Episode 20

Karna’s controversial coronation- Invitation to future war[i]

Dear Readers! Those who have seen this story from the films – please read this original version of sage Vyasa’s Maha Bharata. We can see how the popular version of Kshatriya vis-à-vis low caste debate that is being portrayed by media can be easily dispelled. The sociological perspectives of this story have lot of management insights. Read and reflect.

The Story

The young Kauravas (the hundred sons of Dhritarashtra) and the Panndavas (the five sons of Pandu Maharaj) were assigned to learn the art of warfare from Drona by their grandfather Bhishma. Drona was an efficient trainer who imparted training to all disciples in archery, mace fighting, sword fighting and the art of using sastras and astras[ii]. He also trained warriors of various kingdoms like Vrishtis and Andhakas. Karna, the adopted son of Radha (belongs to Sūta caste[iii]) also approached Drona for education. Of all the disciples, Drona personally liked Arjuna and believed that he was the best archer of the world and none can beat him in bravery and dexterity in archery. 

Once the education was over, Drona wanted that all the princes would display their skills in the presence of all elders and people of Hastinapura. He requested the king, Dhrutarashtra to arrange a place for the princes to display their talents. Dhrutarashtra was very happy, and since he was deaf, asked his brother Vidura to arrange a suitable place. Vidura selected a vastu compatible place with even space and bereft of bushes and thorns. He got erected a makeshift building for the comfortable sitting of the kings and queens.

On the appointed day Drona escorted all the royal entourage- including the queens, ministers and elders like Dhrutarashtra, Bhishma, Krupa, Bahlika etc. The city was well decked and all the castes of people assembled to witness the great feats of princes. All princes arrived and displayed their talents of their choice. Bhima and Duryodhana walked down to the podium and fought ferociously. It was show of strength and almost became a bitter battle with the audience taking sides of either of the warriors. Sensing distress, Drona ordered Aswatthama to stop the war forthwith. Then the turn of Arjuna came and he came forward to show his feats in archery. He created fire with Agneya astra and extinguished with Varuna astra. He created a cling of clouds and scattered them with Vayu astra. He aimed arrows with dexterity and drew the applause of the audience. Unlike Bhima- Duryodhana rivalry, there were none to challenge the supremacy of Arjuna.

Duryodhana was discomforted as there was no warrior in his camp to waylay the warrior in Arjuna. Karna was not an invitee since the exhibition of talents was restricted to princes for the witness by their parents, ministers and people. So, he entered the podium after taking permission by the gate keepers[iv]. A mighty warrior himself, he entered with majesty and traversed to the stadium, bowed to Drona and Krupa with scant respect[v]. Then with a resonant voice shouted aloud addressing Arjuna, ‘Hi, Arjuna! In all feats of archery, I can perform better than you and I will surpass you in certain aspects. Don’t be haughty’. There were applauses from the audience as he was blessed with born arrow shield and his face was as bright as the sun (Karna was the son of Surya- the sun god with Kunti and was brought up by a Sūta caste person which fact was not known to anybody in the audience).  

Karna immediately took permission of Drona and demonstrated all feats that were earlier done by Arjuna much to delight of Duryodhana. Duryodhana came forward and hugged him and all his hundred brothers surrounded him heaping accolades. The battle lines for Kurukshetra war were already drawn with people taking sides. Karna sought a wrestling with Arjuna then and there itself. He challenged that he would cut off the head of Arjuna in the presence of Drona himself. The atmosphere was charged with emotions with Duryodhana instigating Karna and all people were dividing among themselves betting Arjuna or Karna.

Kunti was witnessing the entire scene. She knew that both were her sons and she did not find any strategy to arrest the emotionally surcharged atmosphere. She fell unconscious only to be woken up by Vidura later on.

At this stage, Krupa came forward and told aloud, ‘Hi, Karna! Here is Arjuna, the son of Pandu Maharaj, a Kshatriya belonging to Kuru clan. He will certainly fight with you. Now you tell me your lineage- to which clan you adore with and who your parents are. A prince will fight with prince and not with anyone lesser than the prince or lesser than his caste or lesser than the customary etiquette[vi]’. Karna blushed and his face went pale and bent his head without any word in his mouth.

