Karna - (H)ear thy name

Growing up in Chennai, I have met too many Krishnas, Senthils and Subbus. These days though, the proliferation of names starting with A and AA is way too obvious. It is only natural that any 'trend' keeps changing. But how is it that the names in our epics are, to a good extent, unique? Have you seen names repeat much?

The names in epics are unique, but have some common parts to them. The example that I want to consider in this blog is Karna. Karna literally means Ear. So why were people and places called Karna? Let's see.

Karna

The obvious first choice to discuss is the person who was named Karna without any prefix or suffix - one of the most sympathized characters of the Mahabharat. Karna was named so because he was born with celestial ear-rings (Kundal/Kundalam). Karna's ear rings were supposed to reflect sunlight in a way that he appeared radiant. I guess his adopted parents noticed the sparkling ear-rings first and named him so.

Kumbakarna

From Mahabharat to Ramayan, but still staying with the team of the antagonist. Kumbakarna was born with huge pot-shaped ears. So he was named exactly that - Kumba (pot) + Karna (ear). Sounds more like name-calling than naming? Then have a thought for poor Ghatotkaj whose name means pot shaped head!

Karnataka

While the state name has 'Karna' in it, it is a combination of 2 different words - Karu+Nadu = elevated land.

Gokarna

This temple town in Karnataka is where Siva is supposed to have emerged from the ear (KARNA) of a cow (GO). Interestingly, when I looked at Gokarna in Google maps, it looked like an ear. Am I imagining? Check this -> https://maps.app.goo.gl/r9s868XFX5TJfhmw9

Trincomalee/Gokarna

Staying with the antagonist theme, Trincomalee in Srilanka was earlier called Gokarna. Once again the reason being that the harbor looked like a cow's ear. 

There are probably more people/places called Karna. Now that I know the meaning, I will have an ear for it when I hear the name in the future.