LORD KRISHNA PRAISED KARNA ... REALLY ?
Since Karna failed to prove his superiority over Arjuna and lost all battles,his fans bring the statements of Lord Krishna without even understanding the real meaning of those statements.In this post we shall analyse those statements.
PS: We would be using Critical Edition here as it removes interpolation and exaggeration to some extent.Many times there are statements which are exaggerated and too contradictory.(For Eg: Salya superior to all Pandava+Kaurava force combined)
Okay,lets being -
>>> INCIDENT 1 - Karna Parva,Chapter 72
KMG'S VIEW -
Hear in brief, O son of Pandu! I regard the mighty car-warrior Karna as thy equal, or perhaps, thy superior! With the greatest care and resolution shouldst thou slay him in great battle. In energy he is equal to Agni. As regards speed, he is equal to the impetuosity of the wind. In wrath, he resembles the Destroyer himself. Endued with might, he resembles a lion in the formation of his body. He is eight ratnis in stature. His arms are large. His chest is broad. He is invincible. He is sensitive. He is a hero. He is, again, the foremost of heroes. He is exceedingly handsome. Possessed of every accomplishment of a warrior, he is a dispeller of the fears of friends. Engaged in the good of Dhritarashtra's son, he always hates the sons of Pandu. No one, not even the gods with Vasava at their head, can slay the son of Radha, save thee, as I think
*** Seems to be a very contradictory statement by the Supreme Lord of Universe :) Calls Karna equal to Arjun or even superior just before their final fight,no one,not even an Army of Gods leaded by Indra can Slay him.
Well it isn't done yet,lets read the opinions of critical edition -
BORI -
57 अवश्यं तु मया वाच्यं यत पथ्यं तव पाण्डव
मावमंस्था महाबाहॊ कर्णम आहवशॊभिनम
58 कर्णॊ हि बलवान धृष्टः कृतास्त्रश च महारथः
कृती च चित्रयॊधी च देशे काले च कॊविदः
59 तेजसा वह्नि सदृशॊ वायुवेगसमॊ जवे
अन्तकप्रतिमः करॊधे सिंहसंहननॊ बली
60 अयॊ रत्निर महाबाहुर वयूढॊरस्कः सुदुर्जयः
अतिमानी च शूरश च परवीरः परियदर्शनः
61 सर्वैर यॊधगुणैर युक्तॊ मित्राणाम अभयंकरः
सततं पाण्डव दवेषी धार्तराष्ट्र हिते रतः
62 सर्वैर अवध्यॊ राधेयॊ देवैर अपि सवासवैः
ऋते तवाम इति मे बुद्धिस तवम अद्य जहि सूतजम
http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/mbs/mbs08050.htm
Translation:
“O Pandava! However, I must speak words that are beneficial for you. O mighty-armed one! Do not think lightly of Karna. He is the ornament of a battle. Karna is strong and insolent. He is skilled in weapons and a maharatha. He is accomplished and colourful in fighting. He knows about time and place. He is like the fire in his energy. He is like the wind in his speed. He is like Yama in his anger. The powerful one is capable of withstanding a lion. The mighty-armed one’s chest is one aratni in breadth. He is extremely difficult to defeat. He is very proud and brave. He is extremely valiant and handsome. He has all the qualities of a warrior and is terrible to his enemies. He has always hated the Pandavas and has been engaged in the welfare of the sons of Dhritarashtra. Radheya cannot be killed by any enemy, even the gods, including Vasava. In my view, you are the only exception.”
*** Now,the critical edition removes Krishna calling Karna equal(or Superior) to Arjun.So we should ignore this statement.CE only mentions Krishna instructing Arjuna not to take Karna lightly.
Now coming to the second most important part - Karna being unslayable by all gods headed by Indra.
Now,Indra is invincible.He is the king of demi gods, daily drinks Amrit,and having all weapons of trinity,can anyone venture to vanquish him? I know Indra has been defeated many times but its only when his opponents got a boon from trinity and Gods do have to respect the boons and curses.All demi gods are invincible.Apart from Trinity,no one can defeat them.Karna was a mere mortal,can he defeat a God ? NO
Then about the statement of Lord Krishna ?
