Name: Vasusena
Father: Surya-dev
Mother: Kunti
Foster-father: Adiratha
Foster-mother: Radha
Wives: Vrushali, Supriya, Prabhavati,...(?)
Sons: Vrishasena, Sudhama, Shatrunjaya, Dvipata, Sushena, Satyasena, Chitrasena, Susharma(Banasena) and Vrishaketu
Karna was born to Kunti as an accident. As a young princess, Kunti had just been blessed w/ a boon from Rishi Durvasa - that she'd be able to get sons by invoking any deva. She tried that experiment using Suryadev, who she saw first thing next morning, and Vasusena was born
A terrified Kunti begged Suryadev to take back his boon, but he couldn't, due to the power of Durvasa. He blessed the baby w/ a pair of earrings and armor. The earrings guaranteed immortality, while the armor insured that any divine weapon sent @ him would get dissipated by its power.
Kunti then set the baby afloat, and downstream, a charioteer named Adiratha found the baby & took him home. They named him Vasusena and raised him in their household.
When Vasusena came of age, he approached Parashurama, pretending to be a Brahmin, and soon got to learn that and more. One day, however, an incident occured when Parashurama was resting on his lap, and he was bitten by a worm, but bore the pain.
When Parashurama saw that, he knew that he wasn't a Brahmin, and Vasusena confessed. Parashurama then cursed him that he'd forget the mantra of the Brahmashira when he needed it the most. On another occasion, Vasusena accidentally killed the cow of a Brahmin, and was cursed that in battle, his chariot wheels would sink, and he too would be slain while helpless
Vasusena's first appearance in Hastinapur happened @ the tournament, when Drona declared Arjun to be the supreme archer in the world. Vasusena contested that claim, and challenged Arjun to battle. Kunti saw his armor and earrings and recognized him instantly, but was at a loss of how to deal w/ the situation. Duryodhan, recognizing his potential, had him crowned the king of Anga, and that was the start of a friendship that brought Vasusena both prosperity & respect, as well as becoming the cause of his undoing. Ironically, due to Kunti's silence, Vasusena's own brothers - the Pandavas, insulted him and caused the start of a lifelong enmity, particularly w/ Arjun. From that point on, he became a steadfast ally of Duryodhan.
He attended Draupadi's swayamvara, but was disallowed from contesting, due to being a suta's son. Following those events, the Pandavas returned to Hastinapur, got their own kingdom and performed the Rajasuya yagna.
The point of no return in the enmity b/w Vasusena & the Pandavas finally came during the game of dice. After Draupadi was dragged to the assembly, Vasusena rebuked Vikarna for protesting against Yudisthir staking Draupadi after he had lost himself. In his remarks, he called Draupadi a prostitute, and later, Bhima announced that while he himself would kill Duryodhan & Dushashan, Arjun would kill Vasusena and Sahadev Shakuni.
During the Pandava exile, Vasusena continued to scheme w/ Duryodhan & Dushashan. On one occasion, they went w/ their womenfolk to the forest where the Pandavas were staying just to gloat about their plight. That got them into a battle w/ the Gandharva Chitrasena, during which an intoxicated Vasusena was badly defeated & had to flee.
Following that incident, he resolved to repair his tarnished reputation. Duryodhan decided to perform a Vishmi yagna, (similar to a Rajasuya yagna, which Duryodhan couldn't perform since his father was alive) and Vasusena went on a conquest tour. He defeated most of the rulers that the Pandavas had defeated, and turned around a number of kingdoms (like Ayodhya) from the Pandava alliance to Kaurava. That built up confidence in him again.
When the 13 years of exile were over, Indra, worried that Vasusena would be invincible as long as he'd have his armor and earrings, decided to approach him in the evening after his evening pujas, and ask for it. Surya appeared b4 his son in a dream and asked him to decline. Vasusena refused, and when Indra appeared b4 him, he gave it to him w/o objection. This act earned him the name 'Karna', by which he's eternally known.
When Krishna's mission to Hastinapur failed, he approached Karna and revealed to him that Vasusena was actually Kunti's son. He offered him all the privileges of being the Pandava leader and invited him to reconcile & join the Pandavas. Karna refused, saying that he already owed a debt of gratutude to Duryodhan, and would die fighting for him. He also swore Krishna to secrecy on this from the Pandavas.
Finally, at this point, Kunti too approached Karna just after his sunset pujas, and begged him to join her sons. After an emotional confrontation w/ her over how he had been treated, Karna finally promised her that he wouldn't kill 4 of her sons, so that after the war, b/w those 4, and Arjun vs himself, she'd still have 5 sons.
Due to his longstanding arguments w/ Bheeshma, Drona and Kripa, Karna was excluded from the war - Bheeshma made it conditional that Karna couldn't fight as long as he was commander. As a result, for the first 10 days, Karna was a mere spectator in the war.
After Bheeshma's fall on day 10, Karna joined the Kaurava army and fought the Pandavas. On day 16, after the death of Drona, Duryodhan, on Ashwatthama's recommendation, made Karna the commander in chief of the Kaurava army. It was a much reduced army than the ones led by Bheeshma & Drona. Despite that, Karna defeated the Panchalas and held several Pandava & Panchala warriors @ bay. On that day, he defeated Nakul, but remembering his promise to Kunti, refrained from killing him.
Day 17 was Karna's last day. That day, he defeated and wounded Yudisthir in battle, but due to his promise to Kunti, he spared him. That was taken by the Pandavas as an insult, and Yudisthir ordered Arjun not to return b4 killing him. In the battle that followed, Bhima killed Dushashan.
Nakul was battling Karna's son Vrishasena, who was getting the better of him. Arjun, seeing this, reminded Karna about how he had caused Abhimanyu's death in his absence, but Arjun, in contrast, would kill Karna's son right in front of him. Arjun then killed Vrishasena right in front of him, and Vrisha was infuriated. Thus started their final battle.
The two Kaunteyas then fought an epic battle, in which all sorts of divyastras were used against each other. Finally, Karna's wheel sunk, as per that curse, and Krishna goaded Arjun to slay Karna, reminding him of the way Abhimanyu was killed. Karna then tried invoking the Brahmashira, but now, Parashurama's curse kicked in. Arjun then invoked a divyastra called the Anjalika, which cut off Karna's head.
The next day, 3 of Karna's sons - Chitrasena, Sushena & Satyasena - fought Nakul. Chitrasena broke Nakula's bow & chariot, and Nakul then grabbed a sword, jumped onto Chitrasena's chariot & killed him. Sushena & Satyasena were then slain by Nakul in battle.
After the war, Kunti revealed Karna's identity to the Pandavas, and Yudisthir included Karna in his list of favorites from that time on. Karna finally received the love & recognition he always desired - unfortunately posthumously.
Edited by .Vrish. - 10 years ago
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