This content was originally posted by: dhakarnI have read Mahabharata by vyasa and I am at a loss where it is mentioned that Karna is a sexual assaulter and a child trafficker... If it is Shayla's comments to Karna then he said those things deliberately as yudhishtira has asked Shayla to keep on berating and insulting Karna so that he loose concentration on the war and provoke him to do something stupid...
Karna is a flawed character... As is each and every other characters in Mahabharata... Nobody is dhooth ka dhula
BRC version is the best version of Mahabharata as it was 99 percent accurate... In that it was clearly shown how Karna behaved during the dice game.... And it was shown how Krishna called him in private and illuminated him about his truth and how Karna regrets each and every word and actions against pandavas and draupati and politely declined Krishna's offer of being the king of hastinapura and also declined draupati's hand in wedding...
Whatever karna said and did on dice game scene was in accordance with the then society .... And the then slave rules.. That's why no-one not even bhishma refuted him... And Karna regretted it as he confessed and apologized in front of Krishna... If dharmaputra can shamelessly bet his brothers and wife on a dice game and still be worthy to be the king,and go to heaven, then Karna, having suffered a lot from being not worthy due to his birth status and spend his life languishing in agony why he can't be just a charioteer when every fiber in his body and heart tells him to be a warrior , after finding out that he was more than worthy and with swayam krishna himself offering him the kingdom and draupati, he had the magnanimity to refuse it and stick with duryodhana who stood by him through his toughest battles... Is what makes him great
Sexual assault in dice hall was not in accordance with norms of society. That much is clear in MBh itself. Not even with a slave. Sex with a slave and sexual assault on a slave are 2 diff things. Disrobing is definitely assault. Karna's intent was made clear when he told her to pick one to have sex with irrespective of her wishes.
Child trafficking, yes mentioned by Shalya. Karna doesn't refute it, does he?
The offer... Krishna was mocking Karna. Otherwise, Krishna was not authorised to offer either kingdom or queen. The rules of society you mention... only father, brother, or son had the right to make an offer on a woman. Krishna was none of those to Panchali. You can't go around offering your friend's wife to a third party.😆 It wasn't accepted in Aryavarta, it is not accepted now.
The offer was a trick, and Karna was intelligent enough to see through it. Perhaps his IQ was his only redeeming factior if at all it can be called that.
in any case, let's assume the offer was real. That would actually make Krishna something, a word I don't want to call him. I hope you're not claiming Karna's greatness somehow lies him getting the same woman he prompted a sexual assault on. The two men come off looking extremely bad in the scene by the interpretation you mentioned.
Karna's suffering? How? Adoption is not suffering. Nor was he poor or low caste. He was suta, an intercaste of brahmana and kshatriya. His birth name was VasuSena, meaning born with riches because Athiratha was no lowly charioteer. Karna was never treated as anything less than a warrior. The only thing Karna was refused was Brahmashira Astra which he bluntly said he wanted to use to kill Arjuna. You seriously think Hastinapuri's teacher should have bestowed it on Karna so he could kill a prince of the same kingdom?
And no, BRC was not 90% accurate. Since I have read quite a few versions of Vyasa Mahabharata by now, I can state that with certainty.
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- Karna was a lower caste boy. Wrong!
Karna'sadoptive father, Athiratha, was of Sutacaste which is an intercaste of Kshatriyafather and Brahmin mother.
NOTE:SUTA ≠ SHUDRA
http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/manu/manu10.htm
· Sutas could only dive chariots. Wrong!
Suta werestory tellers (Ugrasrava), charioteers (Adhirath), ministers (Sanjaya), generals(Keechak), queens (Sudeshna - queen of Matsya), kings (Anga was ruled by Sutadescended from Suta king Vijaya). They were free to choose an occupation thatinterested them.
Santi Parva: Rajadharmanusasana Parva: Section II
- His adoptive father was a charioteer. Wrong!
Athirathawas a prince of the Ikshvaku dynasty, descended from Dasharath. He might havebeen king, I think, of Anga
chitra-ratha's son is → dasha-ratha… whose daughter is shAnta, who is given to theson of sage vibhANDaka, namely sage R^ishya-shR^i~Nga; dasha-ratha’s son is → catura~Nga whosedescent is at the grace of sage R^ishya- shR^i~Nga,who conducted a vedic ritual called putra-kAmeShTi onbehalf of dasha-ratha to effectuate the birth ofchatura~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 jayadrathais 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-sand by heroism and other accomplishments, is superior to the kshatriya-s...
vijaya's son is dhR^itiwhose son is dhR^ita-vrata. His son is the highlyillustrious satya-karma...
