a prince with a heart of gold who struggled to gain acceptance and the love he deserved. You could not help but feel for the dark hero -a warrior prince loved for his generosity and admired for his character yet with deep dark shadows that haunted him. Today I look at him differently and I try to relate his struggles in the organizational context. Here are some reflections!

As the son of Sun God, Karna was a blessed child yet he did not enjoy a blessed life. He had all the makings of a prince – glowing looks, Suvarna kavach, intelligence and above all a generous and courageous heart. Karna has been loved and admired for these sterling qualities and there are many stories which show him as a man of his word and man of integrity.

A story goes that Arjuna once asked Krishna why Yudhishthira was called ‘Dharmaraj’ and Karna ‘Daanveer’ although neither had ever refused alms to anyone. To answer this, Krishna and Arjuna both disguised as Brahmins and decided to visit both Yudhishthira and Karna on the pretext of collecting sandalwood for Yajna. The whole kingdom was under the deluge of heavy rains on that day. Yudhishthira sent his servants across the kingdom but could not secure dry wood for the Brahmins. Karna, on the other hand, did not waste time in this; he simply strung his bow and stripped the interiors of his home for dry wood! Krishna then explained to Arjuna that Yudhishthira donated because it was written in the Dharma to do so, while Karna did it because he liked to donate and help. It was his nature to do so.

The message in this story about Karna is relevant to us even today because we see people putting in superficial efforts to do things without getting into the spirit of things. It is more of an effort to feel good about themselves than helping others or getting things done. At an organizational level, it makes us think about -what our systems, policies and processes are doing for us. Are we following them to show we are compliant or are we getting into the heart of it for the right reasons?

As the firstborn, Karna was the heir to the kingdom but denied all his rights due to destiny. His life was one of continual struggle for acceptance and so when Duryodhana extended a hand of friendship, he was loyal to him despite knowing he was on the losing side in the war. When Pandavas were serving exile, he fought more than 18 strong kingdoms and brought them under Duryodhana in an attempt to make Kauravas stronger. If we relate this to our work lives, it happens sometimes that we are not on winning teams or our customers are not appreciative but they deserve our best efforts which are a result of our loyalty and commitment. The outcome is not always in our hands but the effort always is!

Karna is also an excellent example of living the values in difficult circumstances. It so happened that during the great battle between Arjuna and Karna, a serpent called Naga Ashwasena secretly entered Karna's quiver because he wanted to avenge his mother’s death. The serpent’s mother had died when Arjuna had set ablaze Khandava –pasta but Naga Ashwasena had survived because he was in his mother’s womb. During the battle, he transformed himself into an arrow and waited his turn in Karna’s quiver. Unfortunately, Arjuna’s charioteer saved him and Vrishasena lost his chance for revenge. He confessed his plan to Karna and requested him to reuse him against Arjuna. Karna, a true warrior prince & bound by his values said "It is beneath my stature as a warrior to shoot the same arrow twice. Find some other way to avenge your family's death." Here was an opportunity to defeat his arch-rival, but being a man of integrity he chose otherwise. We are often faced with such choices – easier but unscrupulous as against the more difficult yet ethical ones. It is our values which guide us to choose wisely and triumph over temptations.

Karna’s end is also a shining example of his generosity and magnanimous nature. The royal prince lay on his deathbed when two Brahmins approached him around sunrise and asked for alms. Helpless and in great pain, Karna had nothing to offer so he broke off two of his teeth with some gold in them and gave them to the Brahmins.

What can the story of Karna teach us today?

Firstly that loyalty and commitment become a legacy even though you may be on the losing side. Today, the business environment is dynamic resembling the Kurukshetra but what sets heroes apart is how they respond to the challenges they face. Do you change sides when things become difficult? Or do you fight it out like Karna?

Hardships and obstacles are lessons for the future.  All organizations face ups and downs depending on the business environment. The problems we face should be the learnings that make us more skilled and competent for the future and not defeat us in our quest for success.

Aligning yourself to people who are guided by morality and empathy. Loyalty is noble but ultimately loses to ethics and values. Sometimes we get so carried away by loyalty and gratitude to our particular leaders, teams or friends that we do not realize we are supporting behaviours or attitudes which will ultimately harm the organization.

Some of you will believe I have cherry-picked stories to bring out Karna’s virtues and its possible I am biased towards my childhood hero. So do share your views below I would love to hear them! :-)

Abhimanyu is a key personality featured in the epic Mahabharata. The son of Arjuna and Subhadra, half-sister of Lord Krishna, Abhimanyu is a partial incarnation of Chandra. An unparalleled archer, he was considered equal to his father in prowess with the bow and arrow.

Abhimanyu is a key personality featured in the epic Mahabharata. The son of Arjuna and Subhadra, half-sister of Lord Krishna, Abhimanyu is a partial incarnation of Chandra. An unparalleled archer, he was considered equal to his father in prowess with the bow and arrow.

As an unborn child in his mother’s womb, Abhimanyu learned the knowledge of entering the deadly and virtually impenetrable Chakravyuha from Arjuna. The Mahabharata explains that from the womb, Abhimanyu overheard Arjuna talking about this with his mother Subhadra. Arjuna explained to Subhadra in detail the technique of attacking and escaping from various vyoohs (an array of army formation) such as Makaravyoha, Kurmavyooha, Sarpavyuha, etc. After explaining all the vyoohs, he explained about the technique of cracking Chakravyuha and entering it. When he was about to explain how to exit from the Chakravyuha, he realises that Subadra was asleep and stopped explaining about the Chakravyuha further. In return, the baby Abhimanyu in the womb did not get a chance to learn how to come out of it.

