How did Kunti persuade Karna to join the side of the Pandavas in the ensuing battle in the “Udyoga Parva” of the Mahabharata?
Q.How did Kunti persuade Karna to join the side of the Pandavas in the ensuing battle in the “Udyoga Parva” of the Mahabharata?
Ans:When Kunti saw that war was imminent, one day she approached Karna when he finished worshipping the sun god after his bath. Karna was the son of the sun god,Surya, born of Kunti, out of wed lock. This happened when Kunti tried out the mantra given by Durvasa before she was married to Pandu. As Kunti was unmarried, she had no choice but to discard Karna in the river. A charioteer, by name Atiratha, picked him up and raised him to adulthood. This was a well kept secret. Karna was truly one of the Pandavas. Kunti finally told Karna the true story of his life.#As the narrative evolves, Kunti exhorts Karna to follow his Dharma and take up his Kshatriya identity. She tries to persuade him, reminding him of his duty as the first born PandKarna.Here, Kunti argues for the right path that Karna should take now that he is aware of his Ksatriya parentage and not follow the wrong "innocently". Karna's parentage has always been a burning issue in his life and now that it has come to light, he is unwilling to accept it. Kunti is both dramatic and eloquent in her persuasions and goes on to urge Karna to imagine what life would be if he joined his Pandava brothers. Much like Krsna, she paints the grand picture before Karna.Still, we may note that in the interaction between Kunti and Karna, Kunti describes her young days to Karna when she was both a woman and child suggesting that she was doubly gullible, innocent and curious as a young person and open to danger as a girl. She wished to try the strength and power of a boon she received from a saint and in doing so obtained Karna from the Sun-god.#Another interesting aspect of this section is the direct intervention of the gods. Krsna taken as god in human form is intervening to prevent war. Additionally, the sun-god talks directly to Karna corroborating Kunti's tale and urging Karna to join the Pandavas and relinquish the side of Duryodhana. The gods thus, negotiate with humans and strive to change the course of events but in vain. Karna would not be moved to cowardice. Instead, he lets others know that he is bound by oath. In the next section we shall look at the class difference between the Sutas who were his foster parents and the Kshatriyas who were his real family.#Kunti requested Karna to come with her and be united with his brothers. But Karna denied. He said he had promised Duryodhana that he would do anything for him to show his gratitude for making him as the king of Anga. So Karna decided to stay with Duryodhana and fight for him. At the same time, he did not want his mother to go empty-handed after asking him the boon to come with her. So he granted boon of his own accord. He promised mother that he would not kill any of the Pandava brothers except Arjuna; so if Arjuna or he would die in the war she would still have five sons.Kunti blessed Karna and left with fear and grief.
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