Kunti's Boon and the Birth of Karna

Kunti's real name was Pritha. She was the daughter of the Yadava king Shurasena and the sister of Vasudeva, Krishna's father. Shurasena gave her for adoption to his childless friend, King Kuntibhoja, and there she came to be called Kunti. Once the great sage Durvasa stayed at Kuntibhoja's palace. He was known for his fiery temper.

For a whole year Kunti served Durvasa with patience and devotion. The sage was pleased, and before leaving he gave her a mantra. 'Whichever god you call with this mantra will come and give you a son like himself,' he said. The sage knew that one day Kunti would need it.

Kunti was still a young girl. One morning, watching the rising sun, she grew curious: does this mantra really work? She recited it and fixed her mind on the Sun god. At that very moment the blazing Surya Dev stood before her. Kunti panicked. 'I only called you to test it. Please go back,' she said. But Surya said that the mantra could not go in vain.

By Surya's blessing Kunti had a son, and her maidenhood remained unharmed. The baby was born wearing golden armour and earrings and shone like the sun. But Kunti, unmarried, was afraid of what the world would say and could not keep him. Weeping, she laid him in a basket and set it afloat on the river.

The basket drifted until it reached the Ganga. There Adhiratha, a charioteer from the land of Anga, and his wife Radha saw it. The childless couple took the baby as a gift from God. They named him Vasusena, and after his mother Radha he was also called Radheya. This child would one day be known as Karna.