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‪The character of Karṇa in the Mahābhārata provides an opportunity to study martial arts in Ancient India, because he is a kind of misfit in terms of his birth, social status, political commitment and psychology: being a bastard half-brother of the “heroes,” and the adopted child of a lowly charioteer, he swears allegiance to the heroes’ enemy. One of the most salient features of his career is the partial, and repeated failure of his training under masters-at-arms who, quite paradoxically, were brahmins: he became one of the finest bowmen around, but Droṇa refused to teach him to use the magical weapon Brahmaśiras, and Paraśurāma laid a curse upon him which forbade him to use it. In this article, an excerpt from the epic (Book XII, 1-3) will be analysed, focusing on the words which refer to his martial qualities.‪