Karna according to Krishna, the unpopular side

Krishna never for a moment denied that Karna was a great warrior (irrespective of his performance in Kurushetra War), his donation to bramhins and his handsomeness.

Every body has pointed out that. But Krishna was scathing on Karna’s behavior towards Pandavas as well.

For example, Krishna told about Karna to Arjuna the following thing about Karna -

“There is no one who can withstand you. You possess celestial weapons. You are dexterous and strong. O Arjuna! You aim, strike and hit the target with yoga. You are not confused in a battle and know about what must be done. You are capable of killing all the gods and asuras, together with everything mobile and immobile. O Partha! There is no warrior or man on this earth who is equal to you in a battle. There are kshatriyas who pick up bows and are invincible in battle. But I have not seen, or heard of, anyone like you among them, or among the supreme gods. Brahma, the creator of all beings, constructed the extremely wonderful Gandiva. O Partha! This is what you use to fight and that is the reason there is no one who is your equal. O Pandava! However, I must speak words that are beneficial for you. O mighty-armed one! Do not think lightly of Karna. He is the ornament of a battle. Karna is strong and insolent. He is skilled in weapons and a maharatha. He is accomplished and colourful in fighting. He knows about time and place. He is like the fire in his energy. He is like the wind in his speed. He is like Yama in his anger. The powerful one is capable of withstanding a lion. The mighty-armed one’s chest is one aratni in breadth. He is extremely difficult to defeat. He is very proud and brave. He is extremely valiant and handsome. He has all the qualities of a warrior and is terrible to his enemies. He has always hated the Pandavas and has been engaged in the welfare of the sons of Dhritarashtra. Radheya cannot be killed by any enemy, even the gods, including Vasava. In my view, you are the only exception. Today, slay the son of a suta. All the warriors made out of flesh and blood, and even the gods, are incapable of defeating him in a battle, even if they were to unite. The evil-souled one is wicked in intelligence. He is cruel. His evil intelligence has always been used to bring injury to the Pandaveyas. He has opposed the Pandaveyas. Kill Karna today and accomplish your objective. He thinks himself to be brave, as does the wicked Suyodhana. He is the root of all wickedness. O Dhananjaya! Defeat the son of a suta.’” ’”

Ref - Book 7, Critical edition translated by Bibek Debroy, Karna Parva

Those who points out that Krishna’s view Karna was superior to Arjuna (According to some version) forget that Krishna also Arjuna that there was no one who was Arjuna’s equal.

Like Krishna praised Karna, he also pointed out fault of Karna in equal breadth.

This is what Krishna told to Arjuna just before 17th day duel -

“Do not honour your preceptor Drona, foremost among men, and show compassion towards Ashvatthama, or show mercy towards Kripa because of the honour due to a preceptor, or show excessive respect towards your relatives and honour your brothers, or encounter Kritavarma and don’t convey him to Yama’s abode, or clash against your mother ’s brother, Shalya, the lord of Madra,645 and not strike him down and kill him because of compassion. Karna is evil-minded and extremely injurious towards the Pandavas. O best of men! Kill him today with your sharp arrows. This is your supreme task and there is nothing wrong in it. We applaud this and there is no sin attached to it. O unblemished one! O Arjuna! Whether it was the attempt to burn down your mother with her sons in the night, or whatever Suyodhana attempted towards you in the course of the gambling match, the evil-souled Karna was the root of all that. Suyodhana always thought that he would be saved by Karna and angrily tried to seize me too. O onewho grants honours! It is the firm belief of that Indra among men, Dhritarashtra’s son, that Karna will certainly defeat all the Parthas in battle. O Kounteya! Though Dhritarashtra’s son knew about your strength, he found pleasure in a conflict with you because he depended on Karna. Karna has always said, “I will defeat the assembled Parthas, Vasudeva and the kings in the great battle.” The evil-minded one has encouraged Dhritarashtra’s evil-souled son and roared in the assembly hall. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! Kill Karna today. In all the evil acts that Dhritarashtra’s son has done towards you, in all of these, the evil-souled and extremely wicked Karna has been present.”

Ref - Book 7, Critical edition translated by Bibek Debroy, Karna Parva

Karna was root of all - whether the attempt to burn down Kunti and her sons or what ever Duryodhana did in gambling match. Karna was evil minded and injurious to Pandavas.

The following words were also spoken by Krishna on Karna -

In front of the Pandaveyas and the Kurus, Karna spoke harsh and cruel words to Krishna in the assembly hall. “O Krishna! The Pandavas have been destroyed and have gone to eternal hell. O wide-hipped one! O one who is sweet in speech! Choose another one as a husband. Enter Dhritarashtra’s abode as a servant-maid. O one with long eyelashes! Your husbands are no longer there.” He does not know about dharma and is extremely evil-minded. Those were the words that he spoke then. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! Karna spoke those wicked and sinful words in your hearing. Those were the evil one’s words. Arrows decorated with gold, sharpened on stone and capable of taking away life, released by you, will pacify those words and other wicked deeds that the evil-souled one has done towards you.