Well,seems like we are forgetting an important event -
Karna cursed by the Agnihotri Brahmin,to be killed by his foremost Rival -
Narrative(BORI also has the same):
Filled with wrath, the Brahmana, rebuking him, said these words, 'O thou of wicked conduct, thou deservest to be killed. Let the fruit of this act be thine, O thou of wicked soul. While fighting him, O wretch whom thou always challengest, and for whose sake thou strivest so much every day, the earth shall swallow the wheel of thy car! And while the wheel of thy car shall thus be swallowed up by the earth, thy foe, putting forth his prowess, will cut off thy head
http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/m12/m12a002.htm
*** Here the Brahmin clearly mentions that Karna was to be slayed by his foremost Rival whom he always challenged.Clearly points towards Arjuna.
THIS WAS THE REASON WHY KRISHNA SAYS - EVEN THE GODS HEADED BY INDRA CANNOT SLAY KARNA.BECAUSE KARNA HAD TO BE KILLED BY ARJUNA AS PER THE CURSE OF BRAHMIN.AND TRINITY WOULD ALWAYS HONOURED THE BOONS AND CURSES.IT DOES NOT PROVES THAT KARNA WAS SUPERIOR TO INDRA,JUST MEANS THAT KARNA CANNOT BE KILLED BY ANYONE,BE IT THE GREAT INDRA,BECAUSE HE HAS BEEN CURSED TO BE KILLED BY ARJUNA.
AND IN BOTH,BORI AS WELL AS KMG,KRISHNA ALSO SAYS THAT NO ONE,NOT EVEN THE GODS CAN SLAY KARNA,BUT....ARJUNA IS THE ONLY EXCEPTION
BORI - "Radheya cannot be killed by any enemy, even the gods, including Vasava. In my view, you are the only exception."
KMG - "No one, not even the gods with Vasava at their head, can slay the son of Radha, #save #thee, as I think"
***'save thee' which means 'Except You'
SO ALTOGETHER IT WAS JUST AN HONOUR OF A CURSE WHICH KARNA GOT FROM THE BRAHMIN,NOWHERE IS HIS SUPERIORITY PROVED,NEITHER OVER ARJUNA NOR OVER INDRA.
----------------------------------------
>>> INCIDENT 2 - Drona Parva
This narration is almost the same in KMG as well as BORI.
Narrative:
The man does not exist in this world that could not stay before Karna armed with that dart and looking like Kartikeya in battle. By good luck, his (natural) armour had been taken away. By good luck, his earrings also had been taken away. By good luck, his infallible dart also is now baffled, through Ghatotkacha. Clad in (natural) coat of mail and decked with his (natural) ear-rings, Karna, who had his senses under control, could singly vanquish the three worlds with the very gods. Neither Vasava, nor Varuna the lord of the waters, nor Yama, could venture to approach him. Indeed, if that bull among men had his armour and ear-rings, neither thyself, bending the Gandiva, nor myself, uplifting my discus, called Sudarsana, could vanquish him in battle. For thy good, Karna was divested of his ear-rings by Sakra with the help of an illusion. Similarly was that subjugator of hostile towns deprived of his (natural) armour. Indeed, because Karna, cutting off his (natural) armour and his brilliant car-rings, gave them unto Sakra, it is for that he came to be called Vaikartana. Karna now seems to me to be like an angry snake of virulent poison stupefied by power of incantation, or like a fire of mild flames. From that time, O mighty-armed one, when the high-souled Sakra gave that dart unto Karna in exchange for the latter's ear-rings, and celestial armour, that dart, viz., which has slain Ghatotkacha, from that time, Vrisha, having obtained it, had always regarded thee as slain in battle! But though deprived of that dart, O sinless one, I swear to thee that hero is still incapable of being slain by anybody else save thee
www.sacred-texts.com/hin/m07/m07177.htm
Okay,Lets try to understand these.
