​When did Kunti reveal to Karna that he was her son – why?

​Answer Podcast

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
Afterwards, we always feel that… So when did Kunti reveal to Karna? Yes, it was before the war. In fact, actually this was way before the war, when Kunti realizes that now the war has become inevitable.
Krishna’s peace mission has failed. At that time, she goes and she desires that, right from her, when she first saw Karna enter the martial exhibition, and she saw his kundal and kavachi, she said, this is my son. She was so delighted.
But before she could do anything to acknowledge him, to meet him, suddenly she saw before her eyes what is probably a mother’s worst nightmare. To see her two sons become lifelong enemies. And at least at that point she hoped that they were just rivals, not enemies.
Rivals means there is a skill in which both of them are trying to excel. But enemies means you are out to kill each other. But when the war took place, when the final war became inevitable, at that time she decided, I have to do something to save Karna.
And that’s why she went to Karna and told him, that you are… She knew Karna was charitable, and she wanted to get Karna to avoid the war. She told him that you are the son of… You are my eldest son. She basically offered the same thing that Krishna offered to him.
But he refused. And actually, again, he refused. Now, it was not that… Some people describe it as Kunti asked him, don’t kill my other sons.
Kunti did not ask him like that. Now, Karna, he was also very reputation conscious. Because at one level, because he was a Suta, he was not given adequate honor.
So he always wanted to maintain his good name. And for that purpose, he wanted to make sure that no one could ever cast any aspersion on his charitable nature. So he said, O Kunti, you have come to ask me for something.
I will not let you go empty handed. He said, you will always have five sons. And as he said, I will kill Arjuna or he will kill me.
But other Pandavas I will not kill. So it is true that he kept to honor his word. On the 16th, he had an opportunity to attack and kill the other Pandavas.
He did not kill them. That is his virtue. But again, he did not do what his mother told him to do.
And that was again a part of his wrong choice.