Ref - Book 7, Critical edition translated by Bibek Debroy, Karna Parva

This is also Krishna spoke to Arjuna -

At this, the son of a suta smiled and told Shalya, ‘O friend! If through some means, Partha slays me in the battle today, what will you do after that? Tell me truthfully.’ Shalya replied, ‘O Karna! If the one with the white horses kills you in the battle today, I will slay both Madhava and Pandava.’ In that way, Arjuna also asked Govinda. However, Krishna laughed and spoke these supreme words to Partha. ‘The sun may fall down from its place. The earth may shatter into many fragments. The fire may become cold. But Karna will not be able to kill Dhananjaya. However, if this does happen, the world will be destroyed. Using my arms in the battle, I will kill Karna and Shalya.’

Ref - Book 7, Critical edition translated by Bibek Debroy, Karna Parva

This is what Krishna told Karna on face when Karna asked Arjuna to stop the war when Karna’s chariot got stuck in mud -

‘Sanjaya said, “Vasudeva was stationed on his chariot. He said, ‘O Radheya! It is fortunate that you remember dharma. Quite often, when they are immersed in hardships, inferior ones censure destiny, but not their evil deeds. O Karna! When you, Suyodhana, Duhshasana and Shakuni Soubala brought Droupadi to the assembly hall in a single garment, did dharma not show itself to you? When, in the assembly hall, Yudhishthira, who was not skilled at dice, was defeated by Shakuni, who was skilled at dice, where did dharma go then? O Karna! During her season, Krishna was under Duhshasana’s subjugation in the assembly hall and you laughed at her. Where did dharma go then? O Karna! Resorting to the king of Gandhara and coveting the kingdom, you challenged the Pandavas. Where did dharma go then?’

Ref - Book 7, Critical edition translated by Bibek Debroy, Karna Parva

This is what Krishna told Arjuna after he killed Karna -

‘Sanjaya said, “When Karna was brought down, your soldiers fled. Dasharha joyfully embraced Partha and said, ‘O Dhananjaya! Through your strength, Karna, who was like Vritra, has been killed. Men will talk about the deaths of Karna and Vritra. The infinitely energetic one818 used the vajra to slay Vritra in a battle. You have slain Karna with your bow’s sharp arrows. Your fame will be renowned in this world and will bring you glory. O Kounteya! Go and tell this to the intelligent Dharmaraja. For a long time, this death of Karna in the battle has been desired. You should go and tell this to Dharmaraja and free yourself of the debt.’

Ref - Book 7, Critical edition translated by Bibek Debroy, Karna Parva

He compared Karna’s death with Vritra.

This is what Krishna told Yudisthira when both Krishna, Arjuna came to meet him after killing Karna -

Joining his hands in salutation, Achyuta Krishna smiled a little and told Yudhishthira that his enemy had been killed. ‘O king! It is through good fortune that the wielder of Gandiva, Pandava Vrikodara, you and the Pandavas who are the sons of Madri are safe. You have been freed from the battle that led to a destruction of heroes and made the body hair stand up. O king! Quickly undertake whatever tasks must be done next. The cruel and immensely strong Vaikartana, son of a suta, has been slain. O Indra among kings! It is through good fortune that you have obtained victory. O Pandava! You are prospering through good fortune. The worst among men laughed at Krishna when she had been won in the gambling match. The earth is now drinking the blood of that son of a suta. O bull among the Kuru lineage! With arrows mangling his limbs, that enemy of yours is now lying down. O tiger among men! Look at him. He has been shattered by many arrows.’

Ref - Book 7, Critical edition translated by Bibek Debroy, Karna Parva

Look what he mentioned -

“The worst among men laughed at Krishna (Draupadi) when she had been won in gambling match. The earth is now drinking the blood of that ….”

It is pure anger and emotion coming from heart.

At this moment Krishna had no reason play any political card, no reason to incite any one. You can all other statement were made to ‘incite’ Arjuna to kill Karna. But not this statement.

One can try thousand words to certify Karna by showing how Krishna wanted gift the entire Kingdom and many other thing which Karna rejected - but point what they never accept is Krishna didn’t asked Pandavas and Draupadi to submit themselves to Karna, he asked the opposite - He asked Karna to join Pandavas.

If Krishna really wanted to ‘make’ Karna the King - he could have done it long back. Not when the peace mission failed. This is the time when Krishna probably spoke his mind spontaneously as Karna was dead by the time there was no need to vilify Karna at the time in front of Yudisthira.

So while Krishna did counted Karna’s good sides but didn’t counted him as person of good side.

My answer is based on The Mahabharata: Volume 7 Kindle Edition by Bibek Debroy.