One of the Allegations against Karna is that he participated in the unrighteous killing of Abhimanyu.That he broke his bow from behind.This is not true.And this was a propaganda made later when karna was made wicked.After Abhimanyu attacks the main kaurava maharathis,they are overwhelmed by his fighting skills.
Karna then asks Drona as how he could be defeated.Abhimanyu has surprised karna with striking him with arrows.Drona replies that his armour is not penetrable.I have taught his father arjuna on how to make this type of armour.You can cut his bow,break the horse reins,make the charioteers on both sides of the chariot fall down,break his chariot.And this will make him turn back,and then attack him.This Drona says to all the maharathis along with Karna.Drona says ' etat kuru maheshwasa radheya yadi sakyate, arthainam vumukhikritva paschat praharanam kuru.That means o great Archer karna,If you can do this(can bow his bow,and also his chariot),this means he will turn back,and then attack him.Now this paschat praharanam kuru is often misunderstood as make Abhimanyu turn back that is ( vumukhikritva),and paschat praharanam kuru ( attack later).The words are misplaced before and after and this gives a different meaning.Drona asks karna to attack Abhimanyu after his bow is broken,and all these things are done.Not before.This was clearly written in borc Mahabaharata, and the kmg versions.The south versions of mahabharata have changed the sanskrit words and made it look like karna broke the bow from behind.This is not true.Karna then broke Abhimanyu's bow from front.Then kritavarma cut off reins of horses,kripa killed charioteers,This made Abhimanyu take a sword and jump to the ground.Then Drona cut off his sword.Then Abhimanyu took up the chariot wheel,and fought for some time.Then took up a mace,and fought.Then dushasana's son fought with him and killed him.And they also didnt attack abhimanyu as a whole and kill him as wrongly shown in some tv versions of mahabharat.
Though Abhimanyu's death is unfortunate,it was definitely not against the rules.And karna was not repsonsible as said by some.
tad ācāryavacaḥ śrutvā karṇo vaikartanas tavaran
asyato laghuhastasya pṛṣatkair dhanur ācchinat
This clearly says Karna upon listening to the words of drona ,cut off the bow with arrows.
Prashaktair means with arrows.Its been corrupted as karna from behind cut off the bow.This is an attempt to make karna evil,and not a follower of rules of war.The pro Pandava prs,wanted a reason for pandavas breaking the rules of war and winning the war.
In Sanskrit language,if one word is placed before another,the whole meaning changes.Thats why this misconception.This is interpolation done by some.
ReplyDeleteAbhimanyu was fighting Shakuni when Karna,Kripa and Kritvarma attacked him,and they attacked without any warning.The sanskrit word paschyat means from behind,check any dictionary.Its clear that Drona instructed Karna to attack Abhimanyu from behind.Karna is not an amateur that he would need war tips from Drona about attacking Abhimanyu after the bow is broken.
ReplyDeleteIts written that when Karna attacked Abhimanyu he was shooting with great activity means he was engaged in a fight with someone else and Karna shot without any warning.Southern recensions also contains the word 'पृष्ठतो' which means from behind.
तदाचार्यवचः श्रुत्वा कर्णो वैकर्तनस्त्वरन्।
अस्यतो लघुहस्तस्य पृष्ठतो धनुराच्छिनत्॥
Apart from all this,Dushasan's son struck Abhimanyu with a mace when he was lying unconscious,so here another rule of war broken.
A Chariotless Abhimanyu was attacked by a group which is also against rule of war.
"Pashchat" means "after" not "from behind" . Sanskrit padhe ho kabhi
DeleteThe word paschat has two meanings.Later and behind.I went with later because it made sense.yes drona asked karna to attack a weaponless abhimanyu but that was going by rules.Prishtate doesnt make sense here.Abhimanyu was wearing the armour that is impenetrable by arrows.The same one which duryodhana wore when he attacked Arjuna the next day.This is not known to karna and others.So Drona gave the advice not to strike with arrows but to break the bow and attack him.Abhimanyu died in a duel with dushasana's son.The whole group of people attacking him jn the end is just fiction.I dont think abhimanyu is defeated.I think he is a great warrior.But karna breaking the bow from behind is false.
ReplyDeleteBreaking the bow is not a very unique advice which Drona needs to tell to expert warriors like Karna.Most of the warriors target the bow of opponent.'Behind' makes more sense here than 'Later'.I have checked several translation and most of them used BEHIND,instead of later.The sloka contains another word 'Vimukh' which concludes to attack when face is turned other side.
ReplyDeleteAll the while when Karna was having this conversation with Drona,a fight was going on between Abhimanyu and Shakuni.Karna after hearing preceptors words attacked Abhimanyu and broke his bow.Now its clear that he not only attacked(without warning) an Abhimanyu who was engaged with another warrior,but also from behind (as per the words of Drona).
However,I agree with you on the point that whole group attacking him is fiction.BR Chopra and Ramanand Sagar's depiction is false here. But Abhimanyu was killed when he was lying unconscious.Dushasan's son attacked an unconscious warrior and killed him.
I was little busy elsewhere.Now I am replying.Vimukhi means not inclined.Karna and other warriors shot arrows at abhimanyu directly to kill him.But they didnt work
ReplyDeleteSo drona asked first to break the bow.and destroy the chariot.becasue they didnt know his armour is impenetrable.
That sloka you gave is from the south version.The north edition is difefrent.It has prashaktair instead of prishtate.