Roshan Kumar: Did Draupadi really insult Duryodhan by saying he was the blind son of the blind father?
Karna: Not at all, actually it so happened that Duryodhan was shocked to see the riches and wealth of the Pandavas and the magnificent palace of Indraprastha, so he went about looking for various beautiful spots in the palace. During his wandering he found the place of Maya Sabha which was called as place of illusions and there he made a mockery of himself by banging into doors and fell into the pool of water, seeing this Bheem, Arjuna, Nakul and Sahadev had great laughter. Basically, Duryodhan was burning with jealousy to see the riches of Pandavas and to see Yudhisthira crowned as Emperor of Aryavrat. Duryodhan after returning to Hastinapur instigated Maharaj Dhritarashtra saying he was insulted by Draupadi in the Maya Sabha and asked him to arrange for a game of dice which would be played by Shakuni Mama on his behalf, thereby rob the Pandavas of their wealth.
Roshan Kumar: One of the ugly episodes of the epic was your behaviour in the Dyut Sabha, why did you say such insulting words to Draupadi in Dyut Sabha?
Karna: I can't really explain what was going through my mind at that time when I acted as a wild uncontrolled beast. I really lost it, as I said I always had great envy towards Arjuna, so I thought to insult Draupadi in the worst possible way to satisfy my ego and cause immense pain and shame to my opponents, Pandavas, specially to Arjuna. Also, I think failing to win the hand of Draupadi in the Swayamvar had hurt my ego as a warrior and it was planted in my subconscious mind. So, all these things played out in my mind when I uttered those unpardonable words which have dented my soul. That moment showed to me how low one can go when one burns with hate and envy. That moment sealed my fate and along with it the destruction of pretty much all the Kshatriyas of Aryavrat.
Roshan Kumar: There is one more popular fantasy with modern writers which is to make a romantic/illicit relationship between Draupadi and you, was there anything really in it?
Karna: Yeah, I have been hearing this a lot recently, but there is no truth in it. Let me tell you clearly, I saw Draupadi face to face only on two occasions in my lifetime, one was in Swayamvar and another was in Dyut Sabha. Naturally, like everyone in the Swayamvar, I too was initially attracted to Draupadi as she was the most beautiful woman of Aryavrat but once I lost the contest, that was the end to my feelings for her. Yes, I behaved very badly towards Draupadi but even then I had some morals left in me to not stoop down to such a low and harbour feelings for a married woman. After Dyut Sabha, Draupadi had only feelings of contempt and hate for me which is quite understandable, as I behaved without any humanity. After knowing that Pandavas were my younger brothers, my place would be like that of a father to Draupadi. As I said, I never had any bad feelings for Draupadi and this type of link-up taints the character of both Draupadi and myself and tarnishes our legacies.
Roshan Kumar: Do you see only Shakuni responsible for creating feelings of hate in Duryodhan against Pandavas or somewhere Dhritarashtra, you and Duryodhan himself was responsible?
Karna: Look it is very easy to make Mama Shakuni a scapegoat for all of this, but more than Mama Shakuni it was Maharaj Dhritarashtra who was responsible for the mess between the cousins. Later on, I also put fuel to the fire and was majorly responsible for the war. I was burned up with envy of Arjuna that I planned the Ghosh Yatra trip with Duryodhan to see the plight of Arjuna/Draupadi wearing deerskin and humiliate them by showing our riches.
Roshan Kumar: Why did you give your Kavach Kundal to Indra even when your father Lord Surya had warned you not to part them?
Karna: From my childhood, I was always eager to have eternal fame, even if it would cost me everything. As I was growing up, I was infatuated in getting worldwide fame, so for me, getting fame was far more important than adhering to Dharma. Keshava tried to drill some sense into me, but I flatly rejected the proposal for peace and requested him instead to ensure war is not averted. All my life, whenever I encountered Arjuna I had to swallow the bitter pill of loss, take from the instance of Arjuna winning the swayamvar contest where he strung the bow and shot the target, then to the mini battle we had in Swayamvar where I could not face his onslaught, so I voluntarily backed out after challenging that Brahmin youth in the first place, and then when encountered with Chitrasena and Gandharvas during the Ghosh Yatra fiasco, I had to flee the battle to save my life, but Arjuna belted those same enemies with ridiculous ease and freed up Duryodhan from their captivity. These incidents proved to me that I will never be a match to Arjuna in the pure art of archery.
Yes, my father Lord Surya, tried in many ways to warn me not to part with armour and earrings, if I do so, I will be slain in the battle and the great God also warned me that Devraj Indra would come in the disguise of a Brahmana and beg me for these. When I rejected all his pleas, he suggested me to ask for Devraj Indra's invincible spear. So, I reflected upon his advice and with the thought of getting immortal fame donated my Kavach and Kundal in exchange for the infallible Shakthi weapon from Indra which I marked for Arjuna. Let me remind you, cutting off the armour and earrings from the body was no mean task and it was very painful but I sustained the pain and seeing my steadfast nature and resilience, Devraj Indra was astonished and blessed me to have my body restored without any blemishes and the pain had vanished.
As I said, all my life, I treated only Arjuna as my arch rival and was looking for ways to come on top of him at least once in my lifetime, so the lure of the infallible dart was too good and using that I wanted to finish off Arjuna, and thus have the last laugh in my lifelong duel with him.
Roshan Kumar: Arjuna already had Vajra from Indra and the Shakthi weapon was the second best one in the arsenal of Indra, so why it became so irresistible?
Karna: That's a very good question. Actually, you are right, in Indra's arsenal Vajra was the most potent weapon which Arjuna already had. With Vajra, he could have easily destroyed the Shakthi weapon which Indra gave to me but it was Indra's word that made it irresistible. Indra while giving the Shakthi weapon gave the word that it will work without any impediment for the first time it is delivered against any enemy and will cause that enemy to fall. So, Arjuna had to respect that word of Indra and not try to hurl Vajra against Shakthi weapon. But, as you might know about Keshava, for him Dharma is all important and not any personal vows/obligations, so if at all, had a situation arose when Arjuna had to face the Shakthi weapon with no choice, then on the advice of Keshava, Arjuna would have definitely hurled Vajra and neutralized my Shakthi weapon.
Roshan Kumar: But, with natural armour and earrings you were invincible, so why did you donate that for the exchange of Shakthi weapon?
Karna: With natural armour and earrings I could not be dead but not invincible in battle, there is a difference in that. I could be incapacitated in a battle. If I was invincible in battle, then I would not have faced defeats. As I said earlier, for me eternal fame was more important and personal duel with Arjuna was always on top of my chart and wanted to have the last laugh in this final duel and went for Shakthi weapon in exchange for my armour and earrings, so I could kill Arjuna. As I explained already, in terms of pure skills and strength in archery, I was no match to Arjuna which was proved multiple times before the battle of Kurukshetra. He was the only warrior in Kurukshetra who was called as Savyasachi, he could fight multiple great warriors simultaneously by fighting them from the ground without relying on chariot, he could fight in the night, he could repulse all forms of illusions, he was the possessor of most number of divine and potent weapons. There was really nothing in the field of battle he could not do.
