Sarathi (sārathi)

A sarathi is a charioteer, responsible for reading the field, positioning the warrior and keeping him alive, and in the Mahabharata the role carries far more weight than its low social standing suggests. Krishna drives Arjuna and refuses to take up a weapon, which makes the Bhagavad Gita a conversation between a fighter and his driver. Karna's last day is ruined by the opposite arrangement, since Shalya agrees to drive him only in order to demoralise him, and the epic never lets the audience forget that Karna was raised in a charioteer's house.