Wives of Karna

Karna (center) sacrifices his divine armour, while his wife watches in distress—a scene from the Mahabharata by Bamapada Banerjee

Details about marital life of Karna, one the prominent figures of the Hindu epic Mahabharata, is hardly provided in the narrative. His wives are unnamed and belonged to the Sūta community. In the Stri Parva of the epic, one of them is mentioned as the mother of Vrishasena and Sushena, the most prominent sons of Karna.

Karna's wives are subjects of fantasy and different stories and folktales portray different women as the wives of Karna. The Tamil play Karna Moksham portray Ponnuruvi as his wife, while the regional Kashidasi Mahabharata states her to be Padmavati. In many modern adaptations of the Mahabharata, Karna is married to two women—Vrushali and Supriya.