Karna, the Mahabharata's generous warrior who learns too late who his brothers are

the gist

Karna is one of the major characters of the Hindu epic Mahabharata. He is the son of the sun god Surya and the princess Kunti, who received a mantra from the sage Durvasa that let her invoke any deity to give her a child. Curious whether it would work, the young Kunti called Surya, and Karna was born with golden earrings and a breastplate like his father's. Fearing what others would think, she set the baby adrift in a padded basket. The river carried him to the kingdom of Anga, where the charioteer Adhiratha and his wife Radha adopted him and named him Vasusena. Karna grows into a warrior equal to Arjuna. When others reject him, Duryodhana makes him king of Anga, and Karna becomes his lifelong, loyal friend, fighting on the Kaurava side at Kurukshetra. Late in the epic he meets his birth mother and learns that he is the older half-brother of those he is fighting against. Known for his generosity, he gives away his earrings and breastplate in charity and later dies in battle with Arjuna. The epic tells his birth four times, and manuscripts differ in details.

so what

The epic uses Karna's character to raise and discuss major dilemmas of emotion and dharma (duty and ethics). He is remembered as a man rejected by those who should have loved him, who becomes exceptional and gives his love and life as a loyal friend. His story has inspired many later works, poems and plays in the Hindu arts tradition, in India and in Southeast Asia.

Hampi was once one of the world's largest cities, until its Vijayanagara capital was destroyed in 1565

the gist

Hampi is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Karnataka, India, with more than 1,600 surviving remains spread over 4,100 hectares. It was the capital of the Vijayanagara Empire from 1336 to 1565. Travellers from Persia and Portugal described it as a prosperous, wealthy and grand city with temples, markets and farms along the Tungabhadra River. By 1500 it was estimated to be the world's second-largest city after Beijing, and probably India's richest at the time. In 1565 a coalition of Muslim sultanates defeated the Vijayanagara Empire, its capital was conquered and destroyed, and the city was left in ruins. Hampi remains a religious centre, with the active Virupaksha Temple at its heart.

how it works

The city was built around a fortified core with temples, markets and water structures along the river, supplied by an extensive network of roads and waterworks. When the empire fell, the city was not rebuilt, so its stone monuments were left standing.

so what

Hampi shows how quickly a great city can vanish after a military defeat, and how a ruined capital can remain sacred. Its ruins give historians a view of medieval South Asia that few other sites can match.

fun fact

The name Hampi comes from Pampa, an old name for the Tungabhadra River.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia · text CC BY-SA 4.0

Image: Wikimedia Commons

source: Wikipedia ↗

2 min

politicsshortCNA2:01

False allegations about Singapore’s hand in Indonesia’s markets and a made-up meeting

from CNA

CNA Verify has found close to 400 posts pushing falsehoods tying Singapore to Indonesia’s stock market rout and to a secret meeting that never took place. Together, they drew nearly 12 million views, and some were circulated by accounts that appeared to be working in concert, across multiple social media platforms.

Here’s how the disinformation campaign targeting Singapore was uncovered.

on YouTube: CNA ↗