THIS THREAD WILL BE COVERED UNDER 3 SECTION
SECTION 1:THE STORY OF KARNA'S PREVIOUS
BIRTH AS THE RAKSHASA NAMED
SAHASRAKAVACH/DAMBHODBHAVA/TANASURA &
EXPLAINATION WHY KARNA WAS BORN WITH
KAVACH KUNDAL & WITH AN UNFORTUNATE
DESTINY!!
SECTION 2: BELIEVES IN SOUTH INDIA
SECTION 3: PROOFS FROM KMG TRANSLATION OF
MAHABHARAT
IN A PREVIOUS THREAD WE HAVE REVEALED THE
DIVINE IDENTITY OF ARJUN.
NOW IT IS THE TIME TO REVEAL THE IDENTITY OF
KARNA
SECTION 1:THE STORY OF KARNA'S PREVIOUS
BIRTH AS THE RAKSHASA NAMED
SAHASRAKAVACH/DAMBHODBHAVA/TANASURA &
EXPLAINATION WHY KARNA WAS BORN WITH
KAVACH KUNDAL & WITH AN UNFORTUNATE
DESTINY!!
The real face of Karna-The Demon in disguise!!
A Lifetime Slap for all those who had
called Karna as "God" & Lord Krishna as a mere
human & had replaced the chant "hare krishna"
by "hare karna"..lol
Karna was nothing but
the avatar of an evil Demon(Asura/Rakshasa)
named Sahasrakavacha/Dambhodbhava/Tanasura
who had mercilessly murdered millions of
innocent humans & rishis & had created havoc in
Bhulokam (Earth) & Swargalokam in his previous
birth While Arjuna was the incarnation of a great
great Sage (Rishi) named Nara(who was the
companion and an inseparable part of the
supreme god-Narayana) in their respictive
previous births!!Sahasrakavach was an arch
enemy of Lord Narayana!This was the reason why
Karna was born as with an unfortunate destiny
because of his evil karmas & sins Karna did in his
previous births but some fools dont understand
the whole picture & sympathise for this demon
karna instead of griefing for millions of innocents
who were butchered by this asura Sahasrakavach
in his previous birth..As Bhagvada Gita says-"A
man's destiny is ruled by his karmas in his
present as well as previous births.No body has
the right to the blame God almighty for the
unfortunate destiny the man had inherited"..Kar
na simply deserved what he got!Dont expect the
God to give you a bright future if you had
commited such horrible unpardonable crimes in
your previous birth!
Here starts the story of Karna's previous birth as
a Rakshasa Sahasrakavacha/Dambhodbhava:
Much much before the Mahabharatha, there lived
as asura called Dambhodbhava.
Dambhodbhava
wanted to be powerful. So he prayed to Surya,
the Sun God.
Surya appeared before him, 'Open your eyes son!
I am pleased with your devotion!'
Dambhodbhava bowed before him, 'Lord! I am
blessed to see you!'
Surya smiled, 'I wish to grant you a boon! Ask
anything from me!'
Dambhodbhava hid a smile, 'My Lord! Please
make me immortal!'
Surya frowned, 'That is not possible! Everything
that is born has to die! Immortality is out of
question!'
Dambhodbhava's shoulder drooped. He knew
that no matter how much he asked, Surya would
never grant him the boon of immortality. All the
time he had spent meditating were a waste....
Surya stood there patiently waiting for
Dambhodbhava to ask him, when he suddenly
saw a glint in Dambhodbhava's eyes. Surya's eye
narrowed. Dambhodbhava bowed to him, 'My
Lord! If you cannot make me immortal atleast
grant me this boon!' Surya looked suspiciously as
Dambhodbhava continued, 'I want to be
protected by a thousand armours!'
Surya looked at Dambhodbhava with surprise as
the asura continued, 'The thousand armours can
be broken only by someone who performs
penance for a thousand years! And that is not
all...' Surya looked at Dambhodbhava with horror
as he continued, 'Whoever breaks my armour
should die immediately!'
Surya was horribly worried. He knew that
Dambhodbhava had performed a very powerful
penance and that he could get the entire boon he
had asked for. And Surya had a feeling that
Dambhodbhava was not going to use his powers
for good.
