Karṇa enters the arena and is crowned king of Aṅga

Classical

As Arjuna finished, the crowd parted for a newcomer: Karṇa, in natural armour and earrings, with a bow in his hand and a sword at his side. He bowed to Droṇa and Kṛpa, then told Arjuna that whatever Arjuna had done he would do better. The audience rose in excitement. Duryodhana was delighted. Arjuna was ashamed and angry. With Droṇa's permission, Karṇa repeated each of Arjuna's feats. Duryodhana embraced Karṇa and offered him a share of the kingdom. Karṇa said he wanted only Duryodhana's friendship, and a duel with Arjuna. Arjuna said angrily that he would kill Karṇa, and Karṇa answered that the arena was open to all and that he would take Arjuna's head with his arrows. The two prepared to fight.

Clouds and Indra's rainbow gathered on Arjuna's side, while the Sun cleared the sky over Karṇa, so that one stood in shadow and the other in sunlight. The court divided, with Duryodhana beside Karṇa and Droṇa, Kṛpa and Bhīṣma beside Arjuna. Even the women's gallery split. Kuntī, who recognised her firstborn, fainted, and Vidura revived her with sandal water. She saw both her sons armed and could do nothing. Then Kṛpa, who knew the rules of single combat, told Karṇa that Arjuna was a prince of the Kuru house and could fight only an equal. He asked Karṇa to name his father and family. Karṇa lowered his head, silent. Duryodhana stepped forward and said that a man's claim to be a king can come from royal blood, from valour, or from commanding an army.

If Arjuna would fight only a king, he would make Karṇa king of Aṅga at once. Brahmins were summoned and Karṇa was consecrated on a golden seat, under an umbrella and fans. Karṇa asked what he could give in return. Duryodhana said, "Your friendship." The two embraced. Then Karṇa's foster father, the charioteer Adhiratha, came in sweating and leaning on a staff. Karṇa, still wet from the coronation, bowed to him. Adhiratha wiped his feet with his cloth and called him son. Bhīma laughed at the charioteer's son and told him to go back to the reins. Duryodhana rose in fury, defended Karṇa as a warrior, and led him out of the arena as the sun set. Kuntī, seeing him a king, was glad.

Duryodhana had lost his fear of Arjuna, and the friendship that would carry Karṇa to Kurukṣetra was sealed. The coronation is a quick, practical gesture by Duryodhana, but it changes the epic. By crowning Karṇa he gives a man who has been told he has no lineage a kingdom, and by doing so he binds him for life. Karṇa's loyalty to Duryodhana, which he keeps even after Kuntī tells him the truth of his birth, goes back to this evening. For Kuntī the day is painful in a different way: she recognises her son, sees him made a king, and cannot say a word. Karṇa's insulted pride, first Kṛpa's question about his father, then Bhīma's taunt of 'charioteer's son', will return at Draupadī's svayaṃvara and again in the dice hall.

Told by Vaiśampāyana → Janamejaya

Who: Karṇa, Arjuna, Duryodhana, Kṛpa, Droṇa, Kuntī, Vidura, Adhiratha, Bhīma

Bound to

Kunti's mantra and Karna's birth birth

Karna's curses: the beetle, the cow, and the sinking wheel curse

Karna was the demon-king Dambhodbhava with 1000 armours birth

The tournament of arms at Hastināpura origin

Places: Hastināpura (the arena), Aṅga

Where this comes from

read for this telling · Mahabharata, Ganguli translation (mahabharataonline.com) Adi Parva, Section CXXXVIII (Karṇa's entrance; his coronation as king of Aṅga)
read for this telling · Mahabharata, Ganguli translation (mahabharataonline.com) Adi Parva, Section CXXXIX (Adhiratha; Bhīma's taunt; Duryodhana's defence)

See it on the tree · All stories

← The tournament of arms at Hastināpura · Drupada captured: Droṇa's fee →