So many opinions from the Karna person and very few facts!
• Karna was a lower caste boy. Wrong!
Karna's adoptive father, Athiratha, was of Suta caste which is an intercaste of Kshatriya father and Brahmin mother.
NOTE: SUTA ≠ SHUDRA
http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/manu/manu10.htm
• Sutas could only dive chariots. Wrong!
Suta were story tellers (Ugrasrava), charioteers (Adhirath), ministers (Sanjaya), generals (Keechak), queens (Sudeshna - queen of Matsya), kings (Anga was ruled by Suta descended from Suta king Vijaya). They were free to choose an occupation that interested them.
Santi Parva: Rajadharmanusasana Parva: Section II
• His adoptive father was a charioteer. Wrong!
Athiratha was a prince of the Ikshvaku dynasty, descended from Dasharath. He might have been king, I think, of Anga
chitra-ratha's son is → dasha-ratha … whose daughter is shAnta, who is given to the son of sage vibhANDaka, namely sage R^ishya- shR^i~Nga; dasha-ratha’s son is → catura~Nga whose descent is at the grace of sage R^ishya- shR^i~Nga, who conducted a vedic ritual called putra-kAmeShTi on behalf of dasha-ratha to effectuate the birth of chatura~na; from chatura~Nga → pR^ithula-akSha → champa; this king champa’s capital is champA-puri, aka mAlini-puri; he begot one prince called harya~Nga
...
This is the patriline from harya~Nga → bR^ihat-karmA → bR^ihad-darbha → bR^ihat-manAH → jayadratha →
...
O king janamejaya, king jayadratha is born of lady yashodevi. And from lady satya is born the celebrated king vijaya, who by his equanimity of mind and other qualities is superior to the brAhmaNa-s and by heroism and other accomplishments, is superior to the kshatriya-s...
vijaya's son is dhR^iti whose son is dhR^ita-vrata. His son is the highly illustrious satya-karma...
The son of satya-vrata through a brAhmaNa lady is a sUta - because of the rule: brAhmaNyAm kshatriya jAtaH sUta iti abhidhIyate -
and this mighty chariot-warrior draws the suffix of ratha in his name from the very same dynasty of kshatriya-s with –ratha suffix, and he is called athi-ratha, who later adopted the son of lady kunti, namely karNa as his son. It is therefore karNa is called the son of a charioteer... the family of the highly powerful karNa has thus been described. karNa's son is vR^iSha-sena whose son is vR^iSha...
http://mahabharata-resources.org/harivamsa/hv_1_31.html
the child contained in the basket came to the city of Champa ruled by a person of the Suta tribe. Indeed, the excellent coat of mail and those ear-rings made of Amrita
http://ancientvoice.wikidot.com/src-mbh-03:section-306
Vaisampayana said, And it came to pass that at this time a Suta named Adhiratha, who was a friend of Dhritarashtra, came to the river Ganga, accompanied by his wife. And, O king, his wife named Radha was unparalleled on earth for beauty. And although that
http://ancientvoice.wikidot.com/src-mbh-03:section-307
• He was poor, Wrong!
His given name was Vasusena, which means “rich,” because he was rich. When Kunti sent him off on his boat ride, he was loaded with valuable stuff.
Then the well-known husband of Radha, of the Suta caste, took up the child thus cast into the water, and he and his wife brought him up as their own son.And Radha and her husband bestowed on him the name of Vasusena born with wealth because he was born with a natural armour and ear-rings.
http://ancientvoice.wikidot.com/src-mbh-01:section-111
• So how did Athiratha become Dhritharashtra’s charioteer?
After Pandu married Kunti, he starts on his Digvijay. He reaches Madradesh and marries Madri, installs her in Hastinapuri.