> No one could stand before Karna if had Indra's Shakti.Now Shakti was infallible weapon because Indra's boon had to be honoured,that no one could resist this weapon.Its the skill of Indra's weapon and not Karna's skill.It does not proves Karna's superiority in anyway.
Arjuna had the most powerful weapon of Indra,which is thunderbolt,even more powerful than Shakti.
Narrative:
" O Karna, be it as thou wishest! O son, except the thunder-bolt alone, tell me what it is that thou desirest to have!"
http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/m03/m03308.htm
When Karna wanted to exchange his armour for a weapon,Indra was ready to give him any weapon except Thunderbolt (Vajra) which clearly proves that it was more powerful than Shakti.
>> Now the second point -
- Karna could Vanquish Indra,Yama,Varuna.
- Arjuna bending the Gandiva or even Krishna uplifting the Sudershan could have not vanquished him
All this due to two very important reasons - 'Kavach Kundal' and When Karna had his 'Senses Under Control'.
First lets discuss about having 'Senses Under Control'.
Having Senses under Control is not so easy.You need to engage in severe penance and perform austerities to get you senses under control.Arjun had his senses under control during the five years of exile when he did Penance for Mahadeva.That was the reason he was able to Gratify Lord Shiva in hands on combat.Then went to Indralok,learnt weapons from Indra,Yama,Kuvera and Varuna.Defeated Nivetkavachas,Kalakeyas and Pulomas.
During the first month Arjun used to eat one fruit every third day, in the second month, one fruit every six days, and in the third month, once a fortnight. In the fourth month, Arjun survived on the air only, standing on the tips of his toes with folded arms raised above his head. He bathed three times a day and kept his mind and senses under perfect control. Because of his intense meditations, Arjun began to glow like the Sun.
This a kind of Penance you need to perform to get your senses under control,not by eating meat,drinking wine and womanizing.
Now the second point,the amour of Suryadeva-
As per the boon of Suryadeva its very clear that the armour cannot be broken.Krishna who is God would have always respected the boon given by Surya.Though we can see even better armours in Mahabharat but breaking the armour of Surya and killing karna would means overtaking a boon of Surya.Can Lord Krishna being a god let this happen ?
So the verdict of this statement is that Karna can Vanquish Gods only when He has his armour,shakti and he has his senses under control.
Gods would never overtake the boon of Surya/Indra and having your senses under control,you can perform much better.
However Arjuna performed a similar feat in Khandava Dahan.Without having any armour,without having his senses under control,having Krishna as his second,Arjuna defeated the entire army of demi gods and stopped Indra deva too from extinguishing the fire.
IF YOU READ THE ABOVE NARRATIVE CAREFULLY,THEN YOU WOULD REALISE THAT LORD KRISHNA IS NOT PRAISING KARNA,BUT HE IS PRASING THE CELESTIAL EQUIPMENTS WHICH KARNA POSESSED AND NOW HE WAS DEPRIVED OF THEM.HE DID NOT DO ANY PENANCE FOR THEM,GOT THEM FOR FREE,EXCHANGED IT FOR OTHER AND KILLED A POWERFUL ENEMY(GHATOTKACH) WITH THE HELP OF IT.
IT DOES NOT PROVES THE SKILLS AND EFFECTIVENESS OF KARNA....IT PROVES THAT GOD RESPECTS BOONS AND CURSES.THIS NARRATIVE DOES NOT GLORIFY KARNA,IT GLORIFIES KAVACH KUNDAL AND SHAKTI.GIVE THESE EQUIPMENTS TO SHAKUNI, LORD KRISHNA WOULD HAVE SAID THAT SHAKUNI CANNOT BE VANQUISHED EVEN BY INDRA OR VARUNA. :P
PS: Its better to judge warriors from wars,rather than words.Actions speak more than words.However those who are too obsessed with words can check out this post.
