Why did Arjuna kill Karna unfairly?
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Hare Krishna. Hare Krishna. Question, why did Arjuna kill Karna unfairly when Karna’s chariot was immobilized? Wasn’t this against the Kshatriya codes? Answer, the unfairness had begun decades ago when the Kauravas had tried to poison Bhima when he was still a child or had later tried to burn the Pandavas alive when they were in Varnavat and Karna too had been a part of this conspiracy.
In the specific Kurukshetra war, at the start when the two commanders met, at that time the Kauravas reminded Dhristadyumna, the commander of the Pandavas that they should fight according to the Kshatriya codes. Dhristadyumna was surprised at this reminder and being savvy, he considered the Kauravas had themselves violated so many codes of morality. Why were they reminding the Pandavas of the moral codes now? So he replied that the Pandava army would not be the first to violate the Kshatriya codes.
But if the Kauravas violated those codes first, then the Pandavas would not hold themselves back in retaliation because of any codes. So now in the Kurukshetra war, the first major violation of the Kshatriya codes, in fact the same violation that Karna was targeted with, that happened on the 13th day when Abhimanyu, young, charioteerless and weaponless was attacked by six warriors simultaneously. So Karna was among the gang that unfairly brutalized and murdered Abhimanyu.
So it was Karna who violated the Kshatriya code of attacking a charioteerless warrior and he was paid back in kind. Later by Arjuna, Abhimanyu’s father. Now and this violation of Kshatriya codes of attacking a charioteerless warrior or a warrior whose chariot is immobilized, that was not a one-off incident.
On the 14th day when Arjuna had taken a vow to avenge the death of Abhimanyu by killing the main cause of that death, Jayadrath, and Arjuna had penetrated far into the Kaurava ranks, such had been his forceful attack that his horses had got exhausted and Krishna, as Arjuna’s charioteer, told him that your horses need rest, they cannot move on. So at that time, as Krishna took the horses aside for rest, Arjuna, he firstly created a mystical lake where the horses got shade in water and were thus rejuvenated. But in the meanwhile, Arjuna had got off his chariot.
He was on the ground and the Kaurava warriors did not desist thinking that, oh now, as per the Kshatriya codes, because Arjuna is on the ground and we are on our elephants, our horses, our chariots, we should not attack. No, they attacked Arjuna ferociously and Arjuna did not complain. Arjuna gallantly held them back by whirling round and round and shooting so many arrows so fast that whoever tried to calm him, practically hit against a wall of arrows.
So Arjuna did not squibble about Kshatriya codes at that time. And not only that, Karna himself violated this very same Kshatriya code on the very 17th day on which eventually he was killed. So during that battle, earlier when Arjuna and Karna were fighting, at that time Karna shot an unstoppable mystical weapon and that mystical weapon was aimed at the neck of Arjuna.
Arjuna did not realize how dangerous the weapon was but Krishna realized it and Krishna forcefully brought his leg down on the chariot’s footrest and because of that force, the chariot itself went down into the ground and because of that Arjuna went down and the arrow that was meant to lop off his head, that knocked off his crown. And then, while pushing the whole chariot down, the chariot had gone unto the earth and it had got stuck over there. So Krishna immediately jumped out of the chariot and picked up the chariot and in this period when Krishna was picking up the chariot, Arjuna’s chariot was immobilized and at that time Arjuna did not protest, Oh Karna, don’t shoot me, wait.
Karna kept attacking and Arjuna kept defending. So in an all-out war, no quarters are expected, no quarters are given and none should be expected. And eventually when Karna, when his chariot had got sunk into the ground and he had jumped off to try to get the chariot out of the ground and when he had been struggling to do so, he called out to Arjuna saying that, Oh Partha, remember the Kshatriya codes and do not shoot me when I am not on the chariot.
So at that time, Krishna countered Karna’s argument by reminding him of all the incidents when Karna had paid scant regard to morality. In fact, he had acted in utter disregard of morality. And then Krishna concluded by saying, Oh Karna, by the very same morality that you had acted at that time, Arjuna will now act by that morality.
Arjuna, shoot. So when Krishna recited all the atrocities that Karna had been a part of, Karna’s head fell in shame in admission of his guilt. Now when Krishna had warned Karna that Arjuna was going to shoot, Karna could have taken that warning and immediately climbed back on his stationary chariot and could have fought back from there or he could have fought from the ground itself.
But he neglected the warning and kept trying to lift up his chariot wheel. And Arjuna shot him and Karna died. So it was, even in the end, it was not that Karna was shot without warning.
It was Karna’s heedlessness of the warning that caused his death. And Krishna, he wanted to demonstrate a principle, Shathoshatyam. Shathoshatyam means with the cunning, be cunning.
That people who are vicious often, they need to be countered in a kind, otherwise they never learn. So actually Krishna had defeated all the Kauravas, Arjuna had defeated all the Kaurava warriors, including Karna just a few days, a few months before at Virat. But still, here Krishna asked Arjuna to shoot Karna in this way to demonstrate that if somebody is cunning, then one can adopt like means and thereby ensure that in the total analysis, virtue triumphs.
So it was because the Kauravas were vicious and because Karna had been a part of that vicious team and Karna himself had violated the Kshatriya codes. So Arjuna’s killing him by similar violation of the Kshatriya codes was not unfairness. It was fair in terms of the adjusted war code that had been decided at the start of the war, that particular war, that if the Kauravas violate the war codes, then the Pandavas will not hold themselves back because of the war codes.
So in the ultimate sense, Karna’s killing was not unfair, but was fair. Thank you.