It is indisputable that Karna is one of the most fascinating characters in Mahabharata. He had sterling character and was a victim of circumstances. His fighting skills were unmatched and loyalty to his friend, unflinching. But a combination of fate, personal traits and shrewed battle strategy of Krishna ensured that he would not deliver the result which his best friend Duryodhana was hoping for. Here is an analysis of the factors that paved the way to his downfall.
Krishna, the strategist
Krishna was well aware that Karna is more than a match for Arjuna in his skills with the bow and arrow. It was not a battle that Arjuna could be sure of winning. And Karna nursed a deep wound in his mind from the day he was insulted in public. He had Arjuna as his target and was focusing all his energies for the ultimate battle.
It was most important to mentally break him down as the first step. So Krishna let him know about his real parentage - he knew the Pandavas were his younger brothers. This always weighed down on Karna's mind when he took on any Pandava in battle.
The second strategy was to ask Kunti to visit Karna with a request to defect to the Pandava side. It was well known that Karna considered his loyalty to Duryodhana over eveything else and he would never leave the Kauravas - Duryodhana started the war with the confidence of having Karna on his side. The reason for the visit was to pressurise Karna to make more concessions to Pandavas. He did and boxed himself into a poor position in the battle. He gave Kunti the promise that he would not kill any Panda other than Arjuna even if he gets the opportunity. Krishna and Kunti carefully kept the secret of Karna away from Pandavas. So Arjuna could freely fight the battle seeing only the enemy in Karna. But Karna had the burden of seeing a brother in his enemy.
Karna had a spear called Vyjayanthi, given by Indra. It would work only once and Karna had kept it for use against Arjuna. Krishna was aware of this and wanted to ensure that the spear was used before Karna and Arjuna met. He strategised to sacrifice Khatotkacha (Bhima's son ) for the purpose. Khatotkacha was a rakshasa and the cost of his life would have been considered low. Krishna unleashed the might of Khatotkacha on the Kaurava army. They were unable to bear the brunt of the whirlwind warrior. Karna was forced to use Vyjayanthi to kill Khatotkacha rendering the spear unusable for the battle with Arjuna. Khatotkacha's life was a small price to pay to protect the higher prize.
Character - streanth & weakness
Karna's unwavering loyalty to Duryodhana caused immense harm to him. He never objected to the wrong ways of his dear friend. He ended up on the wrong side owing to the company he kept. All stemming out of his pledging loyalty and frinedship to Duryodhana - for standing with him at an hour when the whole world seemed determined to insult and humiliate him.
Karna's charity was exploited by Indra who came as a brahmin and asked for his kavacha' and kundala'. Karna was born with them and had the boon that he would be invincible as long as they are on his body. Surya was aware of Indra's designs and had forewarned Karna, but he did not fail in his charity - literally giving away his victory and life.
Lying to Parashurama about being a brahmin proved too expensive for Karna. When Drona refused to accept him as a student, he only way left for Karna to acquire Brahmastra was to go to Parashurama. But Parashurama teaches only brahmins - in a rare blemish on his side, Karna decided to pose as a brahmin. The truth was exposed when Parashurama found out that Karna had a much higher threshold of pain typical of kshatriyas. Rama cursed Karna that he would forget the use of brahmastra when it is required.
In the battle against Arjuna, Karna was about to shoot the powerful nagastra when Shalya (who was driving the chariot) noticed that the aim was higher up towards the head. He advised Karna to aim lower. Karna refused saying that it is against dharma to change the aim once taken - "Karna never aimeth an arrow twice". Krishna pressed the chariot down with his feet, taking it down by a few inches - nagastra took Arjuna's crown instead of his head. The snake Aswasena (who had an enmity towards Arjuna as his mother was killed during Khandava-daha) had entered the arrow by yogic powers. He returned to Karna's quiver and asked him to fire him once again to slay Arjuna. Karna refused saying that he would not like to win with someone else's help.
Other circumstances
Karna was destinied to be saddled with the animosity and humiliation right from the time he was born. Kunti disowned him and the profession of his step-father was consistently used to humiliate him - in spite of the brilliance that he showed with the bow & arrow. Karna was also acclaimed as one of the most handsome people in the whole epic. He had the aura of his father Surya'. But the insults and humiliation often eclipsed his brightness.
Karna had taken a decision not to take the battlefield as long as Bheeshma was the commander. So he had to wait till more than half of the battle to come in. By that time, several key victories belonged to Pandavas.
Shalya, who was the driver of Karna's chariot, constantly irritated and insulted him during the war. This psychologically affected Karna. Shalya kep insisting that Sutaputra' can not win the Pandavas.
And at the critical moment when the wheels of his chariot sunk, Karna wasn't given the fair chance to lift it before continuting the battle. Karna reminds Arjuna about the rules of war - "Brave warriors that are observant of the practices of the righteous, never shoot their weapons at persons with dishevelled hair, or at those that have turned their faces from battle, or at a brahmana, or at him who joins his palms, or at him who yields himself up or beggeth for quarter or at one who has put up his weapon, or at one whose arrows are exhausted, or at one whose armour is displaced, or at one whose weapon has fallen off or been broken! Thou art the bravest of men in the world. Thou art also of righteous behaviour, O son of Pandu! Thou art well-acquainted with the rules of battle. For these reasons, excuse me for a moment, that is, till I extricate my wheel, O Dhananjaya, from the earth." Krishna was quick to cite several earlier incidents of adharma, which made Karna hang his head in shame. Without getting the chance to extricate his chariot wheel, Karna fell to Arjuna's arrows.
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