Kunti was the daughter of Yaduvanshi king Shurasena, who was known as Pritha in her childhood. King Shurasena gave Pritha for adoption to his childless brother Kuntibhoja. Kuntibhoj named her Kunti.
Kunti was engaged in the service of Mahatmas and sages since childhood. Pleased with her service, Maharishi Durvasa gave her a wonderful mantra, through which she could invoke any deity.
Kunti called upon Sun God to test the power of this mantra. Suryadev blessed Kunti and from this Karna was born. At the time of birth, Karna had divine earrings in his ears and armor on his body, which was given to him by Sun God. Karna’s armor and earrings were not only divine, but also made him invincible.
Excerpt of Asura Dambodbhava in Karna
According to the stories of Mahabharata, along with the Sun God, Karna also had a part of Dambodbhava, an ancient demon. In his previous birth, Dambodbhava had done penance to the Sun God and received a thousand armors as a boon. Due to these armors it became almost impossible to defeat him.
To end the terror of demon Dambodbhava, Lord Vishnu incarnated in the form of Nara and Narayana. Nara and Narayana fought and destroyed 999 armors of Dambodbhava. When only one shield was left, Dambodbhava took refuge in the Sun God. Suryadev by his grace gave shelter to Dambodbhava and kept his last armor safe.
Later, when Kunti invoked the Sun God and Karna was born, the remaining armor of Dambodbhava was also born along with Karna. In this way, along with the divinity of the Sun God, the power and parts of Dambodbhava were also included in Karna.
Karna’s extravagance
Karna was one of the unique warriors of Mahabharata due to his armor and extraordinary strength. However, throughout his life he faced the struggle of society and his identity. Karna was not only the brilliant son of Sun God, but the influence of the power of demon Dambodbhava was also visible in his character and personality. Thus Karna became a unique and powerful character of Mahabharata.