Thursday, 12 June 2025

Did Karna ever defeat Arjuna in the Kurukshetra war? If so, how many times?

Did Karna ever defeat Arjuna in the Kurukshetra war? If so, how many times? Arjuna cannot be defeated in conventional manner. Most of the warriors faced defeat due to loss of weapons, chariot or charioteer. This is inapplicable in Arjuna's case as his bow and chariot is indestructible as well as chaeioteer(Krishna) was invincible. The only ways to defeat him are by forcing him to flee either due to being overpowered by his opponent or being unable to counter a celestial weapon. Now the Krishna factor always played a crucial role even in these cases. And that's where Karna’s near victory were turned the other way around. Karna could've killed Arjuna with his snake dart., but Krishna saved his life. Indra's spear could've killed Arjuna, but Krishna used Ghatotkacha as bait to lay waste to it. Arjuna was incapable to counter Karna’s Brahmastra which resulted in his chariots destruction., but Krishna prevented it. Arjuna was clueless about Bhargavastra and claiming it to be impossible to counter, where Krishna suggested to flee from Karna, hoping he would be tired after a while and then Arjuna’ can engage with Karna again. "The royal son of Kunti hath been deeply wounded and mangled by Karna. Having seen him first and comforted him, thou wilt then, O Partha, slay Karna?" Then Keshava proceeded, desirous of beholding Yudhishthira, thinking that Karna meanwhile, O monarch, would be overwhelmed with fatigue! Krishna's tactic is quite impressive, making it seem as Arjuna left in order to see Yudhistira in Arjuna's eyes(He claimed he don't find it right to flee from Karna) , whereas the later fact reveals, a direct encounter with Karna could've clapped him at that moment. Karna managed to break Gandiva's string 11 times. Translate that to 11 bows provided Arjuna wielded a normal bow. And in absence of bows, what else could he do except to flee? These were the potential areas where Arjuna could've been defated or killed by Karna, if not for plot armor on his side. At least 3 guaranteed, viz Naaga dart, Indra's spear and Brahmastra..

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