Opinions of Gods about Arjuna - http://on.fb.me/1AAlvZd
~PG
Since Karna failed to prove his superiority over Arjuna and lost all battles,his fans bring the statements of Lord Krishna without even understanding the real meaning of those statements.In this post we shall analyse those statements.
PS: We would be using Critical Edition here as it removes interpolation and exaggeration to some extent.Many times there are statements which are exaggerated and too contradictory.(For Eg: Salya superior to all Pandava+Kaurava force combined)
Okay,lets being -
>>> INCIDENT 1 - Karna Parva,Chapter 72
KMG'S VIEW -
Hear in brief, O son of Pandu! I regard the mighty car-warrior Karna as thy equal, or perhaps, thy superior! With the greatest care and resolution shouldst thou slay him in great battle. In energy he is equal to Agni. As regards speed, he is equal to the impetuosity of the wind. In wrath, he resembles the Destroyer himself. Endued with might, he resembles a lion in the formation of his body. He is eight ratnis in stature. His arms are large. His chest is broad. He is invincible. He is sensitive. He is a hero. He is, again, the foremost of heroes. He is exceedingly handsome. Possessed of every accomplishment of a warrior, he is a dispeller of the fears of friends. Engaged in the good of Dhritarashtra's son, he always hates the sons of Pandu. No one, not even the gods with Vasava at their head, can slay the son of Radha, save thee, as I think
*** Seems to be a very contradictory statement by the Supreme Lord of Universe :) Calls Karna equal to Arjun or even superior just before their final fight,no one,not even an Army of Gods leaded by Indra can Slay him.
Well it isn't done yet,lets read the opinions of critical edition -
BORI -
57 अवश्यं तु मया वाच्यं यत पथ्यं तव पाण्डव
मावमंस्था महाबाहॊ कर्णम आहवशॊभिनम
58 कर्णॊ हि बलवान धृष्टः कृतास्त्रश च महारथः
कृती च चित्रयॊधी च देशे काले च कॊविदः
59 तेजसा वह्नि सदृशॊ वायुवेगसमॊ जवे
अन्तकप्रतिमः करॊधे सिंहसंहननॊ बली
60 अयॊ रत्निर महाबाहुर वयूढॊरस्कः सुदुर्जयः
अतिमानी च शूरश च परवीरः परियदर्शनः
61 सर्वैर यॊधगुणैर युक्तॊ मित्राणाम अभयंकरः
सततं पाण्डव दवेषी धार्तराष्ट्र हिते रतः
62 सर्वैर अवध्यॊ राधेयॊ देवैर अपि सवासवैः
ऋते तवाम इति मे बुद्धिस तवम अद्य जहि सूतजम
http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/mbs/mbs08050.htm
Translation:
“O Pandava! However, I must speak words that are beneficial for you. O mighty-armed one! Do not think lightly of Karna. He is the ornament of a battle. Karna is strong and insolent. He is skilled in weapons and a maharatha. He is accomplished and colourful in fighting. He knows about time and place. He is like the fire in his energy. He is like the wind in his speed. He is like Yama in his anger. The powerful one is capable of withstanding a lion. The mighty-armed one’s chest is one aratni in breadth. He is extremely difficult to defeat. He is very proud and brave. He is extremely valiant and handsome. He has all the qualities of a warrior and is terrible to his enemies. He has always hated the Pandavas and has been engaged in the welfare of the sons of Dhritarashtra. Radheya cannot be killed by any enemy, even the gods, including Vasava. In my view, you are the only exception.”
*** Now,the critical edition removes Krishna calling Karna equal(or Superior) to Arjun.So we should ignore this statement.CE only mentions Krishna instructing Arjuna not to take Karna lightly.
Now coming to the second most important part - Karna being unslayable by all gods headed by Indra.
Now,Indra is invincible.He is the king of demi gods, daily drinks Amrit,and having all weapons of trinity,can anyone venture to vanquish him? I know Indra has been defeated many times but its only when his opponents got a boon from trinity and Gods do have to respect the boons and curses.All demi gods are invincible.Apart from Trinity,no one can defeat them.Karna was a mere mortal,can he defeat a God ? NO
Then about the statement of Lord Krishna ?
