Vrishaketu – The Son Of Karna Who Survived

We all know about Maharathi Karna, but do you know about how many wives and children he had? I’m sure none of the series have shown anything about his personal life or his offspring. As you read further you will have better clarity about the Historical shreds of evidence and the family tree of the Pandavas.

Surya Putra – KARNA

Karna is the child of Lord Surya (Sun god). According to the Mahabharata, He is the Eldest Born of the Pandavas. Kunti got a boon from sage Durvasa, A unique mantra, through which she could invoke any divine being to provide her with a son… But Kunti had used this before she was married to test if it was true, shockingly later, Lord Surya blessed her with a baby boy, but she didn’t have an option to take the baby with her. Since society would speak ill, she decides to put the baby in a basket of Lotus and send him floating over the Ganges.

Lord Surya tells Kunti that someone will Nurture the baby. His Name is Karna which means A person born through the ear.

From Surya Putra to Suta Putra…

In the banks of the Ganges, two couples glance at the baby in the basket, Adhiratha, a charioteer in the service of the blind king of Hastinapura, (Dhritarashtra) who is the father of the Kauravas. Adhiratha and his wife Radha are childless. They raised Karna as their own son. Adhirath named his son Vasusena.

• Consequently, being a son from lower caste ( son of Charioteer) all humiliate and refrain him from archery and being a warrior. So, This built an anger towards the people of Hastinapura and Arjun specifically. Karna trains under Bhagwan Parshuram himself hiding his identity as a Bramhin priest. But, Parshuram realises lately that he isn’t a Bramhin and Curses him saying he will forget his knowledge on the day he needs.

• In the 17th Day of the Mahabharat war, Karna shoots his snake-missile. The arrow misses because Krishna, who is Arjuna’s charioteer, makes Arjuna’s chariot sink 11 inches into the ground. Arjuna releases the Pasupata-weapon which strikes Karna fatally in the breast. This is how Karna Dies in the war.

How Many Wives Did Karna Have ?

It is not told about how many wives Karna has because of many hindu scriptures, though it is been repeatedly told in the epic, we get to know through folklore and retailings. We know A wife Vrishali, She is the sister of the Charioteer of Duryodhan ( Satyasen). Vrishali was chosen by karna’s dad Adhirath. After this the next wife was Supriya or Known as Padmavati who fell in love with him. The other list of karna’s wives are:

• Chandravali

• Ponnuruvi

• Urvi

• Tulsi

But the fact is that He has 2 wives, Vrishali and Supriya.

How many children did Karna have?

Thus, from the two wives, Karna has 9 children, Vrushali has 3 and Supriya- 6. The names of the children are:

Vrishasena, Chitrasena, Satyasena, Sushena, Shatrunjaya, Dvipata, Banasena, Prasena and Vrishaketu.

During the Mahabharat war, Only the 8 children of Karna took part except Vrishaketu. In which Arjun kills Shatrunjaya, Dvipata, and Vrishasena. Bheem Kills Sushena, Nakul kills Chitrasen, Satyasena and Susharma. The only one who survived is Vrishaketu – the youngest child.

Vrishaketu

After Karna’s identity was revealed, he was given the patronage of the Pandavas. He was the last mortal who had the knowledge of Divyastras like Brahmastra and Varunastra. All the Pandavas especially Arjuna had great affection towards him. So Arjun taught him all the skills of archery. Krishna asked Vrishaketu for something; Vrishaketu told him he will give him whatever he asks for, and Krishna asked him to not teach anybody the knowledge of divine and celestial weapons.

After the war when Pandavas became aware of Karna’s lineage, Pandavas gave Vrishaketu kingdom of Anga and he remained under the patronage of Arjuna.Vrishaketu was an active participant in Yudhishthira’s Ashvamedha yagna. During the campaign, he married the daughter of King Yavanata. Later in the conquest both Vrishaketu and Arjuna were killed by Babruvahana, Arjun was revived by Krishna using a Nagmani.