However having no choice in the matter, Surya
granted Dambhodbhava the boon. But deep
down Surya still admired Dambhodbhava for the
devotion with which he prayed to him...
Surya's worries were however correct.
Immediately after getting the boon from Surya,
Dambhodbhava started wrecking havoc on
people. People were scared of fighting with him.
There was no way of defeating him. Anybody who
stood in his way was crushed by him. People
started calling him Sahasrakavacha [meaning one
who has a thousand armours]
It was around this time that King Daksha [the
father of Sati, the first wife of Shiva] got one of
his daughters Murti married to Dharma - one of
the 'Mind' sons of Lord Brahma, the God of
Creation [It is said that Lord Brahma created his
mind sons or Manas putras from his thoughts]
Murti had also heard of Sahasrakavacha and
wanted to put an end to his menace. So she
prayed to Lord Vishnu to come and help the
people.
Lord Vishnu pleased with her appeared before
her, 'Murti! I am pleased with your devotion! I
will come and slay Sahasrakavacha! Because you
have prayed to me, you would be the reason for
slaying Sahasrakavacha!'
Murti was happy. Subsequently she gave birth to
not one child, but twin sons. She named them as
Narayana and Nara.
Narayana and Nara grew up in the ashrama
surrounded by the forests. They enjoyed praying
to Lord Shiva. Their mother also encouraged them
to learn fighting. The two brothers learnt the art
of warfare.
The two brothers were inseparable. What one
thought the other was always able to finish. Both
of them trusted each other implicitly and never
questioned the other.
As time went on, Sahasrakavacha started
attacking the forest ares surrounding Badrinath,
where both Narayana and Nara were staying. The
two sages promised the others that they would
come and help them.
Nara went to Sahasrakavacha, 'Sahasrakavacha! I
challenge you to a fight!'
Sahasrakavacha bellowed looking at Nara, 'You
pathetic human! You really think you can defeat
me! ME! The great Sahasrakavacha! Do you even
know how I am protected! Do you know anything
about me!'
Nara smiled and said calmly, 'You want to talk
some more or are you willing to fight me?'
Sahasrakavacha looked at the calm eyes of Nara
and for the first time since he got his boon, felt
fear building inside him. He said nervously, 'I can
be killed only by performing penance for a
thousand years. You cannot....'
Nara looked at Sahasrakavacha and spoke with
you. 'I have not done any penance....But my
brother Narayana is doing it for me! And instead
of him, I come to fight with you!'
Sahasrakavacha frowned and then started
laughing, 'Seriously, you cannot think that your
brother's penance would come to help you...!
He
is separate! He is not you! That does not count.'
Nara merely smiled at the monster, his weapons
raised. Sahasrakavacha was now annoyed.
This
puny human was willing to challenge him to a
fight and was not even remotely worried that
fighting him would mean certain death for him
and all for what? Destroying ONE of his
armours....He still had 999 armours to go...
Sahasrakavacha raised his weapons and the fight
started. Sahasrakavacha faced the attack of Nara
and was astounded. He found that Nara was
powerful and had indeed got a lot of power from
the penance of his brother. As the fight went on,
Sahasrakavacha realized that the penance of
Narayana was giving Nara strength. As
Sahasrakavacha's first armour broke he realized
that Nara and Narayana were for all purposes
one.....They were just two persons having the
same soul.
But Sahasrakavacha was not too worried. He had
lost one of his armours. He watched in glee as
Nara dropped dead, the minute one of his
armours broke!
But Sahasrakavacha was not prepared for what
happened next! He blinked his eyes as he saw
Nara run towards him! Sahasrakavacha could not
believe what he was seeing. He had just seen
Nara die before his eyes!
Sahasrakavacha focused again and saw that the
sage was not running towards him but towards
the fallen Nara! Sahasrakavacha remembered
what Nara had told him. Narayana....
Sahasrakavacha looked at the running sage and
bellowed at him, 'Your brother is dead! And all
for what?' Sahasrakavacha sneered at Narayana.
'Just to destroy one of my armours!'
Sahasrakavacha mocked at Narayana. 'Could you
not make your brother see sense? Did he really
think it was worth dying just to destroy one of
armours?'
Narayana smiled and looked at his brother. He
closed his eyes and muttered a mantra.
