PANKAJ

Welcome to my next blog about Karna in this series of  "The Curious case of epics". First thing first, let me acknowledge my audacity for inadvertently commenting and judging such mighty characters. For, they are the heroes we still adore and I am a mere mortal....an armchair analyst! As I had mentioned in my previous blog ( https://bit.ly/2Uq25aj ) too, Karna has been favourite among readers rejoicing tragic heroes. Irawati Karve beautifully puts it in her book “Yuganta” that though Mahabharat tested each of its characters, but no one seems to be as defeated by life as much as Karna . To each their own, this may be treated either as a comment or a compliment. Let's discuss what makes a hero like Karna a tragic one. In the rangbhoomi where all Kuru princes were showcasing their skills after completion of their education, Karna too appears seeking an opportunity for himself. Karna’s candidature in the arena was debated him being considered a low born. With whatever...

महाभारत, जैसा कि हम सब जानते हैं हमारे दिल और दिमाग में रचा बसा है और सदैव किसी ना किसी रूप में हमारा ध्यान आकर्षित करता रहा है | यह ग्रन्थ और इसके अंत में हुआ युद्ध दोनों की विशालता असाधारण है | लोकप्रिय कथानक के अनुसार दोनों पक्षों की ओर से, सभी श्रेणियों के योद्धाओं को मिला कर इस युद्ध में भाग लेने वालों की संख्या लगभग ४० लाख के आसपास है | जब इतनी विशाल पृष्ठभूमि हो ,तो एक स्वाभाविक प्रश्न मन में आता है कि कौन है इन योद्धाओं में सर्वश्रेष्ठ? और यह प्रश्न आए भी क्यों ना....आखिर नायक हमारी मानसिकता का एक अभिन्न भाग जो रहे है..... क्या हम कथाओं को कहीं ना कहीं नायकों की गाथाओं के रूप में नहीं देखते? हालाँकि सभी योद्धाओं की उनके कौशल और आयुधों के अनुरूप श्रेणियाँ होती हैं मगर कहीं ना कहीं धनुर्धारी अग्रणी प्रतीत होते हैं क्योंकि ना केवल वे अधिक दूर तक प्रहार कर सकते हैं, साथ ही अपने विविध अस्त्रों/शस्त्रों से एक ही प्रहार में अधिक संहार भी कर सकते हैं | उदाहरण के तौर पर जिस प्रकार अर्जुन ने एक ही प्रहार से ना केवल जयद्रथ का वध किया, अपितु उनके कटे हुए मस्तक का एक सुदूर स्थ...

Mahabharat being an epic permanently etched in our memories, always manages to amuse us. The epic and its conclusive war, both are of enormous lengths. Going by the popular narrative, the footfall of the magnanimous war lies around 4 million people fighting it from either sides including all ranks of warriors. Given the vast setup, the thought often trespasses through our minds as to who was the best warrior ??  And rightly so as we have sound mental conditioning to view stories as tales of protagonists !!..... Isn't it ?? Do we not start looking for hero as soon as we come across a story ?? ! Of course the warriors had different ranks and skills with their respective weapons but archers get an advantage as they can target larger distances and cause more casualties in one single blow. For instance, Arjuna killing Jayadratha and at the same time dispatching his severed head to a far off place. This takes the likes of Karna, Arjuna , Drona, Bheeshma etc few notches above th...