M133 - Curse of Parashurama and Brahminto Karna

As stated earlier, Kunti, before her marriage to Pandu, had conceived a child by the Lord Surya, the sun god. Due to fear of her relatives, she placed the child in a basket and set it afloat on the river Ganges. The child was picked up by Adhiratha, a well known carpenter and charioteer and his wife Radha. He was given the name Karna. They raised the child very carefully for sixteen years.

On Karna's sixteenth birthday, his father offered him a new chariot with horses. Not feeling a desire to drive the chariot, karna addressed his mother, expressing his desire to learn archery and fight. Radha then explained to her foster son Karna all that had happened on how she had found him at the bank of the Ganges wrapped in precious silk and floating in a basket. Hearing about his mysterious past, he was struck with wonder. After consulting with his mother and father, he took permission from them and left for the city of Hastinapura, desiring to find a martial guru.

Karna's goal was to learn archery. He approached the great Drona who was teaching the Pandavas and Kauravas in Hastinapura. Karna requested Drona to accept him as his disciple. Drona did not like the idea of teaching archery to the son of a suta (chariot driver) and sent him away.

Karna was determined to learn archery. So he decided to approach Parashurama, the chastiser of the kshatriyas. Previously Parashurama had annihilated the warrior race twenty-one times because of the death of his father. Knowing that the great sage hated warriors and kings, Karna decided to tell him that he was a brahmin. Actually Karna's foster father was born of a mixed caste, a brahmin and a kshatriya. Therefore he decided to request tutorship from the sage despite the fact that he might be cursed or even killed.

With this plan in mind, Karna approached Parashurama's hermitage. When Karna first saw Parashurama, he was seated in meditation. Upon his head were matted locks of hair, and his eyes were burning like fire. Falling at the feet of this awesome personality, Karna requested, I have come to you with a deep longing. Please do not send me away without granting me your mercy. Karna was weeping and his body was trembling. Parashurama picked up Karna, and asked him, Are you a kshatriya? Karna replied, No, I am a brahmin. Parashurama smiled at him and said, I will certainly impart to you the warfare. I am pleased with your humility, and because you are a brahmin, I have a natural affection for you.

Parasurama accepted Karna as a disciple and trained him in the various methods of warfare. As a result of his dedication, hard work and commitment to learning, Karna quickly learnt all that his guru had to teach him, and in a short time he had reached such proficiency that his guru declared him to be his equal in the art of warfare and archery. In fact he was so overcome with joy at his disciple's efforts that he went ahead and taught him the method to invoke the elusive and extremely powerful Brahmastra.

All of these events were closely being followed by Indra, Arjuna’s celestial father. He had vested interests in ensuring that Karna did not become stronger or more skilled than his son Arjuna and he was looking for an opportunity to somehow thwart Karna’s efforts in this direction.

It was now noontime, and the sun was at it's meridian. Karna offered his lap to his teacher to have a quick nap as Parasurama was feeling tired. While Parasurama was sleeping, Indra saw an opportunity to cause some mischief. He took the form of a bee and stung Karna’s thigh. Despite the pain caused by this sting, Karna did not want to disturb Parasurama’s sleep and therefore quietly bore the pain without moving an inch. Not to be outdone, Indra, as the bee stung and bore deeper into Karna’s thigh causing him to bleed. Even then, Karna did not move or even make a sound.
When Parasurama awoke and saw the blood oozing out of Karna’s thigh, he was immediately overcome with his infamous rage. Looking at Karna, he said "You are surely not a brahmin. Only a kshatriya can remain unmoved under such bodily torment which causes so much physical pain. Tell me the truth.”

Karna’s silence at this statement confirmed his guru’s suspicions. Parasurama’s rage overcame the love he had for Karna and he cursed him “Since you have deceived your guru, the Brahmastra that you learnt shall fail you at the moment  you require it the most. Your brain will atrophy and you will not be able to invoke the most powerful and potent of all astras when the hour comes.”

Karna fell at the feet of his teacher and tears flowed from his eyes thinking that all he had learned would be futile. He held onto the feet of his guru and pleaded, Forgive me, my lord. You have been more of a father to me than my own father. A father should forgive the faults of his son. I am not a brahmana, but neither am I a kshatriya. I am the son of a carpenter named Adhiratha. I only wanted to learn the science of archery. I told a lie to you, but it was only to become your student. I have been devoted to you, and you are more dear to me than anything else in this world. Please show mercy and forgive me. To which Parasurama said "You wanted fame, however, and I say that here after you will be known as one of the greatest archers of all time." However, since his curse was irrevocable, he gifted Karna with a celestial weapon called the Bhargavastra and his own bow, Vijaya, for being a diligent student. Parashurama then left and went back to his ashrama leaving Karna in tears.

Wiping the tears from his eyes, Karna began walking aimlessly. He walked for days thinking of the curse of the great sage. Suddenly, what he thought was a lion flashed by him, and out of instinct, he took an arrow from his quiver and shot the animal. However, it was not a lion but a cow. Karna was horrified. He went to the brahmin who owned it and told him that he had shot the cow in ignorance. Karna tried to appease him, but the brahmin was not to be pacified. He cursed Karna saying, When you are fighting with your worst enemy, the wheel of your chariot will sink into the mud, and just as you killed my poor innocent cow when she was unaware of danger, you will also be killed by your opponent when you are least prepared for it. Karna was stunned that all these things were suddenly happening to him.

Karna then understood that this was his karma. Otherwise how could these events take place without his control. He took it that he was the chosen target of providence. He remembered his mysterious birth and the stigma of his being a sutaputra (son of a chariot driver). He might have overcome it by being the student of the great Parashurama, but his teacher had cursed him and gone away. Now he had been cursed by another brahmin. He accepted his fate as such and went back home to his mother. His mother was proud when she heard that he had learned from the great Parashurama, but he did not tell her of Parashurama's curse, or of the curse of the brahmin. After some time he heard about a tournament of weapons at Hastinapura and decided to go there to enter the competition.