Kunti abandons Karna; he is adopted by a suta couple
Frightened of scandal, Kunti abandons her radiant newborn, setting him afloat on the water. The infant is found and saved by Adhiratha, a charioteer, and his wife Radha, who raise him as their own, naming him Vasushena.
The child bore all the auspicious marks of a great hero. He also bore the impossible truth of his birth. Kunti was frightened — frightened of her relatives, frightened of the scandal, frightened of what this secret would do to her life. To hide her misconduct, she made a decision.
She took her son, the one lit from within by the sun’s own grace, and she hurled him into the water.
The child did not drown. He was found. Radha’s illustrious husband, Adhiratha, who was the son of a suta (a charioteer), saw the infant. He saved the child. He and his wife Radha brought the boy home and brought him up as their own son.
They gave him a name. Since he was born with riches — with the innate golden armour and earrings — they named him Vasushena, "one born with wealth."
He grew up in their house, powerful and skilled in the use of all weapons. He did not know his mother was a princess, or his father a god. He knew himself as the son of a suta. This identity, given to him in love and rescue, would become the central conflict of his life.