A Poet for our times: Reading Ramdhari Singh “Dinkar”

If all these great thoughts & ideas do not induce action not by the govt but actions in our narrow n mean personal lives nobody else including India’s enemies are to be blamed.We are getting what we desrve. We have a govt that we deserve n getting the treatment that we desrve from our neighbours.

bachpan mein bahut poems padhi hai inki..
aaj padhkar vahi din yaad aa gaye 🙂

A relevant poem and a great poet, but please allow me a digression:

To me, the greatest test for any poet or author dealing with Mahabharata is his/her treatment of Karna.

Vedavyasa’s Karna– the original Karna, was a openly bad character– a cheerleader of adharma, master of shortcuts and above all, a loser who was proven to be inferior to Arjuna at every given opportunity.

Conceded, he was wronged by his mother. But his acclaimed prowess is just a bunch of hyperbole.

I would be very interested to know how “Rashmirathi” treats Karna.

Sure Shantanu. Do go through this at your leisure. This is a very important aspect of 20th century bharatiya literature.

Also, it is not a question of agreeing with me.

The actual question is:
Does a characterisation of Karna align with that of Veda Vyasa (or even the rishi VaishampAyana, who narrated the bhArata story in its current form to other rishis in NaimishAraNya) in MahAbhArata?

Fabulous Shantanu ji, I was moved. We had such Deshbhaktha that did not think twice when it came to any kind of sacrifice for Bharath Matha. Such poetry is relevant and will be relevant for generations to come. I honestly thank my mom and Dakshina Bharath Hindi Prachar Sabha for teaching me Hindi and appreciating such works. I quickly grabbed my copy of “Kurukshetra” penned by the same great poet.

I think it is the need of the hour for all the Bharath vasis to wake up from their deep slumber and just check around…where are we now, where are we going, is this what we want to happen to our country, Is this what we want for our future generations?? Your blog is doing exactly that.
Excellent job, you made my day!

Please read Shri.Shankara Bharadwa’s analysis of Karna in Hindupedia.

“Basically, putting valor aside, Karna had one quality: to run away
from the field when the enemy proves stronger. Which is what made him
show low in front of great Kurus like Bhishma and Arjuna. His curses
combined with this quality were the reasons Bhishma categorized him as
Artha rathi and not as a Maha rathi.

a) Karna was taught by Drona with the permission of Kuru rulers. When
Drona asked for Guru dakshina, which is to arrest Drupada, Karna was
there with Duryodhana and the entire army. They lost to Drupada, could
not stand his army and came back showing their backs to Drupada.
Immediately after this, just the five Pandavas went, without army,
defeated and arrested Drupada, presented him in front of Drona as
their Guru dakshina.

b) Then not much of war, just a show where Arjuna and Karna competed –
no result.

c) Ghosha yatra: The Gandharva Citrasena attacked the Kaurava army,
Karna ran away from him, unable to stand him. And Citrasena arrested
Duryodhana and Arjuna-Bhima released Duryodhana upon Yudhistira’s
instruction.

We cannot say humans cannot fight Gandharvas, because Arjuna defeated
Gandharvas, and Bhima defeated even Yakshas in different occasions.

d) Gograhana: Arjuna alone, vanquished the entire Kaurava army – with
Aswatthama, Drona, Bhishma, Kripa, Duryodhana and Karna. Of these,
some were defeated – Karna was defeated and he basically ran away from
the field.

The Great Mahabharata War:

e) Abhimanyu defeated Karna

f) Satyiki defeated Karna

g) On the day Jayadratha was killed, Bhima was on fire. To protect
Duryodhana’s brothers from gettign killed in Bhima’s hands, Karna
went. Bhima defeated Karna (mind you, with archery alone), then killed
5 brothers of Duryodhana. Karna came back. Then Bhima again defeated
Karna, and killed 10 more brothers of Duryodhana. Again he defeated
Karna, and killed 10 more brothers of Duryodhana. Then he again took
on Karna, but they went into an army of elephants. Then Bhima got out
of his car, with his mace. At this point he came too close to Karna’s
chariot. Then Bhima had one option to break the car and Karna – he did
not because Arjuna had taken oath to kill Karna. It is at this point,
that Karna puts his bow around Bhima’s neck and insults him.

Then Arjuna defeats Karna, takes Bhima on his chariot, and rebukes
Karna for behaving cheaply. While Bhima defeated Karna so many times,
he does not insult Karna. But the one chance Karna gets, he shows his
character.

h) Again, the day Karna is killed – Bhima fights Karna, and Karna
faints. When Bhima, out of anger, tries to cut his tongue off – Salya
saves Karna by asking Bhima to leave him and go away.

i) Karna loses to Arjuna in every encounter, and Arjuna is called
Vijaya- he has not been defeated anytime. The only one single occasion
when Karna gets advantage is when he uses Nagastra that hits Arjuna’s
helmet. And there is nothing about Brahmastra here, because Arjuna
never had to use it in the entire war.