The son of satya-vrata through a brAhmaNalady 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-swith –ratha suffix, and he is called athi-ratha, who later adopted the son of lady kunti, namely karNa as his son. Itis therefore karNa is called the son of a charioteer... the family of thehighly 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 excellentcoat 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 wifenamed Radha wasunparalleled on earth for beauty. And althoughthat
http://ancientvoice.wikidot.com/src-mbh-03:section-307
Hisgiven name was Vasusena, which means “rich,” because he was rich. When Kunti sent him off on his boat ride, he was loadedwith valuable stuff.
Then the well-known husband of Radha, of the Suta caste, took up thechild thus cast into the water, and he and his wife brought him up as their ownson.And Radha and her husband bestowed on him the name of Vasusena born with wealth because he was born with a natural armour andear-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 hisDigvijay. He reaches Madradesh and marries Madri, installs her in Hastinapuri.
Then he continues on his campaign. Now, Anga/Chapa/Maliniis 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 wasunder Hastinapuri. Malini was later donated to Karna by Jarasandh, so that partwas definitely annexed by him.
The following link shows what a BRUTAL conqueror Panduwas. He slaughtered the royalty of every kingdom captured by him. My guess isthat, on account of his friendship with Dhritharashtra, Athiratha was allowedto live, and he chose to be a charioteer because that was the one thing he knewwell.
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
Seewhose name is not mentioned here even though Vrishnis are? Krishna! That’sright. The only one who wasn’t part of the elite group was KRISHNA.
Karnawas accepted by Drona as his student, only one specificweapon was denied by Drona to him that was Brahmashira as he wanted thatweapon to defeat Arjun. Since Drona loved Arjun dearly and felt it was wrong tohand over a weapon of mass destruction to someone who only wanted to use it to provehis superiority he refused. Karna thenwent ahead to Parashuram lied to him that he was a Brahman and gained theweapon but got cursed when his truth was revealed.
· Suyodhana met Karna for the first time in Rangabhoomi andmade him a king when he was humiliated by Bhima. Wrong!
Suyodhanaand Karna met in Drona's gurukul; they became friends as their fatherswere already friends, and Karna becamerival of Arjun while Suyodhana rivalledBhima, and this cemented their friendship.
And seeing that in process of time his son had grown up, Adhiratha senthim 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 afriendship with Duryodhana. And having acquired all the four kinds of weaponsfrom 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 becameintent on injuring the sons of Pritha. And he was always desirous of fightingwith 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 tochallenge him.
http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/m03/m03307.htm
Andisn’t it funny that Suyodhana offers Karna his own family’s kingdom back forchallenging Arjuna in Rangabhoomi? And that later Jarasandh gives back Malini,which was the other half of said kingdom?
Karnawas on a campaign to win back his father’s kingdom, and he was willing to sinkto any level to do it. He did it to make Suyodhana happy. See for yourselves:
For those harsh words, OKrishna, that I said before unto the sons of Pandu for the gratification ofDhritarashtra's son,--for that wicked conduct of mine,--I am consumed withrepentance.
http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/m05/m05141.htm
· Some more facts.
Karnawas atleast 5 - 7 years older thanYudhishtir that means he was an adult when he conspired with Suyodhana to killthe Pandavas, Bhima, specifically.
"Whenthat terrible poison intended for the destruction of Bhima failed of itseffect, Duryodhana. Karna and Sakuni, without giving up their wicked design hadrecourse to numerous other contrivances for accomplishing the death of thePandavas. And though every one of these contrivances was fully known to thePandavas, yet in accordance with the advice of Vidura they suppressed theirindignation.
http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/m01/m01130.htm
Duringthe Pramanakoti poisoning and other attempts after it, no one had insultedKarna for being a suta (absolutely no one, not even Pandavas), no one haddenied him anything. So no enmity with Pandavas, yet. No debt to Suyodhana,yet. No injustice to him, yet.
He wasan adult (18–20) to know what murder is, and he chose to support Suyodhana. Andlater gets his reward in the form of Anga!
It’sthis crucial part before Karna enters Rangabhoomi that gets covered up thathighlights the real character of Karna. The moment you read this part the hue ofthis character changes completely.
Edited by HearMeRoar - 3 years ago
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