Karna’s ear-rings and armour were divine protective gifts from his father, Surya. Indra wished to protect his son Arjuna against Karna. So he went, disguised as a Brahmana, and begged the ear-rings and armour from Karna. Karna had been warned by Surya, but he was unable to turn down the request. So, he gave them to the Brahmana. Touched by Karna’s generosity Indra gave him his weapon Shakti, as a boon for use once in battle. Then Karna went to Parashuram, posing as a Brahmana, and trained as his disciple to obtain the Brahmastra from him. Parashurama, an enemy to all Kshatriyas, taught Karna, but he discovered that his pupil was actually a Kshatriya. He cursed Karna for the deception and said that during a crisis in battle, the weapon’s mantra would fail him. It was the failure of this mantra that helped Arjuna kill Karna later during the war at Kurukshetra.
Weapons and Armour