Sahasrakavacha could not believe his eyes when
he saw Nara wake up! Sahasrakavacha cringed as
he realized that Narayana had performed
penance for a thousand years and had hence
obtained the 'mritunjay mantra' [It was a mantra
to bring back the dead to life].
Sahasrakavacha realized that he was doomed
when Narayana picked up his brother's weapon
and challenged him to a fight. Nara now retired
to the forest to perform the penance for the
strength of his brother....
This went on. Both Nara and Narayana
performed penance for a thousand years while
the other fought with Sahasrakavacha. The
minute Sahasrakavacha's armour was broken, the
person fighting with him fell dead only to be
brought back to life by the other....
Sahasrakavacha lost 999 of his armours to the
twins. Realizing that he could never beat the two
brothers, Sahasrakavacha gave up the fight and
ran away. He decided to take refuge with the
Surya as he was the one who had granted him
the boon in the first place....
Narayana and Nara both went to Surya, 'Hand
over that monster to us now!' Narayana said. 'He
has caused havoc to the people everywhere! He is
a monster!'
Surya slowly shook his head, 'My Lord! Despite
everything this man has done, he is my devotee!
He has worshiped me with unparalleled devotion!
And he has come to me for help!' Surya
vigorously shook his head. 'I cannot just turn him
away now!'
Nara narrowed his eyes angrily. He pulled out
some water from his kamandalam and threw it
on Surya and cursed him. 'You have gone against
my Narayana! He asked you for something and
you refused! For this I curse you that you would
be born as a human and suffer for this!' Surya
bowed his head. He knew that he should not
have sheltered a monster but he was willing to
pay the price for his devotee.
This incident took place at the end of the Treta
yuga. [In Hindu mythology there are four yugas –
the Satya Yuga, the Treta yuga, Dwapara Yuga
and the Kali Yuga. Each Yuga steadily results in
the deterioration of human values with the worst
in the Kali Yuga. At the end of each yuga, nature
starts afresh.]
Immediately after Surya refused to part with
Sahasrakavacha, the Treta Yuga ended and the
third Yuga started.
To fulfil the promise to destroying
Sahasrakavacha, Narayana and Nara were reborn
– this time as Krishna and Arjuna.
Due to the curse Dambhodbhava and Surya
together were born as Karna, the eldest son of
Kunti! Karna was born with one of armours as a
natural protection, the last one left of
Sahasrakavacha.
As Karna was actually the monster Dambodbhava
in his previous life, he led a very difficult life to
pay for all the sins committed by him in his past
life which includes the murder of millions of
innocent humans & rishis & creating havoc in
Swargalokam & Bhulokam ( Earth)!
* SECTION 2:BELIEFS IN SOUTH INDIA:
South Indians call this Sahasrakavach Rakshasa as
Tanasura:
Karna as the incarnation of sahasrakavacha
(Tanasura)
Authors:A. Purushothaman and A. Harindranath
In the paper, life outside the text: on the
background and interpretation of the
mahabharata characters in contemporary
kataikuttu performances, dr. Hanne m. De bruin
(1) presents the legend of tanasura in the tamil
tradition. Tanasura has thousand heads and a
thousand pairs of earrings. His body is protected
by a thousand armours. Shiva grants a boon to
tanasura by which one has to perform one year
of asceticism and engage in one year of battle to
cut off one head. To kill tanasura, vishnu
incarnates as nara and narayana. While nara
fights with tanasura, narayana is engaged in
penance. In this way nara and narayana succeed
in cutting off 999 heads. When nara is about to
cut off the last head, tanasura flees and seeks
asylum with surya (sun god). Karna is born as the
incarnation of tanasura wearing the last pair of
earrings and the last coat of armour. To complete
the task, nara is born as arjuna (who has to
perform the penance) and narayana as kr^ishna.
The sanskrit works, mahabharata tatparya
nirnaya (13th century) (2) and narayaniyam (16th
century) (3) mention karna as the incarnation of
sahasrakavacha (one with thousand armours)
In mahabharata tatparya nirnaya , madhvacharya
states as follows:
Pura sa valimaranaprabhutadoshakaranat |
Sahasravarmanamina.asurena veshtito.ajani ||
[ 11-150 ]
Because of the stigma attached to him in his
becoming instrumental to eliminate his own
brother vali, sugriva took birth as karma,
together with the life force of a demon named
sahasravarman.
