Karna and Arjuna: The Final Duel

The gods watched from the sky. Both were mighty archers and, as only a few knew, both were sons of Kunti: brothers by birth. Arrows fell so thick that the sun was hidden. Sometimes Arjuna had the upper hand, sometimes Karna.

Karna fired a serpent arrow carrying the snake Ashwasena, Arjuna's old enemy. It flew towards Arjuna's throat. At that very moment Krishna pressed the chariot down into the earth with his feet. The arrow knocked off Arjuna's crown, but his life was saved.

Then the wheel of Karna's chariot sank into the earth, as an old curse of a brahmin came true. And by the curse of his teacher Parashurama, at the moment he needed it most, Karna could not remember the mantra of the Brahmastra. Karna stepped down to free the wheel and called out, 'Arjuna, wait! It is not dharma to strike a man who is unarmed.'

Krishna answered, 'Karna, now you remember dharma? When Draupadi was dragged into the hall, when the house of lac was set on fire, when six great warriors together killed the boy Abhimanyu, where was your dharma then?' Karna fell silent and bowed his head.

At Krishna's word, Arjuna loosed the Anjalika arrow, and Karna fell. It is said that a light rose from his body and merged into the sun. Generous, brave and sorrowful Karna, who never in his life was given his true identity, slept forever on the battlefield.