Karnasapatham

The playwright had been written by Kalidasa in the 3rd century BCE, around 500 years after Vyasa wrote the Jaya-Samhita. It was written in the era when the glories of Karna were being written in the forms of poetry, songs and hymns by the sages and writers under the instructions of Yudhisthira- the ruler of India.

The glories of Karna and the devotion of Yudhisthira towards his elder brother was extensively spread all over the Indian subcontinent by the sages and poets such as Vyasa, Kalidasa and Bhasa.

Around this period, a mahakavya called Karnabharam was composed by Bhasa and was complemented by Kalidasa.

The glories of Karna and his brothers along with the centralisation of the Kuru family was being promoted all over India by the sages whereas a term for Karna was coined - पुरुष-श्रेष्ठ which meant the hero of Aryavartha, the hero with all virtues. Whereas the other family tribes including the Vrishni rulers like Krishna and Balram didn’t get any representation from the sages. The rulers from the Vindhyas and the South Deccan were not even mentioned.

Indraprastha under the rule of Vrishaketu also prospered as a Mahajanpada. Poets like Kalidasa also visited Vrishaketu and his descendants who ruled over Delhi(Indraprastha).

Perhaps this was the first incident when Delhi became the centre capital of Indian subcontinent under the rule of Vrishaketu’s descendants.

This had angered the Vrishnis and the Bheels for which they wrote their own history portraying Krishna, Eklavya and Balrama as the heroes of India. These texts were burnt by the sages and kings of that period which promoted Krishna’s family and Eklavya.

The supreme of all mortals, Karna with irresistible charm, the possessor of the Vijaya bow and his other half Yudhisthira, his inseparable brother shall be worshipped before performing this act.

— Nātyaśāstra 1.14–15[3][4]

Before the 14th century, this prayer was performed by sages and hermits but after that, Yudhisthira was replaced with Krishna with the upsurge of Vaishnavism. Now Karna and lord Krishna are worshipped before performing this Mahabharata act. Krishna in the Mahabharata was a devotee friend of Karna.

Then the story begins with Karna’s birth through Surya and Kunti and the devas and lords of the earth sing his praises at his birth.

The play is divided into 6 parts also known as Kándas.

1)Bala Kánda Narrates the divine birth of Karna where the gods bless the divine child. The sages keep his name as Vasusena, the one whose birth was celebrated by the gods. This part narrates the childhood of Karna and his acts of giving.

2)Parshuram Kanda Karna goes to Parshurama to learn weaponry in the guise of a Brahmin. After the completion of Karna's weapon training under Parshuram, he is cursed by Parshurama

3)Rangbhoomi Kanda Karna and his brothers are grown up. The Kuru princes are exhibiting their skills, in the midst of all of them, the era welcomes a new hero-Karna. Karna is then crowned the king of Anga and the coronation takes place with great pomp and show.

4)Madhya Kanda All the central stories of Karna and the Pandavas are narrated with both the parties preparing for the war. Karna conquers the world. Karna gives away his armor to Indra. Karna gives an oath to Kunti to spare Pandavas life.

5)Yuddha Kanda The war begins. Karna defeats Arjuna and spares his life multiple times in the battlefield. Karna slays Ghatotkacha. Karna defeats Arjuna and spares his life.

6)Swarga Kanda Yudhisthira reaches the heaven and finally he unites with Karna in the heaven. Karna is crowned the king of Aditya Lok and happily lives ever after with his brothers.

At the end of the play, curtains are brought down and statues of Arjuna (main antagonist), Indra (father of antagonist), Drona (preceptor of antagonist) are brought and are burnt in public.

At the end of the play, in the Swarga where Karna and Yudhisthira unite. Karna is crowned the king of Aditya Loka and Yudhisthira touches his feet. The curtains are brought down with the eternal union of Karna and his brother. Then the statues of Karna and Yudhisthira are brought and worshipped. Then all the well-wishers of Karna are worshipped. Lord Surya, Parshurama, Krishna, Shiva are then worshipped.

Lady Padmavati is also worshipped.

After worshipping Karna and the other protagonists of Mahabharata, then Arjuna, Drona and Indra's statues are brought in the nearby public ground and is burnt marking the beginning of an era where nepotism and evil doesn't exist.

Karna defeats the evil prince Arjuna

The celebration of capability over nepotism. Perhaps after Karna only, India gave way to its new empires like the Gupta Empire, Maurya empire where a shepherd like Chandragupta Maurya could dream of conquering the world. Karna led to a change in the political course of Indian subcontinent thereby ending the Chandravansh rulers and all the dynastic successions of Chandravansh, Kuruvansh and Yaduvansh too had ended with the submerge of Dwarka in the ocean.

Jai Mrityunjay Karna; (Glory to Karna)

Slogans like “Mrityunjay Karna” “Jai Daanveer Karna” are often spoken during the worship and performance on stage.

Over the centuries, Karnasapátham has evolved into a highly venerated art form and has travelled to far corners of the globe, through Indian diaspora, not as acts of "cultural recovery", rather as fresh expressions of persistent faith. Today, the act is staged in most countries with immigrant Hindu populations from the Indian subcontinent, including that from India, Nepal and Pakistan. Outside the Indian subcontinent, this includes Fiji, Mauritius, South Africa, Canada, Guyana, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, the United Kingdom, The Netherlands, the United States, Australia, and New Zealand.

Veteran actors like Mohanlal had played the role of Karna in this play.

Nawazuddin Siddiqui has also enacted in the play Maharathi where he played the role of Ghatotkach.