Why Krishna asked Arjuna to Kill Karna when he wasnt prepared to fight !

[suresh_krsna]

Could some one explain why and what was the motive.

[VNV]

It was Krishna's will.

[Guest guest]

Had Arjuna fought in a just battle, the latter would have defeated him all hands up and Krishna was a person who could fall to any degree to impress people who stay subservient to him.

[Guest guest]

why would krishna fight arjuna?

[Avinash]

I think that the guest who posted the message "To allay the fears of his favorite yesman Arjuna" used the word "latter" to mean Karna and not Krishna.

[Guest guest]

Nor could Drona, Bhisma, Aswattama. Krsna, however, to relieve the burden of undefeatable generals that were placinbg such strain on the planet, devised certtain ways.

 

Mundane morality makes fools say, "Auwe, Krsna, shame on you". But Krsna is far beyond such satvik principles, and Ksatriya Dharma is always subserviant to sanatana dharma.

 

Devotees cheer His cheating in war. Also, one who knows warfare knows that "all is fair in battle". Some say Arjuna was overly aggressive, but I say Karna should have known better than to be on a battlefield unprepared to fight. It is more of a blunder for Karna than for Arjuna, maybe because Karna was not a ksatriya, therefore he was UNPREPARED for battle. All the Karna whiners have no effect on the reality of the situation.

 

mahak

[Guest guest]

"All the Karna whiners have no effect on the reality of the situation."

 

Who here are the Karna whiners?!

 

Krishna personally judged Karna and served him justice via Arjuna.

 

Lecture SB 1.8.24 Oct 4, 1974

 

Prabhupada: The woman, who is respected as mother, and this, in this assembly, Draupadé was to be naked by the order of Karna? It is uncivilized, unlawful. So Kåñëa remembered this. When Karna was killed, it was not... He was not killed lawfully because he fell down from his chariot, and he was trying to repair the chariot, and Kåñëa advised Arjuna, “This is the opportunity to kill him. Otherwise you cannot kill him. Kill him immediately.” So when Karna protested, “Arjuna, what you are doing? I am not fighting. I am repairing my chariot and you...” So Kåñëa said, “Yes, you did unlawful action by making Draupadé naked. So you should be unlawfully killed. This is justice. This is justice to you.” So everything has got so much history in the episode of Mahäbhärata

===

 

Also Karna showed no mercy for Abhimanyu.

 

And like guest said "Krishna was a person who could fall to any degree to impress people who stay subservient to him. "

 

Similarly with Bhishma Krishna broke his vow to satisfy his devotee Bhishma and help Arjuna.

[Guest guest]

mahak, your point about Krishna doing to right thing wrt Karna is very much appreciated, but please don't put down Karna to glorify Krishna. There is no need to do that. Whether you like it or not, Karna was great. Just a few mistakes don't make him an evil person, considering the circumstances he was in most of his tragic life.

 

Going by that logic, Bhishma, Kunti and Vidura would be the real culprits and their actions were much worse. And if you justify their actions saying it is all Krishna's will, one can say the same thing about Karna's 'evil' actions such the disrobing of draupadi etc.

 

And for those who point to abhimanyu's death, please understand that Karna was ready to sacrifice the kingdom, nay even his life, for his friend when offerered the kingdom by Krishna. Do you really believe that a man with so much integrity would've relished killing his own nephew? Not possible. So it is taken for granted that Karna must've felt as much pain as anyone else for the killing of abhimanyu, if not, that would make karna a barbarian. ANd a barbaric Karna wouldn't have been the greatest giver, nor a person refusing kingdom for the sake of loyalty. Since he possessed virtues in abundance, it is silly to imagine that such a person would've enjoyed killing his own nephew.

 

What KRishna did was correct, but that doesn;t make Karna any less great. He is one of the greatest sons of Bharat. If one points to the 'evil' in Karna, I too can point more such 'evil' in Bhishma, KUnti and others who were all noble, by the way. It is disgusting to watch people apply one yardstick for Karna and focus exclusively on disrobing etc, but how come everybody is silent on kunti's acvtions, bhishma failing to control his beloved pandavas every time they abused karna? Are these actions justifiable that only karna's actions are put under a microscope?

 

Don't let's be hypocrites, Karna was great as also were the others, but they all made mistakes. Krishna did what he did, because we cannot understand his supreme wisdom. Let's stop at that and not make more comments on these noble people, as if we are qualified to pass judgment.

[Guest guest]

I would never disrespect Karna. In fact, I also have great respect for Duryodhana as well. The mahabharata is a great play with nitya siddhas taking roles for the satisfaction of the Supreme Lord. It is also a fact that had Queen Kunthi told the Pandavas that Karna was their oldest brother, King Yudhisthira would have given Karna everything immediately.

