's wife by
a person whom one has invited for the task,
is called Niruktaja. (Aka Pandavas, Svetaketu)
The son that is begotten upon one's wife by
somebody without one's permission, is
Prasritaja. (e.g. Iravan, Galava Babhruvya,
Kamsa)
The son begotten upon his own wife by a
person fallen away from his status is called
Patitaja. (Eklavya, Kichaka)
There are two other sons, viz., the son
given, and the son made. (example Kripa)
There is another called Adhyudha.
The son born of a maiden in her father's
house and raised there is called Kanina.
Besides these, there are six kinds of sons
called Apadhwansaja and six others that are
Apasadas.
These are the several kinds of sons
mentioned in the scriptures.
"Yudhishthira said, 'Some say that one's son
is he that is born in one's soil. Some, on the
other hand, say that one's son is he who has
been begotten from one's seed. Are both
these kinds of sons equal? Who, again, is the
son to be? Do thou tell me this, O grandsire!
"Bhishma said, 'His is the son from whose
seed he has sprung. If, however, the owner
of the seed abandons the son born of it,
such a son then becomes his upon whose
spouse he has been begotten. The same rule
applies to the son called Adhyudha. He
belongs to the person from whose seed he
has taken his birth. If, however, the owner
of the seed abandons him, he becomes the
son of the person who raised him. Know that
even this is what the law declares.'
Well one can argue that Surya never
abandoned the son so he is never Pandu's
(Same can be said of Pandavas especially
Arjuna whose father was present and active).
Pandu abandoned Karna so Karna is not his
son. (of course Pandu never knew of him, so
Kunti acting on her future husband's behalf
abandons him. Same arguments apply for
Veda Vyasa).
"Yudhishthira said, 'We know that the son
becomes his from whose seed he has taken
birth. Whence does the husband of the
woman that brings forth the son derive his
right to the latter? Similarly, the son called
Adhyudha should be known to be the son of
him from whose seed he has sprung. How
can they be sons of others by reasons of the
engagement about owning and rearing them
having been broken?'
"Bhishma said, 'He who having begotten a
son of his own loins, abandons him for some
reason or other, cannot be regarded as the
sire of such a son, for vital seed only cannot
create sonship. Such a son must be held to
belong to the person who owns the soil.
When a man, desiring to have a son, weds a
girl quick with child, the son born of his
spouse must belong to him, for it is the fruit
of his own soil. The person from whose vital
seed the son has sprung can have no right to
such a son.' (Surya and Indra have no rights
to their sons).
As regards the son made, he is sometimes
regarded as the child of the person who has
made him a son and so brings him up. In his
case, neither the vital seed of which he is
born nor the soil in which he is born,
becomes the cause of sonship.' (Adiratha is
the father of Karna and so is Pandu the
father of Pandavas by this definition.)
"Yudhishthira said, 'What kind of a son is
that who is said to be a made son and whose
sonship arises from the fact of his being
taken and brought up and in whose case
neither the vital seed nor the soil of birth, O
Bharata, is regarded as the cause of
sonship?'
"Bhishma said, 'When a person takes up and
rears a son that has been cast off on the
road (or in the river in certain case) by his
father or mother, and when the person thus
taking and rearing him fails to find out his
parents after search, he becomes the father
of such a son and the latter becomes what is
called his made son. Not having anybody to
own him, he becomes owned by him who
brings him up. Such a son, again, comes to
be regarded as belonging to that order to
which his owner or rearer belongs.'
This is exactly what Karna also told Krishna
while declining. Karna knew of his real birth
from early on and he knew the law as well as
Krishna. Pandu's Kanina but abandoned son,
Karna knew that he is "Made" son of Adiratha
and would give him Pind rather to Pandu. In
no circumstance would Karna be considered
heir to the throne or heir to Vichitravirya. So
even if Karna joins his uterine brothers, he
will be a son of Adiratha in Pandava camp
like he is son of Adiratha in Kaurava camp
now. Krishna was just trying to weaken his
resolve to fight for Kauravas. Bheeshma also
knew Karna was kanina son of Kunti and that
Karna also knew this fact. He approached
Karna in different way to force Karna to quit
the War. As results bear out, Bheeshma was
more successful than Krishna. By the way,
Adiratha was also a Kaurava and Bharata so
Karna would be a Kuru or Bharata regardless
of whether Kunti claims him or not.
(Then in Anushasana parva, Yudhisthara asks
how to conduct Karna's last rites and ranks
they can accord his widows and children.)
"Yudhishthira said, How should the
purificatory rites of such a person be
performed? In whose case what sort of rites
are to be performed? With what girl should
he be wedded? Do thou tell me all this, O
grandsire!"
"Bhishma said, 'The rites of purification
touching such a son should be performed
conformably to the usage of the person
himself that raises him, for, cast off by his
parents, such a son obtains the order of the
person that takes him and brings him up.
Indeed, O thou of unfading glory, the rearer
should perform all the purificatory rites with
respect to such a son according to the
practices of the rearer's own race and
kinsmen. As regards the girl also, that should
be bestowed in marriage upon such a son,
who belongs to the order of the rearer
himself."
So as per Bheeshma, Karna is son of Adiratha
(and Karna agreed to this in Udyoga Parva
chapter 141, these two seldom agreed on
anything!).
Cricket
