Karna's Karma

July 24, 2001

Om Nama Shivaya

Dear Friends:

When we think of Mahabharatha, one of the most outstanding characters that comes

to mind is Karna. A distinguished warrior, a kind soul, a true leader. . . the

list is endless.

But to me, his character evokes profound sadness. He is a hero trapped in the

villain's' camp. He is ridiculed at every step by all the prominent people. Even

Bhagavan Sri Krishna and King Indra manipulate his kind acts to give Arjuna the

advantage. The great Bhishma refuses to fight along with Karna. During the

battle between Karna and Arjuna, Krishna intervenes and helps Arjuna escape. And

while Karna is struggling with his chariot, Krishna urges Arjuna to shoot him

with an arrow.

And in the end, when Karna lies dying, Krishna comes to him as a poor Brahmin

and asks for Karna's good deeds as bhiksha. And the great Karna, even at that

moment of life and death, when he has every reason to refuse, gives the Brahmin

all his good deeds as alms.

What explanation is there for such turmoil for Karna? Why was he tested in this

way?

I have read that justice and injustice do not really exist. A true seeker of

Brahman is beyond what ordinary men call justice. But what is the explanation

for such actions, especially that of the Lord's.

Perhaps I am too much of a novice to understand the meanings by myself. So

please comment.

Also, there was this article from the Hindu about the need to avoid offensive

remarks. (Pl. see article below, dated July 17). The example of Arjuna offending

Karna is given. The point that stands out (to me) is that even though it was

Arjuna who uttered the offensive remarks, he got away with them. It is Karna who

suffers a lot and dies in the end. Arjuna gains victory in the end. Why was such

an example used then? I am unable to understand the point being made. Pl.

clarify.

Humble pranams.

Ranjani

>From The Hindu....

Stress on need to avoid offensive remarks

CHENNAI, JULY 17. One among the several instructions contained in our scriptural

literature, to lead a life of purity and nobility gives a severe warning to

guard oneself against careless speech. A person may be intelligent but he should

be extremely restrained in passing remarks about another's conduct or of his

birth or his status which is sure to offend him. A thoughtless harsh statement

cannot be erased and a familiar comparison points out how even grains of paddy

scattered on the floor can be gathered but not offensive words which had flown

out of an angry person. One of our epics mentions how the wounding words by a

prince against another who was ready to challenge his valour, because he hailed

from a lower stratum and hence was of no match to him resulted in the constant

tussle between them at a later stage.

This demoralised man, who was made a ruler by the rival group and became an

invincible hero, presents a strange picture of both good and bad features. He

did not play a direct role in the wicked designs of his associates. He was

Karna, the hero who remained grateful to the king who made him a prince and

treated him as a very valuable ally to his end. He knew that it would be very

difficult to conquer Arjuna, his enemy, because Lord Krishna was his charioteer.

An adverse factor was the curse inflicted on him by his teacher that he would

forget the divine incantations when he needed them. In his Mahabharatam lecture,

Sri K.P. Arivanandam said, when Karna took charge of the Kaurava forces on the

17th day of the Kurukshetra battle, he desired to have a charioteer who would be

equal to Krishna, who was handling the reins of the horses of Arjuna's vehicle.

However, this expert, who after good deal of coaxing by Duryodhana, agreed to

assume the responsibility, was not so favourably disposed towards Karna and was

always in the habit of taunting him and discouraging him from concentrating on

his task. Yet with all the strength at his command, Karna fought in a fierce

manner and wiped out many and when in the end, he came face to face with Arjuna,

by divine intervention, the arrow, which he aimed, missed the target and only

removed the crown of his opponent. This was possible because Krishna at the nick

of time

pressed the vehicle down when it went a foot deep in the mire. Later accepting

the Lord's command, Arjuna sent a dart that severed Karna's head. The

Mahabharatam presents a grand panorama of good and evil and how those who cling

to former will certainly be rewarded with success.

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July 25, 2001

Namaste Ranjaniji:

Let me try to explanin my understanding of your excellent observation

regarding the role of Karna in Mahabharata.

All characters in the Drama of Mahabharat including Krishna, Bhisma,

Vidura, Dhrona, Aswathama, Dhridhrastra, Kandari,Dhryodhana, Kunthi,

Draupadi, Dharma, Bhima, Arjuna, Nakula, Sakadeva and others have to

experience both joy and sorrow sometime or other. The drama of

Mahabharata is staged to educate us about the perils of our worldly

life. The Upanishadic advice to all of us is: "Life is a bridge,

enjoy while crossing and don't build any castels."

Before I continue any further, let me pose you with the question:

"Find one character in either Mahabharat or Ramayana who didn't

experience sorrow or sufferings?" I believe that the answer is quite

simple and no such character exists in any drama of worldly life where

our perception don't go beyond our intellectual conception of 'sorrow

and joy." An easy answer to your question is that 'Karna is no

exception!' This is a good time to go back and read chapter II of Gita

where Lord Krishna logically asserts why Arjuna's rationalization is

wrong. A similar argument can be constructed on same line why your

(our) belief that "Great injustice has been done to Karna" is wrong.

The best way to reconcile for you is to sit down, contemplate taking

some additional time and convince your self. I honestly don't believe

that I can convince you using a logical framework of my choice because

all such frameworks have limitations and flaws and will not be

universally agreeable.

