Talk:Arjuna/@comment-2001:E68:5447:528C:61F7:BBDC:103D:C1D0-20180215112247/@comment-34041338-20180222053629

Before I go any further I should state that a large part of the Bhagavad Gita and Mahabharata were built to reinforce the caste system, so a lot of the morality involved is going to be. "Someone who wasn't priest caste was doing priest things" etc. So, to modern readers, it's going to seem a bit twisted about the "bad things" Karna did. First thing that Karna did is he really wanted to the art of warfare, however, having been disowned by his mother, he was not of the Brahmin caste. Eventually, he managed to trick a guru, Parashurama, into teaching him by disguising himself as a Brahmin, later once he was almost done learning the art of warfare, he was found out that he was not a Brahmin due to bleeding, his guru then cursed him to forget everything. However, having heard Karna's begging, he changed the curse to only affect Karna to forget when he needed it most. Then Karna killed some Brahmin's cow during target practice cause he was sort of a dick. He recieved a second curse to die defenseless just like the Brahmin's cow. Other stuff is more minor, he tried to challenge Arjuna to a duel one time but not being a prince he was viewed as socially inept and improper. He comitted bad dharma by fighting against Arjuna because "brothers shouldn't fight brothers", however Arjuna did this too, it's okay when Arjuna does it though because his dad Indra told him to, else many would die. Basically, Karna is bad for being an upstart but he's depicted multiple times as being rash, prone to violence, and ruthless.