In the listing of top 10 warriors of Mahabharata, he easily includes in the list.
- He was possibly the greatest warrior after Drona, Bhishma, & Arjuna who fought in the Kurukshetra war. He defeated almost all the political dominions of aryavrata (the entire human civilization during the time of Mahabharata) along with their rulers as mentioned in Mahabharata.
- Karna defeated Shishupala, Jarasandha, Rukmi, Bhishmaka, Vakra, Nila, Srigala, Kapotaroman, and many other powerful kings of aryavrata including rulers from the mlechha tribes in archery during the swayamvara of Kalinga princess Bhanumati and helped his friend Duryodhana to wed the Kalinga princess Bhanumati (Shanti Parva).
- Karna defeated Jarasandha in a wrestling combat, and satisfied with Karna's valour, Jarasandha bestowed the city of Champa to Karna, and from that time onwards, Karna begun to rule Anga along with Champa, the modern region of West Bengal & parts of eastern Bihar (Shanti Parva).
- Karna defeated many kings of the northern, eastern, southern, and western direction of aryavrata for the Vaishnava sacrifice of his friend Duryodhana, thereby subjugating all those powerful kings of the earth at that time, namely, Bhagadatta, Drupada, all the kings of the Himalayas, Angas, Vangas, Kalingas, Mandikas, Magadhas, Karkakhandas, Avasiras, Yodhyas, Ahikshatras, demons in Batsabhumi, Kevali, Mrittikevali, Mohana, Patrana, Tripura, Konsa, Dakshinatya (all the kings of Deccan Plateau upto the Southern India), Rukmi, Pandya, Karala, Nila, son of Venudari, many kings of the Yadavas (Gujarat region), son of Sishupala and all the other kings surrounding him, Avantis, Vrishnis (the most important and powerful Yadava clan), Yavanas (Indo-Greeks), and finally the Varvaras on the seashore of Gujarat (Vana Parva).
- Karna defeated the Abhishahas, the Shurasenas, the Shibis, the Vasatis, the Machellakas, the Lalitthayas, the Kekayas, the Madrakas (kingdom of Shalya), the Narayanas, the Gopalas, and the Kambojas (modern day Afghanistan), for the political territorial expansion of Hastinapura (Udyoga Parva, Drona Parva).
- Karna defeated Rukmaratha princes from the mleccha tribe (Udyoga Parva).
- Karna defeated Nagnajit and many kings of Magadha (Udyoga Parva).
- Karna defeated the Kiratas and many tribes of the Himalayas (Udyoga Parva).
- Karnas's achievements in the Kurukshetra war include defeating the powerful opponent warriors like Bhima, Satyaki, Dhrishtadyumna, Yudhishthira, Shikandi, etc. on multiple occasions, and also overpowering Arjuna on some occasions.
- On the 11th day, Karna countered a group attack of the five opponent Kekaya princes who sided with the Pandavas.
- Karna defeated Bhima on the 14th day of Kurukshetra war and spared his life, after being beaten by Bhima earlier on five separate occasions. He also defeated Bhima on the 15th day and a number of times on the 17th day (Drona Parva, Karna Parva).
- Karna defeated Sahadeva on the 14th day and spared his life (Drona Parva).
- Karna defeated Dhristadyumna and the Panchalas multiple times on the 14th day (Drona Parva).
- Karna killed Ghatotkacha with the spear of Indra on the 14th day (Drona Parva).
- Karna routed the rakshasa division of Ghatotkacha consisting of Kalakeya demons with his weapons multiple times on the 14th day (Drona Parva).
- Karna defeated Nakula on the 16th day and spared his life (Karna Parva).
- Karna defeated a group attack of Satyaki, Yudhishthira, Nakula, Sahadeva, Dhrishtadyumna and a large segment of Panchala warriors on the 16th day.
- Karna routed the powerful forces of the Pandava army, notably the Panchala divison, Chedi division, & the Srinjaya division, multiple times from the 11th day to the 17th day (Drona Parva, Karna Parva).
- Karna defeated Yudhishthira on the 17th day and spared his life, also he defeated Yudhishthira multiple times (Karna Parva).