Thus according to madhvacharya, the demon
sahasravarman contributed to the life force of
karna. Karma appears to be a combined
incarnation of sugriva and sahasravarman.
Narayaniyam is a condensation (1036 slokas) of
bhagavata. In narayaniyam, melputtur narayana
bhattatiri states as follows:
Daityam sahasrakacaham kavachaih paritam
Sahasravatsaratapah samarabhilavyaih |
Paryayanirmitatapah samarau bhavantau
Shishtaikaka~nkatamamum nyahatam salilam ||
[ 16-3 ]
Nara and narayana battled, by turns, with the
daitya (asura ) sahasrakavacha who was having
one thousand armours, each of which could be
cut off with an year of asceticism and an year of
battle. In this way 999 armours were destroyed
and one remained.
The commentators of narayaniyam note (page
114) as follows:
This sahasrakavacha is born as karna. The slaying
of sahasrakavacha is not described in bhagavata.
The poet (melputtur narayana bhattatiri) has
taken this episode from mahabharata.
This mahabharata could be the southern
recension. This sloka in narayaniyam occurs in the
context of the incarnation of nara and narayana
(bhagavata, 4th canto,chapter 1).
Karna is desribed as an incarnation of
sahasrakavacha in the malayalam poem.
Kr^ishnarjunavijayam (18th century) (4) which
deals with gayopakhyanam. This is a popular
work in malayalam by ambayattu panikkar, a
disciple of kunchan nambiyar (ad 1700 - 1770)
There was a daitya (asura), sahasrakavacha (one
with a thousand armours), destroyer of devas.
Due to a boon given by brahma, no one was
ready to fight him. No harm will come to him
without the loss of the thousand armours. After
doing penance for twelve years and then battling
for twelve years, one armour can be destroyed.
That was the boon. To kill the asura, vishnu with
thousand names incarnated as narayana and
nara on earth. Nara did penance and narayana
battled. After twelve years one armour was
destroyed. Then nara battled and narayana did
the penance. In this way the battle was fought
for several years and at last, 999 armours were
destroyed and only one remained. Then the
deluge (pralaya) occurred. Nara and narayana
attained vishnupada and the asura took shelter
with sun. Karna, surya's son is the incarnation of
the asura. Arjuna and kr^ishna are nara and
narayana. Both are required to kill the son of
surya. The stay in forest is the penance for
twelve as required.
Thus in this version, the boon is given by brahma
and twelve years of penance and battle are
required to destroy one armour. Twelve years of
vanavasa by arjuna are equated to penance.
Besides the tamil tradition of karna as the
incarnation of tanasura, we have two sanskrit
works and a malayalam poem depicting the same
tradition with minor variations. One may also look
at retellings of gayopakhyanam in telugu,
kannada etc. The connection of karna with
sahasrakavacha appears also in yakshagana (5).
* SECTION 3:FROM KMG TRANSLATION OF
MAHABHARAT
Karna had inherited Demonic qualities of his
previous birth as Rakshasa Sahasrakavach!
PARVA-GHOSH YATRA PARVA
SECTION-CCL
NARRATIVE# 1:
The soul of the slain Naraka hath assumed the
form of Karna. Recollecting his former hostility
he will encounter both Kesava and Arjuna.
And that mighty warrior and foremost of
smiters, proud of his prowess will vanquish
Arjuna in battle as also all thy enemies.
NARRATIVE# 2:
And Karna also, his soul and faculties
possessed by the inmost soul of Naraka, had
at that time cruelly determined to slay Arjuna.
And those heroes--the Samsaptakas also--
having their sense possessed by the
Rakshasas, and influenced by the qualities of
emotion and darkness, were desirous of
slaying Phalguna. And, O king, others with
Bhishma, Drona, and Kripa at their head,
having their faculties influenced by the
Danavas, were not so affectionate towards the
sons of Pandu as they had been. But king
Suyodhana did not tell any one of this.
