Thinking Activity:- The Curse of Karna

 Hello everyone!

I am Hinaba Sarvaiya student of the English department MKBU this blog based on "The Curse of Karna" play written by T.P. Kailasam.

What is the meaning of Curse?

According to Cambridge dictionary,

"to use a word or an expression that is not polite and shows that you are very angry"

"to say magic words that are intended to bring bad luck to someone" 

You are thinking why I am showing the meaning of Curse because here is one reason to show the meaning of Curse and that is based on Play "The Curse of Karna" written by T.P.Kailasama. here i have discussed some questions regarding this play. 

About author:-

Tyagraj Paramasiva Iyer Kailasam was a playwright and prominent writer of Kannada literature. His contribution to Kannada theatrical comedy earned him the title Prahasana Prapitamaha, "the father of humorous plays" and later he was also called "Kannadakke Obbane Kailasam" meaning "One and Only Kailasam for Kannada".

Three Curses of Karna:-

Mother Earth’s Curse:- 

Karna once helped a little girl who had split Milk (or Ghee) on the ground and feared retribution from her mother. A kind Karna helped the girl retrieve the Milk by squeezing and twisting the ground; in essence, Mother Earth herself. So unbearable was the pain, that Mother Earth cursed Karna that she would be of no assistance to him whatsoever and would even try to make him vulnerable in battle. This resulted in the untimely incident of Karna’s Chariot Wheel getting stuck in mud.

The Teacher’s Curse:-

On the final day of the lessons from Parashurama, Karna unflinchingly bears a scorpion bite, when Parashurama is resting upon his lap. A bewildered Parashurama realizes that Karna can be none but a Warrior and curses Karna that he will forget the knowledge of the weapons, especially the Brahmastra, when he needs them the most. This curse came into effect when Karna forgot the mantra to invoke the Brahmastra while fighting against Arjun on his last day on the battlefield.

A Brahman’s Curse:-

Karna, once when practicing the Shabd Bhedi Arrow, mistook a Cow for a wild animal and shot it down. The Brahman to whom the cow belongs is distraught. He curses Karna that he will be killed by his enemy when his attention is diverted in the middle of a combat. This curse materializes when Karna is busy removing the chariot wheel from the mud and is shot by Arjuna, on the advice of Krishna.

Is moral conflict and hamartia there in karna's character?

Yes we can see the moral conflict and hamartia in karna's character because karna was the most tragic and unfortunate character of The Mahabharata and at the same time, he was the most powerful of all. He was even stronger than Arjuna. The qualities that were distributed among the five Pandavas were possessed by him. He was intelligent, a great archer, powerful, a man of moral values as well as handsome. Then Karna got nothing but utter humiliation and insults. Everyone cast scornful eye on him due to his low descent. Karna never got an opportunity to prove himself as the best. Even Draupadi did not allow him to participate in her ‘Swayamvar’ and insulted him in front of all.

Karna’s tragedy is neither completely Aristotelian nor wholly ancient Greek but an amalgamation of both. Like the other Classical Greek tragic heroes, Karna too is a mere puppet in the hands of destiny. But at the same time, like Aristotelian tragic heroes, he has some faults of his own or some tragic flows (hamartia) which heighten the effects of his tragedy. It was his misfortune that his mother abandoned him at the very moment of his birth and although royal blood was flowing in his vein, he was always condemned by people as a suta. From this standpoint, one can admit that Karna’s misfortune was brought upon him not because of his hamartia but purely for his fate. But at the same time, viewing his character from Aristotelian perspective, we can state that Karna, being a man of morality and ethics, could have chosen the side of Dharma. But by helping and supporting Duryodhana, he indirectly supported adharma, which ultimately led him to his fatal doom. Hence Karna suffered partly for his fate and partly for his hamartia. Nevertheless, his fate including the curse that he had received from his Guru Parsurama is mainly responsible for his misfortune.

Karna-The Voice of Subaltern:-

Karna’s character can also be viewed from the post-colonial perspective of Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak’s ‘subalternism’. A subaltern is a person from ‘an inferior rank’ living at the edge of society. Karna, though in reality was born in the lineage of the royal family, was known as suta-putra to the external world because of his suta parentage. Throughout his life, Karna was never given due respect because everyone regarded him as a person from an inferior rank. Everyone refused and rejected him due to his low origin.

Karna has all the potentialities to shine in life and to make an identity of his own but he could not achieve this because of his subaltern origin. He could not elevate himself from that position nor was he ever allowed to rise by the privilege society. Being a subaltern, he did not have any voice to rise or even if he raised his voice, it is unheard by all because his voice was hindered by the element of noise. Only after meeting Duryodhana, he was able to receive a little honour with the title ‘Anga-Raj’ as the former accepted him as his friend and offered him the anga rajya.

Karna is a man of morals and values. Because he not only remained in the side of his friend, Duryodhana but also kept his promise throughout the battle, which he had made to his mother, Kunti, that he would not harm the Pandavas other than Arjuna. But at last, Karna was unable to defeat Arjuna and met his tragic end at the hands of his opponent, Arjuna, his soul enemy. Hence, no other character in Mahabharata is as morally strong as the Maharathi Karna. He is the most powerful, heroic, inexhaustible, enduring, and unbeatable of all characters.

Suyodhana logic:-

 Duryodhana also known as Suyodhana, is the primary antagonist in the Hindu epic Mahabharata. He was the eldest of the Kauravas, the hundred sons of the blind king Dhritarashtra and his queen Gandhari. Being the first-born son of the blind king, he was the crown prince of the Kuru Kingdom and its capital of Hastinapura, often forced into ceding the title to his cousin Yudhishthira, who was older than him. Karna was the prince's closest friend. Notably, Duryodhana, with significant assistance from Karna, performs the Vaishnava Yagna when the Pandavas are in exile. Duryodhana used his greater skill in wielding the mace to defeat his opponents. He was also an extremely courageous warrior and was said to be a good ruler. Duryodhana's greed and arrogance were the two qualities said to have led to his downfall in the Mahabharata.

Duryodhana, who treated karna as an equal and a friend. It was Duryodhana, who gifted him a whole kingdom, realizing his true potential. It was Duryodhana,who never considered him a sutraputra.

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