karna vs arjun

Karna is better than Arjuna as a warrior.

As an archer, he was superior to Arjuna:

• Lord Krishna considered Karna to be superior to Arjuna and called the foremost of all heroes.

• Hear in brief, O son of Pandu! I regard the mighty car-warrior Karna as your equal, or perhaps, thy superior! With the greatest care and resolution shouldst thou slay him in great battle. In energy he is equal to Agni. As regards speed, he is equal to the impetuosity of the wind. In wrath, he resembles the Destroyer himself. Endued with might, he resembles a lion in the formation of his body. He is eight ratnis in stature. His arms are large. His chest is broad. He is invincible. He is sensitive. He is a hero. He is, again, the foremost of heroes.

• Lord Krishna himself said to Arjuna that even Indra can't kill Karna in fair war till Karna possess weapons in hand. Arjuna too didn't have the ability to do this.

• O sinless one, I swear to thee that hero(Karna) is still incapable of being slain by anybody else save thee. Devoted to Brahmanas, truthful in speech, engaged in penances, observant of vows, kind even unto foes, for these reasons Karna is called Vrisha. Heroic in battle, possessed of mighty arms and with bow always uplifted, like the lion in the forest depriving leaders of elephantine herds of their pride, Karna always deprives the greatest car-warriors of their pride on the field of battle, and resembles the mid-day sun at whom none can gaze. Contending with all the illustrious and foremost of warriors of thy army, O tiger among men, Karna, while shooting his arrowy showers, looked like the autumnal sun with his thousand rays. Indeed, incessantly shooting showers of shafts like the clouds pouring torrents of rain at the end of summer, Karna is like a pouring cloud charged with celestial weapons. He is incapable of being vanquished in battle by the gods, he would mangle them in such a way that their flesh and blood would fall copiously on the field. Deprived, however, of his armour as also of his ear-rings, O son of Pandu, and divested also of the dart given him by Vasava, Karna is now like a man (and no longer like a god).

There win occur one opportunity for his slaughter. When his car-wheels will sink in the earth, availing thyself of that opportunity, thou shouldst slay him in that distressful situation. I will make thee a sign beforehand. Warned by it, thou shouldst act. The vanquisher of Vala himself (Indra), that foremost of heroes, wielding his thunder, is incapable of slaying the invincible Karna while the latter stands weapon in hand.

As per, Lord Parshuram there will be will no Kshatriya on earth who will be equal to Karna in battle.

• On earth, no Kshatriya will be thy equal in battle.' Thus addressed by Rama, Karna came away, having duty taken his leave. Arriving then before Duryodhana, he informed him, saying, 'I have mastered all weapons!’.

Lord Parashurama himself said Karna is equal to him in powers and strength.

• O Bharata, Rama himself had told him,--Thou art equal unto me. Karna had two ear-rings born with him, of great brilliance.

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• After the Rangbhoomi competition, Yudhister also realized the fact that there is no other archer who is equal to Karna.

• O king! Having obtained Karna, Duryodhana quickly banished his fears arising out of Arjuna’s skills. Skilled in use of arms, that warrior also gratified Suyodhana with sweet words. At that time, Yudhishthira also thought that there was no archer equal to Karna on earth.

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Yudhister was so terrified by the strength of Karna that he could not sleep at night.

There is again amongst them that mighty warrior--Karna--impetuous, and ever wrathful, master of all weapons, and invincible, and encased in impenetrable mail. Without first vanquishing in battle all those foremost of men, unaided as thou art, how canst thou slay Duryodhana? O Vrikodara, I cannot sleep thinking of the lightness of hand of that Suta's son, who, I regard, is the foremost of all wielders of the bow! "Vaisampayana continued, "Hearing these words of Yudhishthira, the impetuous Bhima became alarmed, and forbore from speaking anything.

For sake of Arjuna, Yudhister plotted against Karna to damp his energy by Shalya and requested him to protect Arjuna.

Yudhishthira replied, “O king! You performed a good deed, when you were happy in your own soul. O brave one! You must observe the pledge that you have given to Duryodhana. O fortunate one! O lord of the earth! But there is an act that I wish you to perform. O great king! You are the equal of Vasudeva in battle. O supreme among kings! When Karna and Arjuna confront each other in a duel, there is no doubt that you will perform the task of being Karna’s charioteer. O king! If you wish to satisfy my desires, you must protect Arjuna. Your task will be to sap the energy of the son of the suta and ensure our victory. O maternal uncle! Though this is not a task that should be done, you must do it.”