Then he continues on his campaign. Now, Anga/Chapa/Malini is not mentioned in his campaign, but the image shows how close he got.
http://ancientvoice.wdfiles.com/local--files/travel:pandu-s-travels/PandusMilitaryExpedition.jpg
And we know from the Rangbhumi episode, Anga was under Hastinapuri. Malini was later donated to Karna by Jarasandh, so that part was definitely annexed by him.
The following link shows what a BRUTAL conqueror Pandu was. He slaughtered the royalty of every kingdom captured by him. My guess is that, on account of his friendship with Dhritharashtra, Athiratha was allowed to live, and he chose to be a charioteer because that was the one thing he knew well.
http://ancientvoice.wikidot.com/src-mbh-01:section-113
• Karna was denied weapons training due to his caste. Wrong!
The Vrishnis and the Andhakas, and princes from various lands, and the adopted son of Radha of the Suta caste, Karna, all became pupils of Drona.
http://ancientvoice.wikidot.com/src-mbh-01:section-134
See whose name is not mentioned here even though Vrishnis are? Krishna! That’s right. The only one who wasn’t part of the elite group was KRISHNA.
Karna was accepted by Drona as his student, only one specific weapon was denied by Drona to him that was Brahmashira as he wanted that weapon to defeat Arjun. Since Drona loved Arjun dearly and felt it was wrong to hand over a weapon of mass destruction to someone who only wanted to use it to prove his superiority he refused. Karna then went ahead to Parashuram lied to him that he was a Brahman and gained the weapon but got cursed when his truth was revealed.
• Suyodhana met Karna for the first time in Rangabhoomi and made him a king when he was humiliated by Bhima. Wrong!
Suyodhana and Karna met in Drona's gurukul; they became friends as their fathers were already friends, and Karna became rival of Arjun while Suyodhana rivalled Bhima, and this cemented their friendship.
And seeing that in process of time his son had grown up, Adhiratha sent him to the city named after the elephant. And there Karna put up with Drona, for the purpose of learning arms. And that powerful youth contracted a friendship with Duryodhana. And having acquired all the four kinds of weapons from Drona, Kripa, and Rama, he became famous in the world as a mighty bowman. And after having contracted a friendship with Dhritarashtra's son, he became intent on injuring the sons of Pritha. And he was always desirous of fighting with the high-souled Falguna. And, O king, ever since they first saw each other, Karna always used to challenge Arjuna, and Arjuna, on his part, used to challenge him.
http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/m03/m03307.htm
And isn’t it funny that Suyodhana offers Karna his own family’s kingdom back for challenging Arjuna in Rangabhoomi? And that later Jarasandh gives back Malini, which was the other half of said kingdom?
Karna was on a campaign to win back his father’s kingdom, and he was willing to sink to any level to do it. He did it to make Suyodhana happy. See for yourselves:
For those harsh words, O Krishna, that I said before unto the sons of Pandu for the gratification of Dhritarashtra's son,--for that wicked conduct of mine,--I am consumed with repentance.
http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/m05/m05141.htm
• Some more facts.
Karna was atleast 5 - 7 years older than Yudhishtir that means he was an adult when he conspired with Suyodhana to kill the Pandavas, Bhima, specifically.
"When that terrible poison intended for the destruction of Bhima failed of its effect, Duryodhana. Karna and Sakuni, without giving up their wicked design had recourse to numerous other contrivances for accomplishing the death of the Pandavas. And though every one of these contrivances was fully known to the Pandavas, yet in accordance with the advice of Vidura they suppressed their indignation.
http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/m01/m01130.htm
During the Pramanakoti poisoning and other attempts after it, no one had insulted Karna for being a suta (absolutely no one, not even Pandavas), no one had denied him anything. So no enmity with Pandavas, yet. No debt to Suyodhana, yet. No injustice to him, yet.
He was an adult (18–20) to know what murder is, and he chose to support Suyodhana. And later gets his reward in the form of Anga!
It’s this crucial part before Karna enters Rangabhoomi that gets covered up that highlights the real character of Karna. The moment you read this part the hue of this character changes completely.
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