 

Karna did not cheer on the bad activities of Duryodhana, he tried to advise him correctly. Ksatriya dharma caused all the warriors to fight first, seek peace later.

 

No, when I referred to Karna-whiners, I was referring to previous folks that seemed to be saying that Krsna acted inappropriately. Never would I offend Karna, a hero in every definition of the word, and accepted as such by all members of both sides of the great Kuru Conflaggeration.

 

Hare Krsna, ys, mahaksadasa

[Guest guest]

EDITORIAL, Jan 12 (VNN) — Answers by His Holiness Romapada Swami Maharaja

 

Q.1) Brhat-bhagavtamrta is BBT's latest publication. On p 414 there is indication that Karna and Duryodhana were 'partial incarnations of demons'. Could you supply the background to this statement? Was it due to the past life of Karna, or some other reason as to why he was destined to suffer so much, and do so many bad things? What wrong deeds had he done in his previous life or in his present life as Karna?

 

Answer.1) There are three different angles to consider this from. The first is simply from a scriptural or textual point of view.

 

1) In the Vana-parva of Mahabharata it is decribed that Duryodhana and Karna found out that the Pandavas were living in a forest nearby and decided to humiliate them. So, under some pretext, they took their army, dressed very opulently and headed that way. On the way, Duryodhana wanted to bathe in a river which is occupied by the Gandharvas. Owing to this, finally a battle ensued in which Karna was severely hurt and fled from the battle, while Duryodhana was held captive by the king of Gandharvas. One of his soldiers went to the Pandavas for help and under instructions by Yudhisthira, Arjuna battled the Gandharvas and rescued Duryodhana.

 

This humiliated Duryodhana to such a great extent that he resolved to give up his life by entering into type of self-igniting samadhi, much like we find at the end of Dhrtarashtra's life. While he was doing so, the Danavas found out and performed a sacrifice to create a celestial goddess. She was instructed by the Danavas to go and get the subtle body of Duryodhana, which she did, and then brought Duryodhana before the Danavas.

 

The Danavas then explained to Duryodhana that he had been created as a result of a great sacrifice they performed to please Lord Shiva. His body was like thunderbolt and his strength immense. They also mentioned that the powerful demon Narkasura has incarnated as Karna and "remembering his old enmity with Vishnu, will fight with great determination." They also assured that at the time of the battle, great warriors like Drona and Bhishma would come under the influence of the Danvas and give up their natural compassion and discrimination to fight with great vigor against the Pandavas. Thus they assured that Duryodhana's victory was certain and that he should thus give up his resolve to commit suicide.

 

Elsewhere in the Mahabharata, indication is given that Duryodhana was the incarnation of Kali.

 

2) Character evaluation of Karna

 

Our ISKCON translator of Mahabharata, Hridyananda Maharaja, makes the following comments in relation to Karna's character. Karna was basically an evil person. Even though he was abandoned at birth, he was brought up in a very loving and nurturing family, so the generally accepted fact of a "dysfunctional childhood" really does not hold true.

 

He deliberately lied to get training from Parsurama, and was simply envious of Arjuna (like trying to humiliate Arjuna in his graduation ceremony). In addition there was his conduct with Draupadi, his refusal to accept the instructions of Krishna and his steadfast friendship with Duryodhana, who was obviously evil. On more than one occasion Karna ran away from the battle field leaving his friends and army exposed. In Mahabharata war, he refused to fight along side Bhisma because he did not want to share the glory. His charity etc. was the result of vows he had taken to enhance his own material position.

 

Though he had excellent parentage, namely Kunti and Surya, because he was conceived out of lust, fear and anger, his character was thus shaped. Apparently after summoning the Sun god, Kunti became fearful of the consequences, but also very much attracted to the Sun god (who was angry at being summoned trivially). During the time of pregnancy he was concealed, thus there were no purificatory rites performed, and there was also the constant refrain of fear and connivance. All this combined to possibly shape Karna into what he finally became.

 

3) The third response to this question has to do with the pronciple of association. Through the association of Duryodhana, Karna's character became debased. Even the direct son of Lord Krishna, Bhauma, born of Mother Bhumi through her contact with Lord Varaha, became changed from a good son to an asura due to his association with a bad person, namely Banasura.

[Guest guest]

ALL Glories to the Supreme almighty.

please correct me if i am wrong.

 

As per Bhagvad Gita as it is.