This is very clear from the following narrative
from veda vyasa mahabharata where all
asuras,rakshasas,evil & hell beings supported
Karna in battle with Arjuna..This shows the
emotional affinity of these horrible monsters
towards Karna:
Before the start of karna arjuna final
battle,suryadeva & all evil & inauspicious beings
like hell beings,asuras,rakshasas,yaksha
s,prets,pishachas,dakinis,shakinis,dogs,jacka
ls,monsters of seas, took side of karna while
indra deva & all dharmic beings likes
devatas,rishis,celestials,heavenly
beings,gandharwas,the varuna,the vasus, the
maruts, the sadhyas, the rudras, the vishvedevas
and the ashvinis, and agni,soma and pavana,
naag,horses,auspicious animals and birds and the
ten points of the compass,auspecious items like
vedas,upavedas,divine flowers,gems,precious
stones & fruits,mountains,earth took side of
arjuna..now its your choice whether to support
karna(adharm) or arjuna(dharm)!
Narrative:
"the gods, the danavas, the gandharvas, the
pishacas, the snakes, the rakshasas, adopted
opposite sides in that encounter between karna
and arjuna. The welkin, o monarch, with all the
stars, became anxious on karna's account, while
the wide earth became so on partha's account,
like the mother for her son. The rivers, the seas,
the mountains, o best of men, the trees, the
deciduous plants and herbs, took the side of the
diadem-decked arjuna. The asuras, yatudhanas,
the guhyakas, o scorcher of foes, and ravens and
other rangers of the sky, sided with karna. All the
gems and precious jewels, the four vedas with
the histories as the fifth, the upavedas, the
upanishads, with all their mysteries, and the
compilations, and vasuki, and citrasena, and
takshaka, and upatakshaka, and all the
mountains, and all the offspring of kadru with
their children, all the great snakes endued with
poison, and the nagas, took the side of arjuna.
Airavata and his children, the offspring of
surabhi, the offspring of vaisali, and the bhogins
sided with arjuna. The smaller snakes all sided
with karna. Wolves and wild stags and all kinds of
auspicious animals and birds were, o king, for
victory to partha. The vasus, the maruts, the
sadhyas, the rudras, the vishvedevas and the
ashvinis, and agni and indra and soma and
pavana, and the ten points of the compass,
became the partisans of dhananjaya, while all the
adityas sided with karna. The vaishyas, the
shudras, the sutas, and those castes that were of
a mixed origin, all, o king, adopted the side of
radha's son. The celestials, however, with the
pitris, and with all that were numbered with
them as also with their followers, and yama and
vaishravana and varuna were on the side of
arjuna. The brahmanas, the kshatriyas, the
sacrifices, and those gifts called dakshinas, were
for arjuna. The pretas, and pishacas, many
carnivorous animals and birds, the rakshasas with
all the monsters of the sea, the dogs, and the
jackals were for karna. The diverse tribes of
celestial and regenerate and royal rishis were for
the son of pandu. The gandharvas headed by
tumvuru, o king, were on the side of arjuna. With
the offspring of pradha and mauni, the several
classes of gandharvas and apsaras, and many
wise sages, having for their vehicles wolves and
stags and elephants and steeds and cars and
foot, and clouds and the wind, came there for
witnessing the encounter between karna and
arjuna. The gods, the danavas, the gandharvas,
the nagas, the yakshas, the birds, the great rishis
versed in the vedas, the pitris that subsist upon
the gifts called svadha, and asceticism and the
sciences, and the (celestial) herbs with diverse
virtues, came, o monarch, and took up their
stations in the welkin, making a great noise.
Brahman, with the regenerate rishis and the lords
of creatures, and bhava himself on his car, came
to that part of the welkin. Beholding those two
high-souled ones, karna and dhananjaya, about
to encounter each other, shakra himself said, "let
arjuna vanquish karna." surya, however, said, "let
karna vanquish arjuna. Indeed, let my son karna,
slaying arjuna, gain the victory in this battle. Let
my son, slaying karna, win victory." even thus did
surya and vasava, those two foremost of
personages, who were there and had adopted
opposite sides, dispute with each other.
Beholding those two high-souled ones, karna and
dhananjaya, about to engage themselves in
battle, the gods and the asuras adopted opposite
sides. The three worlds with the celestial rishis
and all the gods and all other creatures, trembled
at the sight. The gods were on the side of partha,
while the asuras were on that of karna."
SWAYAM VICHAAR KIJIYEE...
------------END OF THREAD -------------
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