Well,seems like we are forgetting an important event -
Karna cursed by the Agnihotri Brahmin,to be killed by his foremost Rival -
Narrative(BORI also has the same):
Filled with wrath, the Brahmana, rebuking him, said these words, 'O thou of wicked conduct, thou deservest to be killed. Let the fruit of this act be thine, O thou of wicked soul. While fighting him, O wretch whom thou always challengest, and for whose sake thou strivest so much every day, the earth shall swallow the wheel of thy car! And while the wheel of thy car shall thus be swallowed up by the earth, thy foe, putting forth his prowess, will cut off thy head
http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/m12/m12a002.htm
*** Here the Brahmin clearly mentions that Karna was to be slayed by his foremost Rival whom he always challenged.Clearly points towards Arjuna.
THIS WAS THE REASON WHY KRISHNA SAYS - EVEN THE GODS HEADED BY INDRA CANNOT SLAY KARNA.BECAUSE KARNA HAD TO BE KILLED BY ARJUNA AS PER THE CURSE OF BRAHMIN.AND TRINITY WOULD ALWAYS HONOURED THE BOONS AND CURSES.IT DOES NOT PROVES THAT KARNA WAS SUPERIOR TO INDRA,JUST MEANS THAT KARNA CANNOT BE KILLED BY ANYONE,BE IT THE GREAT INDRA,BECAUSE HE HAS BEEN CURSED TO BE KILLED BY ARJUNA.
AND IN BOTH,BORI AS WELL AS KMG,KRISHNA ALSO SAYS THAT NO ONE,NOT EVEN THE GODS CAN SLAY KARNA,BUT....ARJUNA IS THE ONLY EXCEPTION
BORI - "Radheya cannot be killed by any enemy, even the gods, including Vasava. In my view, you are the only exception."
KMG - "No one, not even the gods with Vasava at their head, can slay the son of Radha, #save #thee, as I think"
***'save thee' which means 'Except You'
SO ALTOGETHER IT WAS JUST AN HONOUR OF A CURSE WHICH KARNA GOT FROM THE BRAHMIN,NOWHERE IS HIS SUPERIORITY PROVED,NEITHER OVER ARJUNA NOR OVER INDRA.
----------------------------------------
>>> INCIDENT 2 - Drona Parva
This narration is almost the same in KMG as well as BORI.
Narrative:
The man does not exist in this world that could not stay before Karna armed with that dart and looking like Kartikeya in battle. By good luck, his (natural) armour had been taken away. By good luck, his earrings also had been taken away. By good luck, his infallible dart also is now baffled, through Ghatotkacha. Clad in (natural) coat of mail and decked with his (natural) ear-rings, Karna, who had his senses under control, could singly vanquish the three worlds with the very gods. Neither Vasava, nor Varuna the lord of the waters, nor Yama, could venture to approach him. Indeed, if that bull among men had his armour and ear-rings, neither thyself, bending the Gandiva, nor myself, uplifting my discus, called Sudarsana, could vanquish him in battle. For thy good, Karna was divested of his ear-rings by Sakra with the help of an illusion. Similarly was that subjugator of hostile towns deprived of his (natural) armour. Indeed, because Karna, cutting off his (natural) armour and his brilliant car-rings, gave them unto Sakra, it is for that he came to be called Vaikartana. Karna now seems to me to be like an angry snake of virulent poison stupefied by power of incantation, or like a fire of mild flames. From that time, O mighty-armed one, when the high-souled Sakra gave that dart unto Karna in exchange for the latter's ear-rings, and celestial armour, that dart, viz., which has slain Ghatotkacha, from that time, Vrisha, having obtained it, had always regarded thee as slain in battle! But though deprived of that dart, O sinless one, I swear to thee that hero is still incapable of being slain by anybody else save thee
www.sacred-texts.com/hin/m07/m07177.htm
Okay,Lets try to understand these.