- Karna defeated Satyaki and rescued Duryodhana on the 17th day (Karna Parva).
- Karna defeated Shikhandi on the 17th day (Karna Parva).
- Karna killed notable Panchala warriors like Jishnu, Jishnukarman, Devapi, Chitra, Chitrayudha, Hari, Singhaketu, Rochamana and Salabha on the 17th day. (Karna Parva).
- Karna defeated multiple group attacks consisting of Yudhishthira, Bhima, Nakula, Sahadeva, Satyaki, Shikandi, and Dhristadyumna on the 17th day (Karna Parva).
- Karna was responsible for Arjuna's sole retreat from the battlefield. Arjuna was unable to counter the Bhargavastra of Karna and accepted his inability to counter the weapon before leaving the battlefield to see Yudhishthira (Karna Parva).
- Karna defeated Uttamouja on the 17th day (Karna Parva).
- Karna killed a son of Satyaki and a son of Dhrishtadyumna on the 17th day (Karna Parva).
- Karna defeated and killed Ugradhanva, the commander of the Kekayas, on the 17th day (Karna Parva).
- Karna defeated a Panchala group attack consisting of Dhristadyumna, Shikhandi, Uttamouja, Yudhamanyu and Janamejaya on the 17th day.
- In the final fight with Arjuna, Karna prevailed on some occasions, also overpowered Arjuna and pierced the divine armour of Shri Krishna with five powerful serpentine arrows, also crushed the celestial diadem of Arjuna with his serpentine shaft and the serpent known as Ashwasena, Shri Krishna pressed the chariot into the ground, thereby the shaft of Karna took away Arjuna's diadem, instead of the head, Karna was vulnerable to death due to the curse of Parashurama and the wheels of Karna's chariot plunging deep into the earth.
- In addition to that, Karna killed 1.5 Akshauhini of the Pandava forces (atleast 3.28 lakhs men, 1 akshauhini=218700 warriors including the archers, cavalry, elephant riders, & foot soilders) and many notable Panchala, Srinjaya, & Chedi warriors during his tenure as the general of the Kaurava forces on the 16th day & the 17th day (Karna Parva).
- As per Drona Parva & Karna Parva, Karna was equal to two maharathas (maharatha=a warrior capable of fighting atleast 7.2 lakh opponents simultaneously), only Drona, Bhishma, Arjuna, Ashwatthama, Bhima, & Satyaki were maharathas, or warriors greater than the maharatha class.
- Karna was in possession of powerful divine weapons such as Brahmastra, Rudrastra, Varunastra, Agneyastra, & Bhargavastra, which were feared by his opponents, only a handful of warriors who fought in the Kurukshetra war were in possession of celestial weapons, the likes of Arjuna, Drona, Bhishma, Ashwatthama, Bhima, Yudhishthira, Satyaki, Bhagadatta, Ghatotkacha, Abhimanyu, and a few others.
Taking into account the stand of Karna's destructive potential during his tenure for 7 days (11th day to the 17th day), it is easily discernable in total Karna nearly killed 2 Akshauhini (around 4.3 lakhs of Pandava forces) out of total 7 Akshauhini of Pandava forces who fought in the Kurukshetra war, and the most destructive warrior who fought in the Kurukshetra war after Arjuna and Drona.
Karna lost only to the best of warriors, namely, Arjuna, Bhima, Satyaki, & Abhimanyu, and was once overpowered by the gandharvas of Chitrasena (Ghosh Yatra Parva, Vana Parva).
Overall, Karna was a supreme warrior, in the same league as that of Drona, Arjuna, Bhishma, Ashwatthama, Bhima & Abhimanyu, and hardly any other warrior other than these warriors was really a match for Karna, throughout the entire Kurukshetra warrior, not a single warrior amongst the Panchalas (including Dhrishtadyumna & Shikandi), the Srinjayas, & the Chedis ever found any weakness in Karna's combat skills, they strived to defeat him with all their valour, sometimes even combining with each other in groups against Karna, however Karna vanquished them on every single occasion.
Had Karna been armed with his golden armour and earrings forged from the elixir of immortality (betterly known as amrita), and fought in the Kurukshetra war, the Pandavas would not have been able to win the Kurukshetra war.
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