Rock carving from Halebid showing Abhimanyu entering the Chakravyuha

Abhimanyu spent his childhood in Dwaraka, his mother’s city. He was trained by Pradyumna, the son of Sri Krishna, and by his great warrior father Arjuna, and brought up under the guidance of Lord Krishna. His father arranged his marriage to Uttara, daughter of King Virata, to seal an alliance between the Pandavas and the royal family of Virata, in light of the forthcoming Kurukshetra War. The Pandavas had been hiding incognito through the final year of their exile, living without discovery in Virata’s kingdom of Matsya.

Being the grandson of Lord Indra, the god of mystical weapons and wars, Abhimanyu was a courageous and dashing warrior. Considered an equal to his father owing to his prodigious feats, Abhimanyu was able to hold at bay great heroes like Drona, Karna, Duryodhana and Dushasana. He was praised for his audacious bravery and absolute loyalty to his father, his uncles and to their cause. Abhimanyu took part in the war of Mahabharat and killed important personalities such as Lakshman, the son of Duryodhana and Brihadbala, the King of Kosala, of the Ikshwaku dynasty.

Abhimanyu’s Death

On the 13th day of battle, the Kauravas challenged the Pandavas to break a circular battle formation, the Chakravyuha. The Pandavas accepted the challenge since the knowledge of how to defeat such a formation was known to Krishna and Arjuna. However, on that day, Krishna and Arjuna were dragged into fighting a war on another front with the Samsaptakas. Since the Pandavas had already accepted the challenge, they had no choice but to attempt to use the young lad Abhimanyu, who had knowledge on how to break into the formation, but none whatsoever regarding how to break out of it. To make sure that Abhimanyu did not get trapped in this endeavour, the remaining Pandava brothers decided that they and their allies would also break into the formation along with Abhimanyu and assist the boy in breaking out of it. It is important to note that the plan was hatched well after Arjuna and Krishna had been distracted away by the Samsaptaka army led by Sarma.

Using his knowledge of the Chakravyuvha, Abhimanyu successfully broke into the formation. The Pandava brothers and allies attempted to follow him inside the formation, but they were effectively cut off by Jayadratha, the Sindhu king, who made use of a boon from Shiva to that enabled him to hold off all Pandavas except Arjuna for a day. Abhimanyu was left to fend for himself against the entire Kaurava army.

Abhimanyu commanded his charioteer to lead his chariot towards Drona. The charioteer, thinking it was not wise to do so, raised objections and requested the sixteen-year-old to take time to think about it before he began the battle. He pointed out that Abhimanyu had grown up amidst great love and comforts and he was not a master of the battle arts as Drona was. Laughing aloud, Abhimanyu said to his charioteer: “What is this Drona or even the entire world of kshatriyas to me? I can fight Indra himself, mounted on his Airavata, along with all the gods! Why, I can fight in a battle even Lord Rudra himself, to whom the entire world of beings pays homage! This battle that I am going to wage today does not bewilder me in the least. This entire army of enemies is not equal to one-sixteenth of my power. Why, even if I find in front of me in the battlefield my father Arjuna or my uncle himself, the mighty Vishnu who has conquered the whole universe, that wouldn’t frighten me.”

With no great joy in his mind, the charioteer took his master forward and Abhimanyu broke into the Chakravyuvha. In the mighty battle that followed, he slaughtered ordinary enemy warriors and mighty heroes alike. Abhimanyu fought valiantly, single-handedly slaying several warriors who came in his way including Duryodhana’s son, Laxman. Among the others who were killed were Ashmaka’s son, Shalya younger brother, Shalya’s son Rukmaratha, Drighalochana, Kundavedhi, Sushena, Vasatiya, Karratha and numerous other great warriors. He wounded Karna and made him flee, making Dushshasana faint in the battlefield such that he had to be carried off by others.

Upon witnessing the death of his beloved son, Duryodhana was incensed and ordered the entire Kaurava force to attack Abhimanyu. Continually frustrated in attempts to pierce Abhimanyu’s armour, Karna on Dronacharya’s advice shattered Abhimanyu’s bow by firing arrows from behind him. His chariot broke shortly after, the charioteer and horses were killed, and all his weapons were laid to waste. He attempted then to fight off the bow-wielding warriors sitting on horses and elephants with a sword and using a chariot wheel as a shield. Dushasana’s son engaged in fierce hand-to-hand combat with Abhimanyu. Ignoring all rules of war, the Kauravas all fought simultaneously with him. He held his own until his sword broke and the remaining chariot wheel shattered into pieces. Abhimanyu was killed shortly thereafter when Dushasana’s son crushed his skull with a mace. However, Abhimanyu killed him with his own mace before dying.

It is said that it was Abhimanyu’s death that marked the end of the adherence to the Rules of War. Krishna cited the despicable manner in which Abhimanyu was killed to incite Arjuna to kill Karna. This, said Krishna, was a reason to kill Duryodhana.