karna

Karna (Sanskrit: कर्ण, IAST: Karṇa), also known as Vasusena, Anga-raja, and Radheya, is one of the major characters in the Hindu epic Mahābhārata. He is the spiritual son of Surya (the Sun deity) and princess Kunti (later the Pandu's queen). Kunti was given a boon to have child with desired qualities of divine gods. To know whether the boon was correct or not, she invoked Sun god and then Karna was born to unmarried teenage Kunti, who abandons the new born Karna in a basket on a river. The basket is discovered floating on the Ganges River. He is adopted and raised by foster Suta parents named Radha and Adhiratha Nandana of the charioteer and poet profession working for king Dhritarashtra. Karna grows up to be an accomplished warrior of extraordinary abilities, a gifted speaker and becomes a loyal friend of Duryodhana. He is appointed the king of Anga (Bengal) by Duryodhana. Karna joined the Duryodhana's side in the Kurukshetra war. He was a key warrior who aimed to kill 3rd Pandava Arjuna but dies in a battle with him during the war.He is a tragic hero in the Mahabharata, in a manner similar to Aristotle's literary category of "flawed good man". He meets his biological mother late in the epic, and then discovers that he is the older half-brother of those he is fighting against. Karna is a symbol of someone who is rejected by those who should love him but do not given the circumstances, yet becomes a man of exceptional abilities willing to give his love and life as a loyal friend. His character is developed in the epic to raise and discuss major emotional and dharma (duty, ethics, moral) dilemmas. His story has inspired many secondary works, poetry and dramatic plays in the Hindu arts tradition, both in India and in southeast Asia.A regional tradition believes that Karna founded the city of Karnal, in contemporary Haryana.

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