Topic Research: Karna and Duryodhana's Friendship



Background: 

Karna is one of the most tragic hero’s from the Mahabharata. He is known for his loyalty, bravery, and chivalry. Karna was the son of Kunti and the sun god, Surya. However, since Karna was born to Kunti before her marriage, she abandoned him in a basket along a river. An interesting aspect to Karna was that he was born with golden earrings and a strong armor to indicate that he could not be defeated. One interesting aspect of Karna's story, is that of his and Duryodhana's friendship and loyalty to each other.

                                                          Image Details: Karna and Indra, Source: Wikimedia

Duryodhana makes Karna a King:
When Karna participates in a weapons competition; he is required to announce his lineage. This was done so that men of equal ranks would fight each other. However, Duryodhana intervenes and says that Duryodhana was an “Arajna” (non-king) and that he was planning on anointing Karna as the king of Angas. This allowed Karna to participate in the competition and began his friendship with Duryodhana.

Duryodhana stands up for Karna:
Bhīma, a member of the Pandavas, insults Karna’s father due to his caste. In response to this Duryodhana expresses the loyalty of his friendship to Karna by standing up for him against those who have insulted him. This act strengthens Karna’s friendship towards Duryodhana and fills the void that Karna has of being rejected by others.

Karna and the Pandavas:
Since Bhīma had insulted Karna’s father, Karna harbors hate towards the Pandavas. Unlike Duryodhana, who plans on keeping the Pandavas kingdom, Karna recommends violence and want’s to “slay the Pandavas.” Even though Duryodhana had bad intentions from the beginning, it is Karna who “fuels Duryodhana's ambitions.” This is an aspect that I would like to delve more into as it is interesting how Karna sort of manipulated Duryodhana's actions because of his own resentment towards the Pandavas.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Introduction of a Future Psychologist

Image
Hi everyone! My Name is Rachana Rajala. I was born in Saskatoon, Canada; however, both of my parents are from India, particularly from a region known as Andhra Pradesh. I moved to the United States when I was two years and have been in Oklahoma since then. I am a currently a Senior at the University of Oklahoma. I am a psychology major and I am hoping to be a clinical psychologist who specializes in developmental and behavioral psychology. I think that the best class that I took last semester was a cognitive psychology course because it was really interesting and actually had to do something with my major. My biggest accomplishment was probably giving a five minute speech in one of my classes last semester. Since I was a kid,  I have had terrible social anxiety and have hated public speaking. However, last semester I was able to compose myself and be able to give a somewhat decent speech, so that would be my biggest accomplishment. Over the winter break I really didn't do any...
Read more

Comment Wall

Image
I have created a Storybook on the new google sites. I plan on doing a storybook about the one of the most ill-fated hero's of the Mahabharata, Karna.                                                                   Image Details: Karna, Source: Wikimedia Here is the link .
Read more

Week Story 5: Sita's exile

Image
                                                                    Image Details: Sita, Source: Wikimedia It was a foggy Friday morning. Lakshmana and I had to leave early in the morning so that the tabloids wouldn’t see us sneaking out of the house. He came into my room last night and told me that I had to leave with Lakshmana in the morning to go meet some constituents that could help him in the election. “Why me? Why not send Hanuman?” I looked at Rama intently. He never sent me anywhere by myself and especially after the rumors about the affair; we decided it would be better if I didn’t make any public appearances for some time. Rama ran his fingers through his hair, “I need Hanuman here, Sita. He needs to rally up the rest of our followers for the speech. Besides, the people adore you. Maybe not right ...
Read more