There was something good about to happen for Duryodhana a few seconds back but suddenly the fortunes appear fast receding. He hurriedly came forward and told, ‘As per dharmasastra, there are three ways to become a king- by birth in princely family, by being a warrior, and being a commander of army[vii] . He added, ‘If Arjuna is not willing to fight on this ground, I am right now coronate Karna as the king of Anga desa[viii] (present day Bihar in India). Then and there he consulted the king Dhrutarashtra and Bhishma and coroneted Karna as the king.

Analysis of the Story

Five points are to be taken note in analysing this story before drawing any conclusions regarding demeaning of caste of Karna as popularly portrayed in films and some other media.

First, the agenda of the meeting of elders is to witness the art of warfare of princes and that’s it. It is not meant for witnessing the skills from anyone from the public or any disciple other than the prince-disciples of Drona. Karna, who was unconnected to the events entered the field with the permission of gate keepers who were awestruck (vismayothphulla lochanaihi) perhaps by the aura in his face. In Maha Bharata, Veda Vyasa clearly mentioned about this fact. While sons of Dhrutarashtra and the sons of Pandu Maharaj were displaying their war skills, he entered and immediately challenged Arjuna.

Second, when the agenda was getting deviated, it is clearly the failure of leadership on the part of Drona to allow Karna to perform archery feats. The other elders also kept mum and silent.

Third, Karna created a surcharged atmosphere by proclaiming that he would cut off Arjuna’s head in the presence of his Guru (गुरो: सम्मुखम्) which showed his audacity to challenge elders and  the entire court. The very dignity of the king and his throne are disregarded. At this stage, Krupa intervened and proclaimed that a prince can fight with a person of equal stature in caste, etiquette, and power. There was no evidence of anybody including Krupa knowing the caste of Karna beforehand; and the provocation was not meant to demean his caste. It may be a genuine enquiry to know the lineage of the person who is challenging a Kshatriya prince. Further they wanted to know whether Karna was worth enough to wage a war with Arjuna. Karna did not tell his lineage in the podium and just kept quiet.

Fourth, Duryodhana announced that he was going to coronate Karna if Arjuna was not willing to fight anyone other than a prince. What is the authority he had to announce bequeathing a kingdom? When Dhrutarashtra and Pandu Maharaj were children, Bhishma was ruling the kingdom of Hastinapura as a de facto king. Once they grew up, Dhrutarashtra was officially announced as king, and since he was blind, Pandu Maharaj ruled as a de facto king and expanded the horizons of the kingdom. By the time this episode of exhibition of skills of the princes was announced, Pandu Maharaj had died and Dhrutarashtra was the titular head of the State. Since Dharmaraja was elder to all princes, his claim for Yuvaraj could not be brushed aside either (though he never expressed his intentions to become Yuvraj). With this background, how can Duryodhana announce that he would give the kingdom which he does not possesses to Karna openly and then consult his father and Bhishma to approve his actions?  

Fifth, we need to enquire the role of elders when dharma was at stake. When an unknown person was entering and challenging the authority of a prince, what was the role of elders? By allowing Karna to the stadium, they passively allowed the agenda to be hijacked and they invited troubles and the future war. As elders they should have prevented it.

Duryodhana was not having any warrior matching the might of Arjuna. When the agenda for which the meeting was convened was diverted, it is possible that unsavoury things happen to the people at large. Similarly, when Duryodhana announced kingdom to Karna, why did Bhishma and Dhrutarashtra gave their tacit consent? Karna had already demeaned the dignity of the chair by proclaiming that he would cut off the head of Arjuna. How can the elders approve Duryodhana’s decision in favour of such person?  Narada Smriti clearly states:

 यत्र धर्मो ह्यधर्मेण सत्यं यत्रानृतेन च।

हन्यते प्रेक्षमाणास्तु हतास्तत्र सभासदः॥ (yatra dharmo hyadharmeṇa satyaṃ yatrānṛtena ca। hanyate prekṣamāṇāstu hatāstatra sabhāsadaḥ॥) - Narada Smriti

(Where dharma is destroyed by adharma and truth by false, the people who simply witness it become themselves deprived).  By passively allowing Duryodhana to indulge in adharma, the elders in the court allowed dharma to be destroyed. It boomeranged and the seeds of future war were sown even before they became kings.

