About
Shatrunjaya — Son of Karna, Slain by Arjuna
Shatrunjaya · son of Karna · son of Radheya
Shatrunjaya is a son of Karna — the famed Kaurava archer and king of Anga in the Mahabharata — and one of the eight sons of Karna who participated in the Kurukshetra War. He is recorded as having been killed by Arjuna, the foremost Pandava archer, during the course of the battle. His name appears in the list of Karna's sons who fell in the war, and his role in the epic is defined by this record of his death.
✦ The Name
Shatrunjaya is formed from shatru (enemy, foe) and jaya (victory, conquest). The name means the conqueror of enemies, a common type of auspicious warrior name in the epic and Puranic tradition. It is a name shared by several figures in the Mahabharata, including an adoptive brother of Karna listed in the Mahabharata Fandom compilation — highlighting the potential for confusion in a lineage with shared naming conventions.
✦ Lineage
- Father: Karna (also known as Vasusena, Radheya, and Suryaputra), foremost archer of the Kaurava forces, biological son of the sun god Surya and Kunti, adoptive son of the charioteer Adhiratha, and king of Anga.
- Mother: Not named in any primary source. The canonical Mahabharata does not name Karna's wife or wives. The division of sons between Vrushali and Supriya found in some modern sources reflects the narrative of Shivaji Sawant's novel Mrityunjaya and has no basis in the primary texts.
- Brothers: Vrishasena (eldest), Chitrasena, Satyasena, Sushena, Dvipata, Banasena, Prasena (all killed in the Kurukshetra War); Vrishaketu (youngest, sole survivor of the war).
✦ Role in the Kurukshetra War
Shatrunjaya fought for the Kaurava army and was killed by Arjuna during the Kurukshetra War. Some sources locate his death on the twelfth day of battle, in an engagement during which Arjuna also slew Dvipata and several other warriors. The Mahabharata records that in one sequence Arjuna, in the course of fighting Karna and his supporting warriors, also killed three brothers of Karna — identified as including Shatrunjaya — in the same engagement or within close succession.
✦ References
- Mahabharata, Karna Parva (Book 8): Mentions Shatrunjaya among the sons of Karna killed by Arjuna during the war.
- Wikipedia, "Wives of Karna": Establishes the anonymous status of Karna's wives in the canonical text.
- Kevin McGrath, The Sanskrit Hero: Karna in Epic Mahabharata (Brill, 2004): Reference for Karna's sons and battlefield record in the epic.