Arjuna vs. Karna

January 5, 2009

I'm presently (re)reading the Mahabharata, and it seems to me that the fighting

prowess of Arjuna is exaggerated compared to some of his opponents, especially

Karna. I'm just wondering why Arjuna is often praised as a great warrior, but

fares rather poorly when he is pitted against others who are also strong

considered great warriors in their own right.

During the final Mahabharata war, there are good reasons to believe that Arjuna

was not as good a warrior as Karna or other greats on the Kaurava side:

1. Karna actually comes close to beheading Arjuna by aiming an arrow at the

latter's neck, and the arrow would have found its mark had it not been for

Krishna's pressing down the chariot with his toe. Now, if Arjuna had really been

such a great warrior, why would he need Krishna to come to his rescue?

2. There is not a single instance among their mutual conflicts in the

Mahabharata war where Arjuna actually comes close to overcoming Karna. In the

end, Arjuna observes Karna being disarmed and takes advantage of the opportunity

to kill the enemy. Karna may have " deserved " to die in this manner (Krishna

points out that Karna sneaked up on Abhimanyu from behind, which is against the

laws of war, and there is also the case of the Brahmin's curse), but this also

doesn't speak highly of Arjuna's prowess.

3. In spite of having acquired the Pashupata-astra from Shiva Himself, Arjuna

never really defeats the strong warriors on the Kaurava side - such as Bhishma,

Drona, and Karna - by obviously virtuous means in the final war. In fact, Arjuna

had to approach Bhishma to enquire as to how Bhishma can be killed.

Why then is Arjuna lauded as a " great " warrior when there are these other

equally if not superior warriors around? He was of course a great Bhakta and a

highly virtuous person for Krishna choosing him as a student to preach the Gita,

but that is not the same as being a great warrior.

Regards,

Kartik

January 7, 2009

Namaste Anandji,This resonates quite well with me and is not apart from what my Teacher teaches. It is well elucidated. Any expansion of the concept would be appreciated, as it seems you have a way to make these concepts quite clear.Harih OMadvaitin From: ramanand07Date: Tue, 6 Jan 2009 17:01:58 -0800Re: Arjuna vs. Karna

Pranams,

I have been following this thread and other similar threads. Being an advaitin it is my opinion that we need to transcend these types of "mortalistic" discussions and transend to the higher plane. For this we need to understand the true meaning of the Mahabaratha. Everyday we have a Kurukshetra battle within ourselves. To put this in very simple words all the so called "characters" in Mahabaratha are none other than our own characterstic as defined by the mind and body complex. The battle is not between any "external" Kauravas or Pandavas, but between the very "Kauruvastic" and "Panadvastic" characterstics that dwell in our own midn body complex. It is very "human" and "mortal" to be comparing certain characterstics personified as certain charecters in the epic. A deeper understanding of the Mahabaratha is of the order for the true understanding of the truth. Lord Krishna manifests as the all prevading

Brahman and keeps reminding us through this example that ultimately there is nothing but Brahman.

I don't know with how many persons I will be resonating by my reasoning in the above paragraph, but those who understand will truely appreciate my views.

Any comments and opinions?

Let me know if anyone needs a more clear explaination of what I have described.

Hari Om.

Anand

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