A careful study of the story reveals that Karna never revealed his caste lineage and it was known only when his father came to court to embrace him. When Krupa sought the details of lineage, it was not to insult a person on caste grounds but to control the surcharged atmosphere and to control the haughty temperament of Karna. Again, the morality of the age (Five thousand years back) was that princes fight with princes and Krupa wanted to ascertain whether Karna was worthy enough to challenge Arjuna. We can recollect two incidents of this nature. When Dharmaraja asked Duryodhana to choose any one of the five brothers to fight, he chooses Bhima only as was a worthy warrior to fight. Similarly, when Krishna asks Jarasandha to opt either Bhima or himself (Krishna) for a wresting, Jarasandha opts Bhima only. In those days, marriages were between equals and wrestling was among equals only. Portraying stories with modern sociological perspectives may not justify the true interpretation of the stories.

Finally, we should recall the story of Duryodhana Ghosha yatra (episode 3) where Duryodhana was defeated by a Gandharva and was being dragged away to his place. Dharmaraja ordered Bhima and Arjuna to fight with Gandharva and rescue Duryodhana. When Bhima refused, he famously quotes:

“When we face risk from some outsider, we are not five but one hundred five (Hundred Kauravas plus five Pandavas). When a fight happens amongst us they are hundred and we are five”.

That was the dharma of Dhrmaraja. But an outsider (Karna) wanted to cut off the head of Arjuna, Duryodhana rewarded him with kingdom. That was the dharma adopted by Duryodhana. Maha Bharata, was thus a conflict between dharma and adharma with various overtones.

Points to ponder

1.    Can elders afford to sit spectators when dharma is dethroned by unrighteous persons? What would be the repercussions?

2.   Can you, as a family member, reward an intruder scolding your own family member?

3.   In modern age, can the authorities allow the agenda of board meetings to be hijacked by someone? What would be the repercussions?

4.   How Dharmaraja is different from Duryodhana in adopting dharma?

5.   Specify the moral that you derive out of the story?

6.   What are the management lessons from this story?

Footnotes

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[i] This story is taken from Adi Parva of Maha Bharata written by Ved Vyasa

[ii] Sastras & astras – Astra (अस्त्र) is a weapon hurled at the enemy with intonation of a mantra. Each astra has a presiding deity. Sastra(शस्त्र), on the other hand is weapon handled by the warrior- like mace, sword, dagger etc.

[iii] Sūta caste- A person born to a Kshatriya man and a Brahmin lady. Sūtas are bards and chariot making caste of people.

[iv] दत्तेस्वकाशे पुरुषै: विस्मयोध्फुल्ल लोचनै:

विवेश रङ्गं विस्तीर्णं कर्ण: परपुरञ्जय: ||- Adi Parva, 135.1

dattesvakāśe puruṣai: vismayodhphulla locanai:

viveśa raṅgaṃ vistīrṇaṃ karṇa: parapurañjaya: - Adi Parva, 135.1.

[v] प्रणामं द्रोणकृपयो: नात्यादृत मिवा करोत्  (praṇāmaṃ droṇakṛpayo: nātyādṛta mivā karot)- Adi Parva 135.6.

[vi] ततो विदित्वा पार्थस्त्वां प्रतियोत्स्यति वा न वा |

वृथाकुलसमाचारैर्न युध्यन्ते नृपात्मजा: ||-  Adi parva 135. 33

tato viditvā pārthastvāṃ pratiyotsyati vā na vā |

vṛthākulasamācārairna yudhyante nṛpātmajā: ||- Adi parva 135. 33.

[vii] आचार्य त्रिविधा योनिः राज्ञां शास्त्र विनिश्चये |

सत्कुलीनश्च शूरश्च यश्च सेनां प्रकर्षति || - Adi parva135.35

ācārya trividhā yoniḥ rājñāṃ śāstra viniścaye |

satkulīnaśca śūraśca yaśca senāṃ prakarṣati || - Adi parva135.35.

[viii] सत्कुलीनश्च शूरश्च यश्च सेनां प्रकर्षति ||

तस्मादेषोsङ्ग विषये मया राज्येsभिषिच्यते | - Adi Parva 135.36.

satkulīnaśca śūraśca yaśca senāṃ prakarṣati ||

tasmādeṣosṅga viṣaye mayā rājyesbhiṣicyate |) - Adi Parva 135.36.

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