Marginalized yet Empowered: A Study of Ekalavya and Karna from Mahabharata

Having an epic scale grandeur attached with it Mahabharata occupies a great volume in the Hindu culture across the boundaries. Even though it comments on almost every possible aspects of society it also, at the same time, reflects the bitter truth of what society stands for. The epic actually compels us to confront the bitter reality of life - the essential fact that there is not essentially always lie a happy ending after every chapter of life, or even if the life ends altogether. With a technique of “a-tale-within-a-tale” it is difficult to pin down any single protagonist in the epic. Yet there are some important characters that occupy significant space in the epic and lead the plot with them. Despite such an ensemble cast there remain certain characters who are not much talked of and are cautiously sidelined not only in their portrayal but also in the course of action in the epic. The paper analyses two such characters: Ekalavya and Karna from the Mahabharata, comparing their individual situations amidst the grandeur of the epic and what essentially makes them marginalized despite being empowered in their own rights. Establishing the characters in the framework of Tragic Heroes, as defined by Aristotle, the paper also analyses the characters with Arjuna, the Pandava prince, as the epicenter.