Details about marital life of Karna, one the prominent figures of the Hindu epic Mahabharata, is hardly provided in the narrative. His wives are unnamed and belonged to the Sūta community. In the Stri Parva of the epic, one of them is mentioned as the mother of Vrishasena and Sushena, the most prominent sons of Karna.
Karna's wives are subjects of fantasy and different stories and folktales portray different women as the wives of Karna. The Tamil play Karna Moksham portray Ponnuruvi as his wife, while the regional Kashidasi Mahabharata states her to be Padmavati. In many modern adaptations of the Mahabharata, Karna is married to two women—Vrushali and Supriya.
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.
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]
P. Lal, a professor and translator of the Mahabharata, interprets three unnamed women as Karna wives, all belonging to the Sūta (charioteer) caste.[4]
In derivative literature
Vrushali
The wife of Karna belonging to the Sūta (charioteer) community is attested as Vrushali (also spelt as Vrishali) in the Marathi novels Mritunjaya (by Shivaji Sawant) and Radheya (by Ranjit Desai).[5] According to mythologist Dr. Pradeep Bhattacharya, the creation of this name can be attributed to Sawant and it parallels with "Panchali"—the heroine of the Mahabharata.[5]
Vrushali is portrayed as 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.[5][6]
Supriya
In Mrityunjaya, Supriya (Sanskrit: सुप्रिया, IAST: Supriyā) is Karna's second wife, the first being Vrushali. According to scholar Pradip Bhattacharya, Supriya is entirely a creation of the author Shivaji Sawant and her name is similar to Subhadra, the wife of Karna's rival Arjuna.[5]
Supriya was 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.[5]
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.[7] 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.[8] 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 he believes Duryodhana to be his true friend. After Karna dies in the war, Ponnuruvi laments his death.[9]
Padmavati
In the Kashidasi Mahabharat (the Bengali retelling of the epic), Padmavati is attested as 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.
References
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