The Anointment of Karna
Crested Karna, helmed Arjun, proudly trod the spacious green,Kripa, skilled in herald's duties, spake upon the dreadful scene:
"This is helmet-wearing Arjun, sprung of Kuru's mighty race,Pandu's son and borne by Pritha, prince of worth and warlike grace,
Long-armed Chief! declare thy lineage, and the race thou dost adorn,Name thy mother and thy father, and the house that saw thee born,
By the rules of war Prince Arjun claims his rival chief to know,Princes may not draw their weapon 'gainst a base and nameless foe!"
Karna silent heard this mandate but his birth could not proclaim,Like a raindrop-pelted lotus bent his humble head in shame!
"Prince we reckon," cried Duryodhan, "not the man of birth alone,Warlike leader of his forces as a prince and chief we own!
Karna by his warlike valour is of crowned kings the peer,Karna shall be crowned monarch, nations shall his mandate hear!"
Forth they brought the corn and treasure, golden coin and water jar,On the throne they seated Karna famed in many a deathful war,
Brahmans chanted sacred mantra which the holy books ordain,And anointed Karna monarch, king of Anga's fair domain,
And they raised the red umbrella, and they waved the chowri fan,"Blessings on the crowned monarch! honour to the bravest man!"
Now the holy rites accomplished, in his kingly robes arrayedKarna unto prince Duryodhan thus in grateful accents prayed:
"Gift of kingdom, good Duryodhan, speaketh well thy noble heart,What return can grateful Karna humbly render on his part?"
"Grant thy friendship," cried Duryodhan, "for no other boon I crave,Be Duryodhan's dearest comrade be his helper true and brave!"
"Be it so!" responded Karna, with a proud and noble grace,And he sealed his loyal friendship in a dear and fond embrace!
Words in this poem
- helmed a.
- Covered with a helmet.
- dreadful a.
- Full of dread or terror; fearful.
- nameless a.
- Without a name; not having been given a name; as, a nameless star.
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
- deathful a.
- Full of death or slaughter; murderous; destructive; bloody.
- mantra n.
- A prayer; an invocation; a religious formula; a charm. [India] [Skr.]
- honour n.
- Esteem due or paid to worth; high estimation; respect; consideration; reverence; veneration; manifestation of respect or reverence. [OE. honor, honour, onour, onur, OF. honor, onor, honur, onur, honour, onour, F. honneur, fr. L. honor, honos.]
- humbly adv.
- With humility; lowly.
- boon n.
- A prayer or petition. [OE. bone, boin, a petition, fr. Icel. b; akin to Sw. & Dan. b, AS. b, and perh. to E. ban; but influenced by F. bon good, fr. L. bonus. Ban, Bounty.]
- crave v. t.
- To ask with earnestness or importunity; to ask with submission or humility; to beg; to entreat; to beseech; to implore. [AS. crafian; akin to Icel. krefia, Sw. kr, Dan. kr.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Anointment of Karna is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Mahabharata (condensed), Project Gutenberg ebook #19630, the Romesh Chunder Dutt translation; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Vyasa, The Anointment of Karna, in The Mahabharata (condensed) (1899), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #19630, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/mahabharata/the-anointment-of-karna.html, id L15760.
Form and metre
The Anointment of Karna is 28 lines in 14 stanzas of 2 lines each. It is in rhyming couplets, 93% of the lines. The metre is trochaic octameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%). 100% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 15.0 syllables.
See other poems in rhyming couplets, other poems in trochaic octameter.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 AA greenA · sceneA
- 2 AA raceA · graceA
- 3 AA adornA · bornA
- 4 AA knowA · foeA
- 5 AA proclaimA · shameA
- 6 AA aloneA · ownA
- 7 AA peerA · hearA
- 9 AA ordainA · domainA
- 10 AA fanA · manA
- 11 AA arrayedA · prayedA
- 12 AA heartA · partA
- 13 AA craveA · braveA
- 14 AA graceA · embraceA
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against trochaic octameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Crested Karna, helmed Arjun, proudly trod the spacious green, | 15 | /˘···˘··/˘··/˘· |
| Kripa, skilled in herald's duties, spake upon the dreadful scene: | 15 | ····/˘/˘····/˘· |
| "This is helmet-wearing Arjun, sprung of Kuru's mighty race, | 15 | ··/˘/˘······/˘· |
| Pandu's son and borne by Pritha, prince of worth and warlike grace, | 15 | ············/·· |
| Long-armed Chief! declare thy lineage, and the race thou dost adorn, | 15 | ···˘/·/˘·····˘/ |
| Name thy mother and thy father, and the house that saw thee born, | 15 | ··/˘··/˘······· |
| By the rules of war Prince Arjun claims his rival chief to know, | 15 | ··········/˘··· |
| Princes may not draw their weapon 'gainst a base and nameless foe!" | 15 | /˘····/˘····/˘· |
| Karna silent heard this mandate but his birth could not proclaim, | 15 | ··/˘··/······˘/ |
| Like a raindrop-pelted lotus bent his humble head in shame! | 15 | ··/·/˘/˘··/˘··· |
| "Prince we reckon," cried Duryodhan, "not the man of birth alone, | 15 | ··/˘·········˘/ |
| Warlike leader of his forces as a prince and chief we own! | 15 | /·/˘··/˘······· |
| Karna by his warlike valour is of crowned kings the peer, | 15 | ····/·/˘···˘··· |
| Karna shall be crowned monarch, nations shall his mandate hear!" | 15 | ·····˘/·/˘··/·· |
| Forth they brought the corn and treasure, golden coin and water jar, | 15 | ······/˘/˘··/˘· |
| On the throne they seated Karna famed in many a deathful war, | 15 | ····/˘····/·/˘· |
| Brahmans chanted sacred mantra which the holy books ordain, | 15 | ··/˘/˘/˘··/˘·˘/ |
| And anointed Karna monarch, king of Anga's fair domain, | 15 | ·˘/˘··/······˘/ |
| And they raised the red umbrella, and they waved the chowri fan, | 15 | ·····˘/˘······· |
| "Blessings on the crowned monarch! honour to the bravest man!" | 15 | /˘···˘/·/˘··/˘· |
| Now the holy rites accomplished, in his kingly robes arrayed | 15 | ··/˘·˘/˘··/˘·˘/ |
| Karna unto prince Duryodhan thus in grateful accents prayed: | 15 | ··········/˘/˘· |
| "Gift of kingdom, good Duryodhan, speaketh well thy noble heart, | 15 | ··/˘····/˘··/˘· |
| What return can grateful Karna humbly render on his part?" | 15 | ·˘/·/˘··/˘/˘··· |
| "Grant thy friendship," cried Duryodhan, "for no other boon I crave, | 15 | ··/˘······/˘··· |
| Be Duryodhan's dearest comrade be his helper true and brave!" | 15 | ····/˘/···/˘··· |
| "Be it so!" responded Karna, with a proud and noble grace, | 15 | ···˘/˘······/˘· |
| And he sealed his loyal friendship in a dear and fond embrace! | 15 | ····/˘/˘·····˘/ |
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.