> No one could stand before Karna if had Indra's Shakti.Now Shakti was infallible weapon because Indra's boon had to be honoured,that no one could resist this weapon.Its the skill of Indra's weapon and not Karna's skill.It does not proves Karna's superiority in anyway.
Arjuna had the most powerful weapon of Indra,which is thunderbolt,even more powerful than Shakti.
Narrative:
" O Karna, be it as thou wishest! O son, except the thunder-bolt alone, tell me what it is that thou desirest to have!"
http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/m03/m03308.htm
When Karna wanted to exchange his armour for a weapon,Indra was ready to give him any weapon except Thunderbolt (Vajra) which clearly proves that it was more powerful than Shakti.
>> Now the second point -
- Karna could Vanquish Indra,Yama,Varuna.
- Arjuna bending the Gandiva or even Krishna uplifting the Sudershan could have not vanquished him
All this due to two very important reasons - 'Kavach Kundal' and When Karna had his 'Senses Under Control'.
First lets discuss about having 'Senses Under Control'.
Having Senses under Control is not so easy.You need to engage in severe penance and perform austerities to get you senses under control.Arjun had his senses under control during the five years of exile when he did Penance for Mahadeva.That was the reason he was able to Gratify Lord Shiva in hands on combat.Then went to Indralok,learnt weapons from Indra,Yama,Kuvera and Varuna.Defeated Nivetkavachas,Kalakeyas and Pulomas.
During the first month Arjun used to eat one fruit every third day, in the second month, one fruit every six days, and in the third month, once a fortnight. In the fourth month, Arjun survived on the air only, standing on the tips of his toes with folded arms raised above his head. He bathed three times a day and kept his mind and senses under perfect control. Because of his intense meditations, Arjun began to glow like the Sun.
This a kind of Penance you need to perform to get your senses under control,not by eating meat,drinking wine and womanizing.
Now the second point,the amour of Suryadeva-
As per the boon of Suryadeva its very clear that the armour cannot be broken.Krishna who is God would have always respected the boon given by Surya.Though we can see even better armours in Mahabharat but breaking the armour of Surya and killing karna would means overtaking a boon of Surya.Can Lord Krishna being a god let this happen ?
So the verdict of this statement is that Karna can Vanquish Gods only when He has his armour,shakti and he has his senses under control.
Gods would never overtake the boon of Surya/Indra and having your senses under control,you can perform much better.
However Arjuna performed a similar feat in Khandava Dahan.Without having any armour,without having his senses under control,having Krishna as his second,Arjuna defeated the entire army of demi gods and stopped Indra deva too from extinguishing the fire.
IF YOU READ THE ABOVE NARRATIVE CAREFULLY,THEN YOU WOULD REALISE THAT LORD KRISHNA IS NOT PRAISING KARNA,BUT HE IS PRASING THE CELESTIAL EQUIPMENTS WHICH KARNA POSESSED AND NOW HE WAS DEPRIVED OF THEM.HE DID NOT DO ANY PENANCE FOR THEM,GOT THEM FOR FREE,EXCHANGED IT FOR OTHER AND KILLED A POWERFUL ENEMY(GHATOTKACH) WITH THE HELP OF IT.
IT DOES NOT PROVES THE SKILLS AND EFFECTIVENESS OF KARNA....IT PROVES THAT GOD RESPECTS BOONS AND CURSES.THIS NARRATIVE DOES NOT GLORIFY KARNA,IT GLORIFIES KAVACH KUNDAL AND SHAKTI.GIVE THESE EQUIPMENTS TO SHAKUNI, LORD KRISHNA WOULD HAVE SAID THAT SHAKUNI CANNOT BE VANQUISHED EVEN BY INDRA OR VARUNA. :P
PS: Its better to judge warriors from wars,rather than words.Actions speak more than words.However those who are too obsessed with words can check out this post.
Opinions of Gods about Arjuna - http://on.fb.me/1AAlvZd
~PG
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