Coming back to Karna, his greatest virtue is "ability to give all his

possessions without any reservation." This greatest virtue is God's

gift and he wanted to protect this treasure at all costs. Whether he

felt sorrow or pain can never be answerable either by you or me or

anyone. The purpose of his life story is to educate us the 'virtue of

giving' and the importance of detachment to all our possessions! Every

character of Mahabharat is constructed by the greatest teacher,

Vedavyasa to educate us to lead a better life. The illustrates why we

should follow the footsteps of Dharmaputra (for truthfulness and

dharmic), Bhishma (unselfish and valiant), Bhima (brave and strong),

Karna (loyalty, friendship and generosity), Arjuna (compassion and

spiritual seeking) and others. Mahabharata also implicit instructions

to us what characters that we shouldn't follow: for example, we

shouldn't follow Dhryodhana (adharma and attachment to possessions)

or Sakuni (cunning and deceiving).

Finally, let me turn to your concern regarding Arjuna's harsh and

offensive words against Karna: Because of those offensive words of

Arjuna, Karna determined to kill Arjuna at an opportune moment.

Offensive words leave permanent scars in the minds and the

Karna-Arjuna encounter is a great example to illustrate this point.

Arjuna's life was spared only with the intervention of Lord Krishna

and without Him, he would have perished in the war. Also Karna was

fighting the war against the Pandavas because of his loyalty to his

friend but he is Dharmic and his heart and soul were on the side of

Pandavas and he just wanted to sacrifice his body for the sake of his

friend. The answer to the final question: why Lord Krishna asks

Karna to donate the `good deeds that karna earned?' is quite simple.

Liberation is impossible with any possessions - good or bad, and Lord

Krishna with great compassion to Karna was showering His Grace to the

virtuous Karna. This final gesture made Karna an immortal soul and he

is (will be) remembered for ever by everyone for his great virtue of

generosity. Those who read the story of Mahabharat can never forget

the unique and complex character - Karna and he is one of the most

admired heroes on the side of Kauravas!

warmest regards,

Ram Chandran

Note: After the death of Karna and Dutchadhana in the war, Kunthi and

Kandari went to Lord Krishna and asked him why they have to lose them.

Lord Krishna consoles them and explained to them that every Jiva who

is born will have to die after completing the expected karma. This is

predestined by the Lord and there can be no exceptions. Kunthi and

Kanthari replied to the Lord: "It is easy for the Lord to say that

everyone has to die as destined, but it is impossible for the mother

to accept the death of her son!" The Lord is detached and is free

from sorrows and joys and mother who is attached has to suffer due to

the loss of her possession. When we spiritually grow, we can become

detached and our attitude changes and we can easily follow the advice

of the Upanishad and take life as a bridge and we can enjoy crossing

it without building any castels.

advaitin, "Ranjani Narayanan" <ranjanin@v...> wrote:

> Om Nama Shivaya

>

> Dear Friends:

>

> When we think of Mahabharatha, one of the most outstanding

characters that comes to mind is Karna. A distinguished warrior, a

kind soul, a true leader. . . the list is endless.

>

> But to me, his character evokes profound sadness. He is a hero

trapped in the villain's' camp. He is ridiculed at every step by all

the prominent people. Even Bhagavan Sri Krishna and King Indra

manipulate his kind acts to give Arjuna the advantage. The great

Bhishma refuses to fight along with Karna. During the battle between

Karna and Arjuna, Krishna intervenes and helps Arjuna escape. And

while Karna is struggling with his chariot, Krishna urges Arjuna to

shoot him with an arrow.

July 25, 2001

Om Nama Shivaya

A big thanks to Sri Ram Chandran for his enlightening observations. I took his

advice and started reflecting about Karna's story and about why what happened,

happened. I have also started studying the Geetha's second chapter. These were a

few thoughts I had and I thought that they would benefit the whole group.

Every story has its share of joys and sorrow and as in life, these are not

permanent. Characters go through ups and downs so that we as readers can

understand certain lessons. Karna's character has a lot to teach us. His virtues

are to be emulated by every human being.

Karna's trials and tribulations can indeed be easily explained as a no

exception. Every one has these ups and downs. Karna had his share. But I am not

able to understand why the Lord himself took active part in bringing about

Karna's several trials. When Karna went to try his luck at shooting the fish to

get Draupadi's hand, Krishna prompted Draupadi to say that she will not marry

the son of a charioteer. Krishna made Indra go to Karna and ask for his

protective armour. Krishna aided in disabling Karna's chariot. Krishna asked

Arjuna to shoot Karna when he was without bow and arrow. And in the end, Krishna

liberated Karna from his good deeds.

Sri Ram Chandran explained the last part beautifully. I request you to please

shed light on the others too.

It is not just the Lord's actions towards Karna that are a bit puzzling. Sri

Krishna avathar is probably the most puzzling of all avathars. For example, Sri

Rama stood as an avathaara purusha. He taught the common man the way to mukthi.

His actions and message was straightforward and simple and easy to understand.

But Sri Krishna has done a lot of things that needs man to educate himself and

to think for himself to understand. One such action is the use of Shikandi to

defeat Bhishma. Another is making Yudhishtira announce the death of

Asshwatthaama, the elephant, and blowing his conch while Yudhishtira says the

word elephant.

Please forgive me if my observations are too basic. I feel I am a kinder-garden

student in this education of life. Please bear with me.

Thank you.

Humble pranams.

Ranjani

Ram Chandran rchandran

Wed, 25 Jul 2001 12:13:10 -0000

advaitin

Re: Karna's Karma