All gods and supreme rishis were satisfied by the dexterity of Karna and regarded him as foremost among all archers.

O descendant of the Bharata lineage! All the gods, siddhas and supreme rishis were satisfied at the dexterity shown by the great-souled Karna. The great archers, the sons of Dhritarashtra, applauded that best of men. Karna was best among supreme rathas. He was foremost among all archers.

Sanjay had mentioned the fact that Karna had surpassed Bhishma and Drona in terms of destruction.

In every direction, elephants, horses and men fell down and the earth became impassable because of the large numbers of chariots and horses. No other person on your side had performed such a deed in the battle—not Bhishma, nor Drona. O tiger among men! The son of a suta created a great destruction of elephants, chariots, horses and men.

Lord Vyasa himself said, no one other than lord shiva is capable to defeat the army protected by Karna, Aswathama and Drona.

In that fierce battle, O Partha, making the very hair stand on end, who else, O Arjuna, than the divine Maheswara, that foremost of all bowmen, that Deity of divine form, could even in imagination venture to vanquish that force which was protected by those great smiters and bowmen, viz., Aswatthaman and Karna and Kripa? None can venture to stay before the warrior that hath Maheswara walking before him. There is no being in the three worlds that is equal to him.

Karna had conquered the entire earth in a single chariot by defeating Bhagadatta and other kings.

Vaisampayana continued, "Then, O bull among the Bharatas, that mighty bowman, Karna, surrounded by a large army, besieged the beautiful city of Drupada. And he, after a hard conflict, brought the hero under subjection, and, O best of monarchs, made Drupada contribute silver and gold and gems, and also pay tribute. And, O foremost of kings, having subdued him, (Karna) brought under subjection those princes that were under him (Drupada) and made them pay tribute. Then going to the north, he subdued the sovereigns (of that quarter) and having effected the defeat of Bhagadatta, Radha's son ascended that mighty mountain Himavat, all along fighting his foes. And ranging all sides, he conquered and brought under subjection all the kings inhabiting the Himavat, and made them pay dues. Then descending from the mountain and rushing to the east, he reduced the Angas, and the Bangas, and the Kalingas, and the Mandikas, and the Magadhas. the Karkakhandas; and also included with them the Avasiras, Yodhyas, and the Ahikshatras. Having (thus) conquered the eastern quarter Karna then presented himself before Batsa-bhumi. And having taken Batsa-bhumi, he reduced Kevali, and Mrittikavati, and Mohana and Patrana, and Tripura, and Kosala,--and compelled all these to pay tribute. Then going to the south, Karna vanquished the mighty charioteers (of that quarter) and in Dakshinatya, the Suta's son entered into conflict with Rukmi. After having fought dreadfully, Rukmi spake to the Suta's son saying, 'O foremost of monarchs, I have been pleased with thy might and prowess. I shall not do thee wrong: I have only fulfilled the vow of a Kshatriya. Gladly will I give thee as many gold coins as thou desirest.' Having met with Rukmi, Karna, repaired to Pandya and the mountain, Sri. And by fighting, he made Karala, king Nila, Venudari's son, and other best of kings living in the southern direction pay tribute. Then going to Sisupala's son, the son of the Suta defeated him and that highly powerful one also brought under his sway all the neighbouring rulers. And, O bull of the Bharata race, having subjugated the Avantis and concluded peace with them, and having met with the Vrishnis, he conquered the west. And, having come to the quarter of Varuna, he made all the Yavana and Varvara kings pay tribute. And, having conquered the entire earth--east, west, north and south--that hero without any aid brought under subjection all the nations of the Mlechchhas, the mountaineers, the Bhadras, the Rohitakas, the Agneyas and the Malavas. And, having conquered the mighty charioteers, headed by the Nagnajitas, the Suta's son brought the Sasakas and the Yavanas under his sway. Having thus conquered and brought under his subjection the world, the mighty charioteer and tiger among men came (back) to Hastinapura. That lord of men, Dhritarashtra's son, accompanied by his father and brothers and friends, came to that mighty bowman, who had arrived, and duly paid homage unto Karna crowned with martial merit.

→ on the other hand, Arjuna never achieved such a feat in his life In fact Arjuna lost to Babruvahana and Saindhava foot soldiers during the Ashvamedha conquest.

