Kunti's first son, by the Sun, born before her marriage. Raised by the charioteer Adhiratha and his wife Radha.
Karna is Kunti's first son, born before her marriage and raised by the charioteer Adhiratha and his wife Radha. On the eve of war Kunti tells him the truth (MBh 5.145.2). He stays with Duryodhana, and promises her she will always have five sons (MBh 5.146.23).
न ते जातु नशिष्यन्ति पुत्राः पञ्च यशस्विनि ।निरर्जुनाः सकर्णा वा सार्जुना वा हते मयि ॥
na te jātu naśiṣyanti putrāḥ pañca yaśasvini |nirarjunāḥ sakarṇā vā sārjunā vā hate mayi ||
You will never have fewer than five sons, glorious one: five with Karna if Arjuna falls, or five with Arjuna if I am killed.
MBh 5.146.23Karna to Kunti
He refuses to change sides, and spares four of her sons. Only Arjuna, he says, will meet him in battle.
Kunti, still unmarried, bears him by the Sun and sets him adrift. Adhiratha finds him and gives him to Radha, who nurses him as her own. MBh 5.141.3 to 6
Mocked for his birth at the tournament, he is made king of Anga by Duryodhana. That debt shapes everything after.
He sides with the Kauravas and speaks against Draupadi. On his last day Krishna throws those words back at him.
Krishna tells him he is Kunti's eldest and could be king. He says he already knows, and refuses: the bonds of the family that raised him cannot be made false. MBh 5.141.12
Kunti comes to him by the river. He tells her what her choice cost him, then promises to spare four of her sons. MBh 5.146.5 to 23
He fights once Bhishma has fallen, commands the Kaurava army, and is killed by Arjuna.
सूतो हि मामधिरथो दृष्ट्वैवाभ्यानयद्गृहान् ।राधायाश्चैव मां प्रादात्सौहार्दान्मधुसूदन ॥
sūto hi māmadhiratho dṛṣṭvaivābhyānayadgṛhān |rādhāyāścaiva māṃ prādātsauhārdānmadhusūdana ||
Adhiratha the charioteer saw me and brought me home, and out of love he gave me to Radha, Madhusudana.
MBh 5.141.5Karna to Krishna
न पृथिव्या सकलया न सुवर्णस्य राशिभिः ।हर्षाद्भयाद्वा गोविन्द मिथ्या कर्तुं तदुत्सहे ॥
na pṛthivyā sakalayā na suvarṇasya rāśibhiḥ |harṣādbhayādvā govinda mithyā kartuṃ tadutsahe ||
Not for the whole earth, not for heaps of gold, not out of joy or fear, Govinda, could I make those bonds false.
Karna has just named the bonds: Radha who nursed him, Adhiratha who raised him, and the wives, sons and grandsons of his own life (MBh 5.141.5 to 11).
MBh 5.141.12Karna to Krishna
यदि जानाति मां राजा धर्मात्मा संयतेन्द्रियः ।कुन्त्याः प्रथमजं पुत्रं न स राज्यं ग्रहीष्यति ॥
yadi jānāti māṃ rājā dharmātmā saṃyatendriyaḥ |kuntyāḥ prathamajaṃ putraṃ na sa rājyaṃ grahīṣyati ||
If the righteous, self-controlled king learns that I am Kunti's firstborn, he will not take the kingdom.
MBh 5.141.21Karna to Krishna
अकरोन्मयि यत्पापं भवती सुमहात्ययम् ।अपाकीर्णोऽस्मि यन्मातस्तद्यशःकीर्तिनाशनम् ॥
akaronmayi yatpāpaṃ bhavatī sumahātyayam |apākīrṇo'smi yanmātastadyaśaḥkīrtināśanam ||
You did me a great wrong, mother, and it cost me dearly. You cast me away, and that took my name and my standing.
MBh 5.146.5Karna to Kunti
आनृशंस्यमथो वृत्तं रक्षन्सत्पुरुषोचितम् ।अतोऽर्थकरमप्येतन्न करोम्यद्य ते वचः ॥
ānṛśaṃsyamatho vṛttaṃ rakṣansatpuruṣocitam |ato'rthakaramapyetanna karomyadya te vacaḥ ||
Holding to kindness and to the conduct that suits a good man, I will not do what you ask today, though it would profit me.
MBh 5.146.19Karna to Kunti
न ते जातु नशिष्यन्ति पुत्राः पञ्च यशस्विनि ।निरर्जुनाः सकर्णा वा सार्जुना वा हते मयि ॥
na te jātu naśiṣyanti putrāḥ pañca yaśasvini |nirarjunāḥ sakarṇā vā sārjunā vā hate mayi ||
You will never have fewer than five sons, glorious one: five with Karna if Arjuna falls, or five with Arjuna if I am killed.
MBh 5.146.23Karna to Kunti
Arjuna, the brother Karna never stood beside, admits he cannot see his duty and asks to be taught.
Krishna on keeping to one's own dharma, imperfect as it may be. Readers have long tested Karna's loyalty against it.
Book six, between the two armies, told by Sanjaya after Bhishma falls.
Week 1 of the Gita by email: one verse a day and what it asks of you.
Send my weekLines come from the Sanskrit we hold for books 3, 5, 12, 13 and 14, a southern-recension text whose numbering runs close to the Kumbhakonam edition, so verse numbers can differ from the Pune critical edition. Events from books we have yet to add in Sanskrit carry no verse number. The English is Wisdom's own, read with Nilakantha's commentary, with K. M. Ganguli's public-domain translation consulted.
Wisdom translation, edited by Ankur Shukla.