Wives of Karna

In the Hindu epic Mahabharata, the wife of the warrior Karna is unnamed and in the Stri Parva of the epic, she is mentioned as the mother of Vrishasena and Sushena, the most prominent sons of Karna.

Karna (center) sacrifices his divine armour, while his wife watches in distress—a scene from the Mahabharata by Bamapada Banerjee

Karna's wives are subjects of fantasy and different stories and folktales portray different women as the wives of Karna. In many recent adaptations of the Mahabharata, Karna is married to two women—Vrushali and Supriya. Contradictory to this, the Tamil play Karna Moksham portray Ponnuruvi as his wife, while the regional Kashidasi Mahabharata states her to be Padmavati. In modern retellings, his wife is also called Uruvi.

In the Mahabharata

Karna's wives play insignificant roles in the original epic. In the Udyoga Parva of the Mahabharata, Karna—while explaining his commitment towards his foster parents—mentions them.^[1]

When also I attained to youth, I married wives according to his [Adhiratha] selections. Through them have been born my sons and grandsons, O Janardana. My heart also, O Krishna, and all the bonds of affection and love, are fixed on them.

— Karna, translated by Kisari Mohan Ganguli^[2]

In the epic's Stri Parva, Gandhari, the mother of Duryodhana (antagonist of the Mahabharata), describes the grief of women after the Kurukshetra War. The sorrow of a wife of Karna is also described by her.^[1]

Behold, the wife of Karna and mother of Vrishasena, is indulging in piteous lamentations and crying and weeping and falling upon the ground! Even now she exclaims, "Without doubt, thy preceptor’s curse hath pursued thee! When the wheel of thy car was swallowed up by the Earth, the cruel Dhananjaya cut off thy head with an arrow! Alas, fie (on the heroism and skill)! That lady, the mother of Sushena, exceedingly afflicted and uttering cries of woe, is falling down, deprived of her senses, at the sight of the mighty-armed and brave Karna prostrated on the earth, with his waist still encircled with a belt of gold. Carnivorous creatures, feeding on the body of that illustrious hero, have reduced it to very small dimensions. The sight is not gladdening, like that of the moon on the fourteenth night of the dark fortnight. Falling down on the earth, the cheerless dame is rising up again. Burning with grief on account of the death of her son also, she cometh and smelleth the face of her lord!"

— Gandhari, translated by Kisari Mohan Ganguli^[3]

In derivative literature

Vrushali

Vrushali also spelt as Vrishali, (Sanskrit: वृषाली, IAST: vṛṣālī); is the first of the two most popular wives of Karna. Her story is found in the Marathi novels Radheya (by Ranjit Desai), and Mritunjaya (by Shivaji Sawant),^[4] and is retold in many modern adaptations based on Karna's life.^[5][6]

Like Karna, Vrushali belonged to the Suta (charioteer) community and she was a good friend of Karna from their childhood. When Karna grew up, Adhiratha chose her as the bride for his son. She is described to be wise and pious. After the death of her sons and husband, she ended her life on her husband's pyre.^[4][7]

Supriya

Supriya (Sanskrit: सुप्रिया, IAST: Supriyā) is considered as Karna's second wife, the first being Vrushali. According to scholar Pradip Bhattacharya, Supriya is a creation of Shivaji Sawant and her name parallels with Subhadra.^[4]

In Mritunjaya, Supriya is the maid of Bhanumati, princess of Kalinga. When the King of Kalinga organises Bhanumati's swayamvara, Duryodhana abducts Bhanumati with the help of Karna and marries her. Duryodhana gets Supriya married to Karna.^[4]

Padmavati

In the Kashidasi Mahabharat (a regional version of the epic), Padmavati is the wife of Karna. She was the maid of princess Asawari. They were rescued by Karna from some attackers. When Karna asks Asawari's father, the king, for her hand, the king rejected her marriage with Karna. Later, Karna attacked the kings at Asawari's swaymvara. Karna asked her if she would like to marry him. She says that she will do anything to save her father. Karna then accepts her maid Padmavati as his wife instead. Padmavati marries him and goes to Anga Kingdom with him.

Ponnuruvi

Ponnuruvi is the wife of Karna in the Karna Moksham of Kattaikkuttu, a Tamil drama written by Pukalentippulavar. She plays a major role in it and is depicted as a princess belonging to Kshatriya (warrior) community.^[8] In the play, she is the princess of Kalinga and the story of her marriage is based on the Mahabharata's narration of the abduction of the Kalinga princess. Though the princess marries Duryodhana in the original epic, in these folklores, she is named Ponnuruvi and is married to Karna because he was the one who touched her during the abduction.^[9]

Karna Moksham depicts her as abusive towards Karna as his lineage is not specified and she believes him to be of the lower caste. She doesn't even let Karna touch his son. However, when Karna discloses his true lineage before going to the Kurukshetra War, her attitude drastically changes and she apologizes. She advises Karna to not kill the Pandavas (Karna's half-brothers). She also advises him to leave the side of the Duryodhana. However, Karna refuses as believes Duryodhana to be his true friend. After Karna dies in the war, Ponnuruvi laments his death.^[10]

Reference

1. McGrath, Kevin (1 January 2004). The Sanskrit Hero: Karṇa in Epic Mahābhārata. BRILL. p. 114. ISBN 978-90-04-13729-5.
2. "The Mahabharata, Book 5: Udyoga Parva: Bhagwat Yana Parva: Section CXLI". www.sacred-texts.com. Retrieved 23 January 2021.
3. Kisari Mohan Ganguli (1883–1896). "The Mahabharata, Book 11: Stri Parva: Stri-vilapa-parva: Section 21". www.sacred-texts.com.
4. "The Novel As Epic by Pradip Bhattacharya". www.boloji.com. Retrieved 17 July 2021.
5. Krishnan, S. A. (1 July 2017). Karna, the son of Kunti: Stories from the Mahabharatha. SA Krishnan.
6. Kotru, Umesh; Zutshi, Ashutosh (1 March 2015). Karna The Unsung Hero of the Mahabharata. One Point Six Technology Pvt Ltd. ISBN 978-93-5201-304-3.
7. Sāvanta, Śivājī (1989). Mrityunjaya, the Death Conqueror: The Story of Karna. Writers Workshop. ISBN 978-81-7189-002-6.
8. McGrath 2004, p. 132.
9. Hiltebeitel, Alf (27 July 2011). Reading the Fifth Veda: Studies on the Mahābhārata - Essays by Alf Hiltebeitel. BRILL. ISBN 978-90-04-18566-1.
10. "Karna". Kattaikkuttu. Retrieved 19 July 2021.