2. Friendship

Following valor, the next to be talked is his friendship. This is
another point on which we hear a lot of rallying around Karna. We can
see what aspects of friendship did Karna satisfy.

a) There are three grades of friendship – 1. Out of mutual affection, 2.
Out of common cause, 3. Out of common enmity. These are uttama,
madhyama and adhama kinds.

There are two contrasting pairs of friends in Mahabharata.
Krishna-Arjuna is the first kind, and Karna-Duryodhana is the last
kind. Krishna and Arjuna held each other’s side for their affection,
for their commitment to dharma.

b) While Karna and Duryodhana stuck to each other, out of strategic
enmity. Karna to vanquish Arjuna, and Duryodhana to vanquish Pandavas
with Karna’s help.

Next, friendship, as it is defined, a good friend is one who guides us
in the right path, makes us do things for our well-being. While we see
Krishna always guiding Arjuna on the right path, Karna always guided
Duryodhana on the wrong. He not only persuaded Duryodhana not to do
wrong things, but in fact he was the architect of most unrighteous
deeds of Duryodhana – burning the palace of lac, insulting Draupadi,
killing Abhimanyu through deceit, what not.

Not only, that, but the false kind of confidence Karna gave to
Duryodhana about his own skill and boasting of vanquishing Pandavas,
was the inspiration for Duryodhana to go into the war, eliminate his
clan and cause a huge human loss.

c) A friend is one who stands by us in times of difficulty. While Karna,
in most of the occasions, has ditched Duryodhana in the middle of the
war. Right from when they ran away from Drupada (while trying to fight
and arrest Drupada as part of Gurudakshina), Karna could not be of
help. In Ghosha yatra when Citrasena attacked their army, Karna,
instead of trying to rescue Duryodhana, ran away first. He did the
same in Gograhana when Arjuna was slaying their armies. Karna left
Duryodhana to his fate and fleed.

So not only from valor perspective, but even as a good friend, Karna
basically failed Duryodhana.

3. Dharma Nistha

Karna was among the most Adharmic characters of Mahabharata. We say someone is Dharmic, if the purpose of his actions is Dharma,
and when it is not arbitrary, but consistent. When we talk of a
person, it is good to list out what his dharma is, and then evaluate
how much he stood for it. So in case of Karna, these are the
applicable ones:

a) Raja Dharma: Karna is appointed the king of Anga, and became a
king. Karna, as a samanta of Duryodhana, executed his duties well.
Though there is no special mention or praise for his ruler ship, that
is one thing he smoothly conducted.

b) Kshatriya Dharma:

a. A Kshatriya is not supposed to accept any favor from anyone. This
is demonstrated by many kings, including Pandavas. Rama was offered
the heavenly worlds by the Rishis when he visits them during vana
vasa, but Rama replies that being a Kshatriya he should not accept,
but will earn those himself. Hariscandra, was offered help when in
trouble, so that he could be bailed out. He too, refuses help as he is
a Kshatriya.However, the beginning of Karna’s career includes taking such favors – he does not win but gets Anga Rajya as a favor. Also, he, along with
Duryodhana’s team, fails in giving Gurudakshina to Drona.

b. A Kshatriya is not supposed to run away from the war, even if it
means death. Karna not only arbitrarily runs, but has the habit of
running from the field. He ran away in the following occasions:

i. When he fought Drupada to arrest him and present him as
Gurudakshina to Drona

ii. When the Gandharva Citrasena fights them during Ghosha yatra

iii. During Gograhana, unable to withstand Arjuna

iv. In the war, he runs multiple times in the few days he
fights – from Bhima, Arjuna, Satyiki, Abhimanyu

c) Mitra dharma:

i. A friend’s duty is to guide, as a well wisher, and make the friend do what is good for him. Sreya (one that gets good) and Preya (what we want) are two things and it is the responsibility of a friend to do both, and when there is a contention, choose sreya. Karna chose to tell preya to Duryodhana, even if it meant destruction, thus being a bad friend. He guided Duryodhana on the path of unrighteousness.

ii. A friend should be with us, in times of need. Karna did fight the
war on Duryodhana’s side, like others – Aswatthama, Drona, Kripa,
Bhishma, Vikarna who knew Dharma was on the other side but it was their Dharma to fight on Duryodhana’s side. But unlike those, Karna left Duryodhana many times in the field to be arrested:

1. Ghosha Yatra

2. Gograhana

3. Duryodhana was defeated multiple times in the war, by
Yudhistira, Arjuna, Nakula. It was in front of Karna’s eyes, that Duryodhana’s brothers were killed by Bhima. Karna’s valor not only proved useless in stopping Bhima, but in turn it was Duryodhana who sacrificed his brothers to save Karna.

