Who is Karna?

The baby in the river

Before she married, young Kunti tested a mantra that could call any god. The sun god came, and she had a son born with golden armour and earrings grown into his body. Frightened, she set the baby afloat on the river. A charioteer named Adhiratha and his wife Radha found him and raised him as their own. He was Karna, also called Radheya, Radha’s son.

The outsider

Karna grew up wanting to be the greatest archer in the world. Drona taught only princes, so Karna went to the warrior-sage Parashurama, pretending to be a Brahmin. When the truth came out, Parashurama cursed him to forget his knowledge at the moment he needed it most.

At the royal tournament Karna matched Arjuna feat for feat and challenged him to a duel. The elders asked his family name, and mocked him as a charioteer’s son. Only Duryodhana stood up for him, and crowned him king of Anga on the spot. From that day Karna was Duryodhana’s friend for life.

The most generous man alive

Karna never refused anyone who asked him for something. Before the war, Indra, Arjuna’s father, came to him disguised as a Brahmin and asked for his armour and earrings. Karna knew exactly who it was, cut them from his body and gave them away.

How Karna’s story ends (spoilers)

Before the war, both Krishna and Kunti told Karna the truth: he was the eldest Pandava, and could have the throne. He refused to betray his friend. On the seventeenth day, his chariot wheel sank into the earth, his curse made him forget his weapons, and Arjuna killed him. Only afterwards did the Pandavas learn they had killed their own brother.