Karna: Your Complete Guide to the Mahabharata’s Antihero

Karna is the first son of Kunti, the mother of the Pandavas in the Mahabharata. Kunti bears him out of wedlock, before her marriage to Pandu. Fearing social censure, she abandons him soon after his birth.

The baby Karna is found and raised by a charioteer named Adiratha, and his wife Radha.

He is also a close friend of Duryodhana, the eldest of the hundred sons of Dhritarashtra who are together called the Kauravas. Duryodhana is the story’s prime antagonist, and Karna becomes his prime all...