Lot Essay
The lower right corner of the last painting depicts a pivotal scene in the life of Karna. Karna realized his warrior caste would not allow him to receive an education, and so he approached the great teacher Parashurama under the guise of a brahman, who agreed to teach him. One day, when Parashurama requested Karna to bring him a pillow so that he could nap outside, Karna offered him his lap instead. While his teacher slept, Karna was bitten by a wasp but he did not move so as not to disturb his guru. The deep bite caused blood to flow, as depicted, and woke the guru, who immediately deduced that Karna was only able to withstand the pain because he was from the lower caste of warrior, and cursed Karna for lying to him. This curse leads to Karna's downfall during the final epic battle.