him in the Vedic texts and he too considers his adoptive mother (Dawn) who raises him to his bright self as the true mother just like Karna. This idea was first discussed by the philologist Georges Dumézil, who remarked that similar mythology and details are found in other ancient Indo-European stories. Karna resembles various famous characters found in Hindu texts. The attributed author of Mahabharata, the sage Vyasa, was also born from an unwed union of Satyavati and sage Parashara. German Indologist Georg von Simson states that Karna of the Mahabharata resembles the Kumbhakarna of the Ramayana, the demon brother of the main antagonist Ravana of the epic Ramayana in their powers to sway the war. Both Karna and Kumbhakarna did not take part in the great wars of their respective epics at the start. Scholars internationally have also drawn parallels with various European mythologies. Karna's kawach (breastplate armour) has been compared with that of Achilles's Styx-coated body and with Irish warrior Ferdiad's skin that could not be pierced. He has been compared to the Greek mythological part divine, part human character Achilles on various occasions as they both have divine powers but lack corresponding status. Dharma-ethics Dharma is a complex concept in the Indian religions. It is not an atomistic or compartmentalized concept, rather incorporates "ways of living, ways of seeing and ways of relating to life's ultimate issues", according to Matilal. Of those issues, ones relating to right or wrong behaviour, duties, rights, and expectations from others are the domain of dharma-ethics. Karna's story raises the dharma-ethics questions both while Karna acts in the epic as well as after his death. These questions arise with the circumstances related to his birth and through his death. Karna chooses loyalty to his lifelong friend and "good policy based on his heart" to be of higher value than accepting Krishna's recommendation that he switch sides and become the king as the eldest son of Kunti based on dharmasastras. According to Gurcharan Das, the character of Karna in the ancient Hindu epic suggests a social debate between "inherited status" and "deserved status", a debate that remains relevant to the contemporary times. Das writes, Circumstances and subjective morality As the Karna story unfolds, similar to other stories in epic, it raises moral dilemmas. With each dilemma, the Mahabharata presents various sides and shades of answers through the characters. According to Bimal Matilal, the