Chapter 1 verse 37-38

 

A ksatriya is not supposed to refuse to battle or gamble when he is so invited by some rival party. Under such obligation, Arjuna could not refuse to fight because he was challenged by the party of Duryodhana. In this connection, Arjuna considered that the other party might be blind to the effects of such a challenge. Arjuna, however, could see the evil consequences and could not accept the challenge. Obligation is actually binding when the effect is good, but when the effect is otherwise, then no one can be bound.

Above is a Ksatriya's Dharam to protect & follow the Dharma , To follow Dharama is a Type of Karama.

 

 

I hope this helps...

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

Karna's life was tragic because of his blind loyalty. He is known as the greatest of all givers, liken to the Sun, his father, which is the giver of all life here on our planet. It is the nature of Leo, the sign of the Sun, to be proud, fearless, beautiful and loyal. Karna was all of these but as the approaching Kali Yuga influenced him, he gave his loyalty to the ones that offered him friendship, and not to those who were high minded and just. To this loyalty he was firm, even though offered kingship of all the Kurus by Krishna himself before the battle. He knew of his mistake but was driven by his commitment of loyalty to his friends.

 

Karna was the incarnation of Svedaja, a demon, and Arjuna an incarnation of Raktaja (see the Padma Purana for the complete story). They fought in their previous incarnations as part of a dispute between Brahma and Vishnu. They were at that time told that they would incarnate again and fight at Kurukshetra. Here is part of the story from the Padma Purana:

 

The fierce fight that ensued between Raktaja and Svedaja continued for two years. By then Svedaja had lost everything but one of his shields and Raktaja had only his two arms to fight with. At this stage Vasudeva (Visnu) in great alarm went and asked Brahma whether Raktaja might not kill Svedaja. Brahma answered `In the next birth Nara may defeat Svedaja'. Saying `Right, let that be so', Visnu returned to the battlefield and withdrew them from fighting with the assurance that they would be given an opportunity to fight again during the p°riod of the Kali and the Dvapara-yugas.

 

Afterwards Visnu directed Aditya (Sun) and Akhandala (Indra) to look after Raktaja and Svedaja. He told Aditya further : - “At the end of the Dvapara-yuga you should see that Svedaja is reborn, in the interests of the Devas, as your son. In the Yadu dynasty will be born a very powerful fellow called Sura and lie will have a very beautiful daughter named Prthd. Durvasas will advise her some mantras as a boon and she will have some sons from the Devas whom she will invoke with the mantras. With that object in view, while in her periods, she would, at the time of dawn gaze at you with love. Then he (Svedaja) will be born as the son called Vasusena of Kunti, the virgin."

 

The Sun-God agreed to obey the above instructions of Visnu and told him further :-"I shall procreate in the virgin a very powerful and valiant son, who will become well-known in the world as Karna. He will gift away all wealth to brahmins." After saying this Surya disappeared.

 

After this Visnu told Indra as follows :-"You should, at the end of the Dvapara-yuga see that this Nara, born from blood, is reborn as an aspect of yours on earth. King Pandu will one day go into the forest with his wives, Kunti and Madri, and 'he will then become the object of an animal's curse. He will therefore, in a spirit of renunciation, go to mount Sata~:rnga where he would ask Kunti to become a mother by another man. Unwilling to 'do so Kunti will desire to have sons by Devas, and when she prays to you, you should favour her with this Nara as son.

 

 

Krishna appears to act unrighteously in several instances in the Mahabharata. However, in each case he was fulfilling a previous prophecy or curse. He, who can see all and knows all cannot do anything but righteous acts though they may appear unrighteous on the surface. Karna had been cursed to die while his chariot wheel was stuck in the mud. All had been foretold and only need be executed. It is true that Karna and Arjuna, in a fair fight would be equal, or Karna possibly superior since he was the eldest. Its hard to say. But the circumstances surrounding his death seem to indicate that in an equal fight he would have prevailed over Arjuna.

 

Sincerely,

 

Aniruddha

[Guest guest]

The moral of the karna stuck chariot is that

'do whatever possible at the crunch moment. Taking things for granted might provide the opportunity to pay the price.'

 

Karna was determined to fight for Duryodhana. Arjuna beat Karna hands-down on determination, after listening to Kriishna's advice in BG. Krishna was mighty determined, taking little for granted.

[narayani]

Please correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't Karna cursed by a brahmin to die when he was least prepared and in a helpless state? Karna had killed the brahmin's son thinking he was an animal. Krsna was ensuring the brahmin's words would come to be. Just think of his great fourtune. He died directly in the presence of the Lord, if we could all be so lucky!!

 

Mare Krsna rake ke rake krsna mare ke. If krsna wants to kill you no one can save you and if Krsna wants to save you no one can kill you.

 

All part of the Lords glorious pastimes!