d) Vyakti Dharma: A Dharmic person is supposed to act dispassionately, according to Dharma. His actions should be based on dharma and not on preferences.
Whereas Karna’s actions, most of the times, are driven by strong
negative tendencies:

a. Jealousy for Arjuna was one motivator for his life. During
vidyabhyasa, when the princes were to display their martial arts,
Arjuna did, so as Bhima and other princes. Karna asked for a chance
and he was immediately given chance by Drona to exhibit his skill. But
he did not stop there, he wanted to fight Arjuna. It was then that he
was insulted and consequently given Angarajya. The same was the reason he approached Drona for Brahmastra. Drona refuses, since his motive is based on enmity and not loka kalyana. Then he approaches Parasurama for the same and lies to him that he is
a brahmana. Parasurama, being noble, curses Karna only to the extent
that he gave instruction and not for entire astra vidya of Karna. Even
here, it is clear that Karna put his enmity above Dharma.

Very few know that Karna had a sense of competition with Arjuna even
in dana guna. There is a story where a brahmin goes to Arjuna while it
was raining, and asks for wood. Arjuna says he cannot give. Then he
goes to Karna and says he needs wood for cooking. Karna asks him if he
went to Arjuna, is pleased by the reply, and then gives him the wood
from his own house – by breaking a pillar of his palace.

The technical aspect in dana guna is that it should be done purely as
a matter of principle and not for any return. The moment there is a
return, then it does not remain dana. And Karna giving his natural
armor to Indra is such. Karna’s desire in doing dana is to get the
power to slay Arjuna. And the moment he gives his armor to Indra,
Indra gives him the Sakti which is capable of slaying anyone. There,
that very moment, Karna’s offering is returned with something that is
capable of fulfilling his desire. He used it to save his life from
Ghatotkaca later, but that is a different thing. (That again proves
that power cannot do anything when you are not on the side of Dharma.)

Contrasting this with Arjuna, his virtue was purely a virtue, and not
a rule or contract. When a brahmin approaches him to save his cattle,
he goes, knowing that he has to pass through and disturb Yudhistira’s
privacy if he has to take his weapons. The arrangement was that he had
to do vanavasa if he did that. But Arjuna being noble, saves the
brahmin’s cattle, then goes to vanavasa. (Of course, he gets more
astras, marries Subhadra and gets benefited in many ways. And this
proves that if you are by Dharma your wellbeing is ensured.)

It is the same jealousy for Arjuna, that makes Karna insult Draupadi.
It is the same jealousy, that makes him conspire Laksha griha,
engineer the murder of Abhimanyu and many other unrighteous deeds. A
person, however knowledgeable he may be, will turn into a wretch if he
surrenders to qualities like envy – and entire life of Karna stands
for it.

b. Karna lacks the dignity of a king. He bad mouthed those revered
like Bhishma and Drona, in multiple occasions – Gograhana, during
Krishna ‘s rayabara, before the treacherous game of dice and before the
war begins. The reasons i. they praise Arjuna

ii. they want to do good to Duryodhana and prevent him from
inviting his death

iii. they adjudged Karna’s valor, with a balancesheet based on
his capabilities and weaknesses

e) Karna’s death: He was killed when he was standing without a
weapon, and that was the inspiration of Krishna to punish Karna for
what he did. Technically, a person who has Brahmastra and Pasupata
cannot be defeated and Arjuna, along with Bhima, was ajeya, who cannot
be slain. They were the only ones in entire Dwapara Yuga who could not
be defeated. So it was out of question that Karna could defeat Arjuna.
And with Pasupata or Brahmastra or any other Divya astra, Arjuna could
have easily slain Karna any moment he wanted.

(But Arjuna was principled to the hilt – he did not use those astras
because they should not be used for selfish reasons, and against an
enemy who is weaker. While Karna tried to gain and use those purely
for selfish reasons, that too negative. Also by Astra vidya or tapas
Karna was much inferior to Arjuna who was none but Nara maha rishi
taking another life to continue his tapas. For both the reasons,
Arjuna did not use those astras. He uses Brahma siro namaka, against
Aswatthama, that too as a response to his astra. And he takes it back
when Rishis ask him to. While Aswatthama still does not, and directs
it on Uttara’s womb. Even at his own loss, Arjuna heeds to elders’
words, withdraws instead of using his astras.)

Instead of killing Karna in an encounter, killing him when he was
helpless was to teach him that he did similar things which were wrong.

Overall, a discussion of Karna as a hero happens in the context of the lower side of human character and not in the context of its higher side. For instance, one could say Karna did not desert Duryodhana in the war and he could have, so he is great. But one cannot say he is a great friend, because he did not do what a great friend should do – to prescribe what is in welfare of the friend or what the friend should do to be righteous and virtuous. One could say he did a great “dana” but one could not say he is selfless in doing so. One could say he is a great warrior, but not that he is a great kshatriya. Therefore Karna is always compared to what worst a human can do, and marked better than that. But he is not compared to what best a human can do, because he falls much short of that. “