Abandoned at Birth, Karna Is Raised by a Charioteer, Shunned for His Origins and Vows Never to Defeat a Knight
Karna’s life began with secrecy and sorrow. Born to Kunti before her marriage, he was abandoned as an infant and later raised away from the royal household that produced the Pandavas and the Kauravas. To shield the family’s standing, Kunti set her "son of Surya" — the child she had named Karna — adrift in a basket on the Aswa River. The wicker cradle floated until Adirata found the baby. Adirata, a coachman who also worked as a train driver in the Kuru Kingdom, took the infant into his care. Noting the battle clothes, earrings and the necklace said to have come from Surya, he gave the child the name Basusena.
Unaware of his true lineage, the boy showed exceptional talent with weapons and bow. Social prejudice followed his background, and he swore never to be bested by a knight in battle, a vow that would later complicate his path. Adirata enrolled Karna at the school of Resi Drona, where the Pandavas and Korawa princes trained. Drona refused to accept Karna as a pupil, arguing he taught only those he regarded as knights, so Karna sought instruction under Bagawan Parasurama. Under Parasurama he honed advanced archery and martial techniques that set him apart from many contemporaries.
As the Kauravas and Pandavas reached adulthood and paraded their skills, a formidable warrior emerged who called himself Karna and openly challenged Arjuna, whom Drona had praised as the finest archer. Krepa warned that Karna should know his caste before confronting a prince of the Kuru line, advising caution about testing an equal when social standing was in question. Duryodhana seized the moment, defended Karna and elevated him to the kingship of Anga, cementing a close friendship. After the death of the great Korawa teacher Drona, Karna’s reputation and ability earned him formal command as a warlord; his archery and strategic sense turned him into a principal threat to the Pandavas.
The rivalry between Karna and Arjuna became one of the defining threads of the Kurukshetra conflict. Once boys who had moved in the same circles, they met on the battlefield as opponents, and the plain became the stage for repeated, bitter duels. Their encounters stretched over many days of fighting and neither managed to secure a decisive victory early on; each clash was fierce and fraught with tension. As the Bharatayudha intensified, the toll of casualties rose and the war took on ever more personal dimensions for both camps.
Losses that struck the Pandavas deep included the deaths of Abimanyu, Arjuna’s son, and Gatotkaca, son of Bima. Those blows stiffened Pandava resolve and provoked a massive counterattack on Korawa forces. Bima, driven by fury and a vow to avenge Draupadi’s humiliation, sought out Dushasana. With overwhelming force he killed Dushasana and, fulfilling the terrible oath he had made, opened the man’s chest and drank his blood. That brutal act underscored how honor, vengeance and oath-bound promises had become inseparable from battle plans and troop movements.
A pivotal episode occurred when Karna’s chariot wheel sank into a crater and would not turn. He attempted to call on Pasupati’s favor to steady his fortunes, but a second curse took hold: the knowledge Parasurama had imparted fled his memory at that critical moment. Stranded and exposed, Karna pleaded with Arjuna to hold fire while he stepped down to push the chariot and free the wheel. Krishna, observing the opening, urged Arjuna to strike at once, judging the moment the rare chance to fell a commander whose presence had long tipped balances on the field.
In the heat of that instant Karna, overwhelmed, remembered his mother Kunti and begged for mercy, revealing that he was Arjuna’s brother. The appeal did not stop the conflict. Arjuna, bound by his own vows and the demands of duty, pressed the attack. Krishna reminded him of Karna’s participation in deeds that led to Abimanyu’s death on the thirteenth day, a fact that stiffened Arjuna’s resolve. When Arjuna loosed Pasupati’s arrow, it struck Karna in the neck and ended the warrior’s life almost immediately.
Karna’s death marked the fall of a complex and formidable figure whose skill had shaped much of the campaign. Accounts describe him feeling profound regret in his final moments, lamenting choices he had made and longing for the family bonds denied him for so long. On Arjuna’s side there was also sorrow: the realization that he had slain a half-brother left him shaken and reflective about the cost exacted when kin turned to arms. For many who watched the war, Karna’s end was more than the removal of a great rival; it became a stark reminder of the human cost when vows, honor and bloodlines collide on a battlefield.