Karna had defeated Bhagadatta in his Digvijay conquest, while the same Bhagadatta almost killed Arjuna with his Vaishnavastra and Lord Krishna saved his life.

‘“Having been thus pierced and pained, he angrily resorted to the vaishnava weapon. He invoked the mantra on his goad and hurled it towards Pandava’s chest. 99 That weapon was capable of slaying everything and was released by Bhagadatta. Covering Partha, Keshava received it on his own chest. On Keshava’s chest, that weapon became the vaijayanti garland.100

As per Vaisampayana, Arjuna had feared Karna and retreated many times against him.

Behold the great-souled warrior Karna Vaikartana in the battle. The immensely strong and great archer is roaming around, possessing divine weapons. Dhananjaya, Kunti’s son, is frightened of fighting with him. He always retreats before that wrathful one, like small animals before a lion.

Karna had shot Bhargavastra and Arjuna was unable to counter it. He fled from the field of battle.

The Srinjayas were slaughtered in the battle by the son of a suta and repeatedly cried out to Arjuna and Vasudeva. They were unconscious, like those in the city of the king of the dead, calling out to the king of the dead.559 ‘ “At this, Kunti’s son, Dhananjaya, spoke to Vasudeva. ‘Behold the extremely terrible bhargava weapon. O Krishna! O mighty-armed one! Behold the valour of the bhargava weapon. There is no means of countering that weapon in a battle. O Krishna! Behold the angry son of a suta in the great battle. The brave one is like Yama and has performed a terrible deed. He is repeatedly casting extremely terrible glances towards me. I do not see any means of running away from Karna in this battle. If a man remains alive in a battle, there may be victory, or there may be defeat. O Hrishikesha! For the sake of victory, how can one be victorious if one is dead?’ O venerable one! Janardana wished to leave to see Yudhishthira and thought that Karna would be overcome with exhaustion in the battle. 560

Karna had defeated all 5 Pandavas and others on the 17th day of the war.

Sanjaya said, “Krishna was advancing quickly and again spoke softly to Partha. ‘O Kouravya! Behold. The kings are advancing towards Pandava. 526 Behold Karna in this great arena, blazing like a fire. This Bhima is a great archer and has returned to fight again. With Dhrishtadyumna at the forefront, the others have also returned and are following him—with the Panchalas, the Srinjayas and the Pandavas leading the way. The large army of the enemy is being shattered by the returning Parthas. O Arjuna! The Kouravas who were running away have been held together by Karna. His force is like that of Yama and his valour is Shakra’s equal. O Kouravya! Drona’s son, supreme among the wielders of weapons, is advancing there. In the battle, maharatha Dhrishtadyumna is advancing against him.’ In this way, the invincible Vasudeva described it to Kiriti. O king! Then, an extremely great and extremely fierce battle commenced. As the clash started, roars like lions’ were heard. O king! Both sets of soldiers preferred death to retreat.

Sanjaya said, “Without any fear, the Kurus and the Srinjayas started to fight again. The Parthas had Yudhishthira at the forefront and we had Vaikartana at the forefront. There was a fierce battle between Karna and the Pandavas and it extended Yama’s kingdom and made the body hair stand up. That tumultuous battle created waves of blood. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! Only a few of the samshaptakas remained. O great king! With Dhrishtadyumna and all the kings, the maharatha Pandavas rushed against Karna. They were cheerful and attacked in that battle, desiring victory. Alone in that battle, Karna received them, like a mountain receives a flood of water. Having clashed against Karna, those maharathas were shattered and beaten back in all the directions, like a flood of water against a mountain.

When Karna shot terrible Nagastra, Arjuna failed to counter it. Lord Krishna saved his head when it was almost cut off by the terrible Nagastra of Karna.

