The curse of Parshurama was not the only curse that Karna received. Despite noble intentions and a clear heart & conscience, Karna was the receiver of two other curses that played a major role in his defeat at the Kurukshetra war. These are two lesser-known stories that are not given major attention while the whole Mahabharata is being told or shown. Let us have a look at the stories of two curses – The curse of Mother Earth and the curse of a Brahmin.
The Curse of A Brahmin
Karna had learnt major martial art skills and became a skilled archer under the training and guidance of the Mighty Parshuram. One day, he was practising his archery skills in a jungle. He shot an arrow and it stuck a wild animal. As he went ahead to see the animal and see how precise his aim was, he heard a cry. He searched for the source of the cry and figured out that it was a Brahmin who was crying. He went ahead to console him and see if he could help the Brahmin.
The Brahmin saw Karna’s bow and arrow and realized that he was the hunter who killed his cow. Karna saw the cow nearby and realized his sin. The Brahmin was furious and cursed him that Karna would be killed when he is helpless and in a state of misery. Karna apologized but the curse became a reality in the war of Kurukshetra when he was killed by Arjuna while he was removing his chariot wheel from the ground.
Mother Earth’s Fury
One day, Karna was walking his way home when he saw a girl crying. He approached the girl and asked her what was the reason for her sadness. She told her that she was carrying ghee to her house and it got spilt on the way to her house. Immediately, Karna offered a new bowl of ghee to her. However, she refused to say that she wanted the same ghee and cannot take any other ghee from anyone else.
Karna thought for a while and picked up the soil on which the ghee had fallen. He squeezed the soil hard enough for the ghee to come out from it and fill the bowl of the girl. While squeezing the soil, he heard a voice full of pain and despair. It was the voice of Mother Earth. She came and cursed Karna that in order to help the girl, he had caused pain to her and when he would need her support the most, he would not get it. This is the reason why his chariot wheel gets stuck in the war of Kurukshetra and he could not remove it easily.
Thus, the two deeds that were done with a good intention became a major reason for him to die a helpless death in the ultimate war of Kurukshetra. The Misery of Karna knows no limits and at each phase of life, he had to suffer something or the other which made him a tragic hero.
