characters face a "choice between irreconcilable obligations", between two good or two poor choices, where complex circumstances must be considered. These circumstances make the evaluation of the choices complicated and a decision difficult, subjective. When circumstances lead to a conflict between two choices that are both right in their own premises, then following one duty becomes "contrary to the duty according to the other". Under these circumstances, there is an inherent subjective weighing of one moral duty against another. According to the Mahabharata, human conflicts such as those illustrated through Karna-Arjuna conflict are inherently complicated and come with circumstantial depth. During violence and war, where all sides are motivated in part by their own beliefs in what constitutes righteousness, coupled with anger, frustration, and fear, the circumstances are ever more complex, actions irreversible, choices difficult. The choices made by Karna and his opponents must then be reflected upon both in terms of the circumstances and the mesh of multiple relative goods or bads, by characters each with different combinations of human strengths and weaknesses. According to the Indologist Adam Bowles, while the Hindu Arthashastra text presents an objective analysis of situations, its dharmasutras, dharmasastras and the epics attempt to deal with the more complex, subjective scenarios of life. The dharma, according to the Mahabharata and as Karna's story illustrates, is sukshma (subtle) and subjective to circumstances. According to Julian Woods, these stories suggest that the difficulty isn't really between "dharma and adharma", but rather "conflict between different dharmas". No act, states Woods, on this earth "is wholly good or wholly bad". Human behaviour Karna and other characters in the Mahabharata, like all human beings, combine a spectrum of good and bad behaviour, intentions and deeds. According to Das, all of the epic's characters including Karna do good deeds, foul deeds, and they are "ineradicable mixture of good and evil". With the assistance of Karna, Duryodhana plotted many evil plans against the Pandavas. Similarly, the Pandavas use foul means in an attempt to win a war, and Arjuna sets aside the Hindu behavioural code for "just war" when Karna becomes defenceless and distracted by his chariot's stuck wheel. According to the Mahabharata scholar Sukthankur, as quoted by Indologist Adarkar, there are apparent contradictions in Karna's character. His behaviour reflects a "frustration complex" that makes sense in light of the circumstances of his birth and early life. Karna is a mirror with