The Suta's son then fixed on his bow-string that foe-killing, exceedingly keen, snake-mouthed, blazing, and fierce shaft, which had been polished according to rule, and which he had long kept for the sake of Partha's destruction. Stretching his bow-string to his ear, Karna fixed that shaft of fierce energy and blazing splendour, that ever-worshipped weapon which lay within a golden quiver amid sandal dust, and aimed it at Partha. Indeed, he aimed that blazing arrow, born in Airavata's race, for cutting off Phalguna's head in battle. All the points of the compass and the welkin became ablaze and terrible meteors, and thunderbolts fell. When that snake of the form of an arrow was fixed on the bow-string, the Regents of the world, including Sakra, set up loud wails. The Suta's son did not know that the snake Aswasena had entered his arrow by the aid of his Yoga powers. Beholding Vaikartana aim that arrow, the high-souled ruler of the Madras, addressing Karna, said, "This arrow, O Karna, will not succeed in striking off Arjuna's head. Searching carefully, fix another arrow that may succeed in striking off thy enemy's head." Endued with great activity, the Suta's son, with eyes burning in wrath, then said unto the ruler of the Madras, "O Shalya, Karna never aimeth an arrow twice. Persons like us never become crooked warriors."

Having said these words, Karna, with great care, let off that shaft which he had worshipped for many long years. Bent upon winning the victory, O king, he quickly said unto his rival, "Thou art slain, O Phalguna!" Sped from Karna's arms, that shaft of awful whizz, resembling fire or the sun in splendour, as it left the bow-string, blazed up in the welkin and seemed to divide it by a line such as is visible on the crown of a woman dividing her tresses. Beholding that shaft blazing in the welkin, the slayer of Kamsa, Madhava, with great speed and the greatest ease, pressed down with his feet that excellent car, causing it to sink about a cubit deep. At this, the steeds, white as the rays of the moon and decked in trappings of gold, bending their knees, laid themselves down on the ground. Indeed, seeing that snake (in the form of an arrow) aimed by Karna, Madhava, that foremost of all persons endued with might, put forth his strength and thus pressed down with his feet that car into the earth, whereat the steeds, (as already said) bending down their knees, laid themselves down upon the earth when the car itself had sank into it. Then loud sounds arose in the welkin in applause of Vasudeva. Many celestial voices were heard, and celestial flowers were showered upon Krishna, and leonine shouts also were uttered. When the car had thus been pressed down into the earth through the exertions of the slayer of Madhu, the excellent ornament of Arjuna's head, celebrated throughout the earth, the welkin, heaven, and the waters, the Suta's son swept off from the crown of his rival, with that arrow, in consequence of the very nature of that snaky weapon and the great care and wrath with which it had been shot.

Karna once swoons Arjuna in the battle, respected the rules of the war he did not kill him.

The Suta's son then, for slaying the son of Pandu, took up a terrible arrow blazing like fire. When that adored shaft was fixed on the bow-string, the earth, O king, trembled with her mountains and waters and forests. Violent winds began to blow, bearing hard pebbles. All the points of the compass became enveloped with dust. Wails of grief, O Bharata, arose among the gods in the welkin. Beholding that shaft aimed by the Suta's son, O sire, the Pandavas, with cheerless hearts, gave themselves up to great sorrow. That shaft of keen point and endued with the effulgence of Sakra's thunder, sped from Karna's arms, fell upon Dhananjaya's chest and penetrated it like a mighty snake penetrating an ant-hill. That grinder of foes, viz., the high-souled Vibhatsu, thus deeply pierced in that encounter, began to reel. His grasp became loosened, at which his bow Gandiva dropped from his hand. He trembled like the prince of mountains in an earthquake.

After the war, Arjuna's chariot was blasted into ashes because of the divine weapons of Karna and Drona.

O bull among the Bharata lineage! Keshava was always engaged in bringing pleasure to the wielder of Gandiva and spoke to him. ‘Take down Gandiva and the two great and inexhaustible quivers. O supreme among the Bharata lineage! I will get down after you have dismounted. O unblemished one! Descend. It is for your own good.’ Dhananjaya, Pandu’s brave son, did as he had been asked. Thereafter, the intelligent Krishna discarded the reins of the horses and got down from the chariot that belonged to the wielder of Gandiva. The extremely great-souled one, the lord of all beings, descended. The celestial ape, stationed on the standard of the wielder of Gandiva, disappeared. Earlier, it had been burnt by the divine weapons of the maharathas, Drona and Karna. O lord of the earth! It blazed amidst a fire and was swiftly burnt. The chariot of the wielder of Gandiva was burnt, with its yokes, its harnesses, its horses and its lovely joints.

Yudhister also accepted the fact that no one other than lord Krishna is capable to withstand the Brahmastra of Karna.

O great king! Having been thus addressed by Krishna, Dharmaraja Yudhishthira replied to Janardana, with his body hair standing up. ‘O crusher of enemies! Who other than you, and Purandara, the wielder of the vajra himself, could have escaped from the brahmastras of Drona and Karna? It is through your many favours that we have triumphed in this battle and Partha never had to retreat, even from the greatest of battles.

