Kavacha and Kundala (kavaca-kuṇḍala)

The kavacha and kundala are the golden armour and earrings that Karna is born with, fused to his body as a gift of his father Surya and making him invulnerable while he wears them. Indra, protecting Arjuna, comes disguised as a brahmin on the one morning Karna never refuses a request, and asks for them. Warned in a dream by Surya, Karna gives them anyway, cutting them from his own flesh, and takes the Vasavi Shakti in exchange, which the epic offers as the purest and most self-destructive act of giving in the whole story.