Karna was known as the son of a carpenter

Expressions researched:
"Karna was known as the son of a carpenter" |"Karna, nobody knew that he is knatriya. He was supposed to be son of a carpenter."

SB Canto 1

Karṇa was known as the son of a carpenter, a śūdra. So Draupadī avoided Karṇa by this plea.

SB 1.15.7, Translation and Purport:

Only by His merciful strength was I able to vanquish all the lusty princes assembled at the palace of King Drupada for the selection of the bridegroom. With my bow and arrow I could pierce the fish target and thereby gain the hand of Draupadī.

Draupadī was the most beautiful daughter of King Drupada, and when she was a young girl almost all the princes desired her hand. But Drupada Mahārāja decided to hand over his daughter to Arjuna only and therefore contrived a peculiar way. There was a fish hanging on the inner roof of the house under the protection of a wheel. The condition was that out of the princely order, one must be able to pierce the fish's eyes through the wheel of protection, and no one would be allowed to look up at the target. On the ground there was a waterpot in which the target and wheel were reflected, and one had to fix his aim towards the target by looking at the trembling water in the pot. Mahārāja Drupada well knew that only Arjuna or alternately Karṇa could successfully carry out the plan. But still he wanted to hand his daughter to Arjuna. And in the assembly of the princely order, when Dhṛṣṭadyumna, the brother of Draupadī, introduced all the princes to his grown-up sister, Karṇa was also present in the game. But Draupadī tactfully avoided Karṇa as the rival of Arjuna, and she expressed her desires through her brother Dhṛṣṭadyumna that she was unable to accept anyone who was less than a kṣatriya. The vaiśyas and the śūdras are less important than the kṣatriyas. Karṇa was known as the son of a carpenter, a śūdra. So Draupadī avoided Karṇa by this plea. When Arjuna, in the dress of a poor brāhmaṇa, pierced the difficult target, everyone was astonished, and all of them, especially Karṇa, offered a stiff fight to Arjuna, but as usual by the grace of Lord Kṛṣṇa he was able to emerge very successful in the princely fight and thus gain the valuable hand of Kṛṣṇā, or Draupadī. Arjuna was lamentingly remembering the incident in the absence of the Lord, by whose strength only he was so powerful.

Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures

Karna, nobody knew that he is kṣatriya. He was supposed to be son of a carpenter. Karṇa was born before Kuntī's marriage.

Lecture on BG 1.36 -- London, July 26, 1973:

So this is the position. Just see, they were ātatāyinaḥ, aggressor. There is no doubt about it. Because these dhārtarāṣṭrān, the sons of Dhṛtarāṣṭra, they insulted Draupadi. Arjuna's wife. There was betting. The wife was betting. So they defeated, they were defeated in the chess play, and the wife was taken by the other party. So Karṇa took the opportunity. Because during Draupadi's svayamvara, Karṇa was insulted by Draupadi. The piercing of the eyes of the fish, Karṇa was greater, what is called, arrowman. So when Karṇa came to touch the arrow for piercing the eyes of the fish, Draupadi objected, objected because she wanted Arjuna to become her husband. But she knew that "If Karṇa comes to this combat, he will be victorious. Then I will have to go to Karṇa." So she was also very intelligent daughter of kṣatriya king. So Karna, nobody knew that he is kṣatriya. He was supposed to be son of a carpenter. Karṇa was born before Kuntī's marriage. Therefore she... Karṇa remained hidden, whose son. But he was kṣatriya. So it was unknown. So Draupadi took this opportunity that "This competition is meant for the kṣatriyas, not for the non-kṣatriyas." Because he was supposed to be son of a carpenter, śūdra. So he was not given the opportunity to gain Draupadi. But if he was given the opportunity, he would have come out victorious. So now Karṇa took this opportunity. When Draupadi was lost in the game, so he immediately... Karṇa was Duryodhana's friend. He immediately advised, "Now she is our property. We can do whatever we like with. Arjuna has lost his wife." So he advised that "Make her naked in this assembly." To become naked in the, so many people, that is a great insult for woman. So actually, they tried to insult. Not tried, it was fact. But Kṛṣṇa saved. You know, Draupadi's vastra-haraṇa. She was tried to become naked, but these people could not make her naked. The sārī was supplied by Kṛṣṇa, one after another, one after another, heaps of sārī. Then they become fed up, gave up that business, that "She cannot be made naked."

1968 Correspondence

Karna was known as the son of a carpenter; nobody knew that he was the eldest son of Kunti, and a Ksatriya. This was not known until he died, and Kunti began to cry.

Letter to Nandarani, Dayananda -- New York 29 April, 1968:

o far your question about Karna, the first son of Kunti; that Radha was not the same Radha, as Krishna's Radha. That was Karna's adopted mother. Karna was born before Kunti was married, so in order to keep it silent, he was kept in a package and floated in the ocean. And this carpenter father and his wife, Aniradha, took care of him, and he was brought up there with them. So Karna was known as the son of a carpenter; nobody knew that he was the eldest son of Kunti, and a Ksatriya. This was not known until he died, and Kunti began to cry. Yudhisthira asked her why you are crying, he is the enemy, and she said, he was my first son. He was born out of her ear, so he was called Karna. When she was very young, she got some mantra which could be used to call any demigod, so just to try it, as experiment, to see if it worked, she called the sun god. He immediately appeared there before her, and said, I will give you the benediction of one son; she replied that she simply was experimenting with this mantra, that she did not want a son, and she became afraid as she was unmarried girl. He said I shall give you a son anyway, and it will be born out of your ear. So as she was virgin girl, she became very frightened that people may say things, so she put him into the ocean. Yes, Karna had many extraordinary attributes. He was a great soldier, and a most charitable man. He was so strong that it was not possible for Arjuna to kill him; he had to take unfair tactics and kill him. Karna could have killed Arjuna, but by Krishna's Grace, Arjuna killed Karna. In other words, Krishna killed Karna, otherwise, nobody could have killed him.