In the Mahabharata, who was Karna’s divine father?

Surya, the Hindu sun god, is Karna’s divine father in the Mahabharata.

Before her marriage, Kunti receives a mantra from the sage Durvasa that allows her to invoke a deity and have a child by him. She tests the mantra by calling Surya, and Karna is born. The epic says that Karna is born with natural armor, called kavacha, and earrings, called kundala, which protect him.

Because Kunti fears social disgrace, she places the infant in a basket and sets him afloat on a river. He is found and raised by the charioteer Adhiratha and his wife Radha. Karna later becomes a close ally of Duryodhana and fights against his biological brothers, the Pandavas, at Kurukshetra.

This family connection is revealed to Karna before the war, but he remains loyal to Duryodhana. Karna is often called Radheya after his foster mother and Vasusena in traditional accounts. Indra, not Surya, is the divine father of Arjuna, so the two names are easy to mix up when comparing the epic’s rival archers.