According to Lord Krishna, it was impossible to slain Bhishma, Drona and Karna in the fair encounter.

On hearing that Bhishma, Drona, Karna and Bhurishrava had been slain through adharma, they grieved and wept in sorrow. The Pandavas were distressed and immersed in thought. On seeing this, Krishna spoke these words, in a voice that rumbled like clouds and drums. ‘All of them were swift in the use of weapons and were maharathas. In a fair fight, even if we fought bravely, we were incapable of defeating them in the battle. That is the reason I thought of means to slay those lords of men. Otherwise, the Pandaveyas would never have obtained victory. Those four great souled ones were atirathas on earth. 56 Following dharma, even the guardians of the world themselves would not have been able to kill them.

In terms of physical strength, Karna is way stronger than Arjuna:

Karna had defeated Jarasandh in wrestling in a short period of time.

The powerful ones descended on the ground and started to wrestle with each other with bare arms. While fighting with him in that terrible duel with bare arms, Karna was about to sever the two parts of the body that had been brought together by Jara. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! On seeing that his body was about to face this hardship, the king cast aside all enmity and spoke these affectionate words to Karna. ‘I am pleased.’ He gave Karna the city of Malini. O tiger among men! Before this, the one who had defeated his enemies had ruled over Anga. But now, Karna, the afflicter of enemy forces, also began to rule Champa, after having obtained Duryodhana’s permission. You know about all this. Thus, through the power of his weapons, he became famous on earth.

Karna had defeated Bhima and dragged him with just his tip of the bow along the Kurukshetra battlefield.

‘“O Sanjaya! I had no hope of victory when I heard that Karna, with Bhima in his power, spared his life with some abusive words and dragged the warrior with the tip of his bow.

Karna had lifted the entire earth up to a height of four inches along with mountains and islands.

At that time, O king, the earth swallowed up one of wheels of Karna's car. Quickly alighting then from his vehicle, he seized his sunken wheel with his two arms and endeavoured to lift it up with a great effort. Drawn up with force by Karna, the earth, which had swallowed up his wheel, rose up to a height of four fingers' breadth, with her seven islands and her hills and waters and forests.

While Arjuna failed to even restrain Bhima.

‘Bhimasena, the great archer, was travelling fast. O bull among the Bharata lineage! However, in a short while, those tigers among men caught up with him. Kounteya32 blazed in anger and he rushed towards the enemy. Though those maharathas caught up with him, they could not restrain him.

→After the Kurukshetra war Arjuna, Yudhister and the twins followed Bhima and put their efforts to stop him but they all failed to stop Bhima who is going to kill Ashawathama.

As a warrior, Karna was always better than Arjuna.

Reference: BORI CE AND KMG Edition of Mahabharat

According to bori ce ,Did Krishna say that no one in this 3 world can defeat Karna.? If he said then why?

Let’s see what Lord Krishna actually said :

Citation :

‘“Vasudeva replied, ‘O Dhananjaya! I am overcome by great delight. Listen to me. I will tell you what will bring supreme satisfaction to your mind. O immensely radiant one! Because of Ghatotkacha, the spear has been used up. O Dhananjaya! Therefore, know that Karna has already been slain. Had Karna possessed the spear in his hand, no man in the world would have been able to stand before him. He would have been stationed like Kartikeya in the battle. It is through good fortune that his armour has gone. It is through good fortune that his earrings have been robbed. It is through good fortune that the invincible spear has been used up on Ghatotkacha. Had he possessed the armour and had he possessed the earrings, the powerful Karna would have been able to defeat everyone in the three worlds, even the immortals. Vasava, Kubera, Varuna, lord of the waters, and Yama would not have ventured against Karna in an encounter. Had that bull among men possessed those, you with your Gandiva and I with my sudarshana chakra would not have had the capacity to defeat him in a battle. It is for your welfare that Shakra used delusion to rob him of his earrings. The conqueror of enemy cities was also robbed of his armour. It is because he sliced off the armour and the sparkling earrings and gave them to Shakra that Karna came to be known as Vaikartana.1 Karna is now like an angry snake, whose energy has been sapped through mantras.

Reference : Drona Parva Section Seventy-One Drona-Vadha Parva Chapter 1132(155)