Bheema even managed to insult him and compare him to a stray dog. Kripacharya didn’t let him, as only princes were allowed to participate. Dronacahrya organized a contest to assess the Kuru prince’s prowess in which Karna wanted to participate. Karna’s weakness was his insecurities, constantly being taunted and deprived of opportunities because he belonged to a lower caste. Thus, his chariot wheel could not be taken out of the mud it was stuck in. This caused great pain to Mother Earth, and she cursed him, that when he would be the most vulnerable, she would abandon him. Karna decided to help her by invoking powerful incantations to squeeze ghee out of Earth itself. She was very afraid that her mother would scold her for this.
It is said that once, a small girl was carrying a bowl of ghee to her mother, and she accidentally spills it on the ground. The Brahmin got angry and cursed him that he would die helplessly in the same way his innocent cow had died. Karna and the CursesĪfter the curse of Parashurama that he would forget his knowledge of the Brahmanda Astra the moment he needed it the most, he was cursed twice Furthermore.Ī Brahmin also cursed him as he practiced with arrows and bows and accidentally killed a Brahmin’s cow. His was a life with insults and curses and lived most of his life trying to overcome them and eventually sacrificing his Dharma for the sake of loyalty and gratitude. Repenting over a curse made in anger, and to nullify said curse, Parashurama also gave Karna his personal bow Vijaya to be ever victorious in battle and blessed Karna with greatness. Parashurama rewarded Karna’s diligence and gave him his celestial weapon Bhargavastra which no one else possessed. This curse would come to haunt him in his final fight. Upon Karna’s pleading, Parashurama relented and modified his curse, saying that Karna would only lose the knowledge when he needed it most while fighting against an equal warrior. Enraged, Parashurama accused Karna of stealing knowledge and cursed Karna that he would forget all the knowledge required to wield the Brahamastra. When Parashurama woke up and saw the blood oozing from Karna’s wound, he at once deduced that Karna was not a Brahmin. Despite the increasing pain Karna sat still. Karna could not attempt to drive it away as it would disturb his master. It settled on Karna’s thigh and began to bore Karna’s thigh. At that time a bee flew in from somewhere. One afternoon Parashurama was tired and rested his head in Karna’s lap. This would lead to Parashurama cursing Karna following his education.
And Karna refrained from telling him that he was not a Brahmin. Therefore he had decided to teach archery only to Brahmins. But in those days only Kshatriyas and Brahmins were allowed to stay with and learn archery from a teacher. Parashurama observed Karna’s humility and love of learning, Karna gladly demonstrated his skill and surprised him by his dexterity and concentration. After being refused by Drona, Karna wanted to learn advanced skills of archery, and hence he decided to learn from Parashurama, Drona’s own guru. However, according to some versions of the tale, appreciating Karna’s boldness, Drona tells Adhiratha to call his son “Karna. But he refused to take Karna as his student since he was not a Kshatriya. Karna thus approached Dronacharya, an established teacher who taught the Kuru princes. He longed to become an outstanding archer and a great warrior. He wished to improve his mastery of archery. He was far ahead of others in archery and in marksmanship. He was brighter than his friends, stronger and more determined. Addhiratha and his wife Radha pined for the child and were happy to foster the child. Lucky for the infant, he was discovered by Adhiratha, royal charioteer for The king of Hastinapura (his mother would soon be wed into the same house). So as any young person would, she panicked and floated the kid on the river and forgot about him. Jubilant at first, the truth soon dawned on Kunti that she was now an unwed mother, looked down upon by the society and royal family. Kunti was excited after the boon provided by Rishi Durvasa decided to summon Surya dev – the Sun God and was handed a son with Kawach (armor) and Kundala (earring). A conversation between Shri Krishna and Karna Birth and childhood of Karna