Srimad Bhagavatam — Navama Skandha, Shloka 13
Genealogies from Yayāti’s Sons to the Yadu Dynasty; Romapāda–Ṛṣyaśṛṅga; Kārtavīryārjuna; and the Rise of Yādava Branches
योऽसौ गङ्गातटे क्रीडन् मञ्जूषान्तर्गतं शिशुम् । कुन्त्यापविद्धं कानीनमनपत्योऽकरोत् सुतम् ॥ १३ ॥
yo ’sau gaṅgā-taṭe krīḍan mañjūṣāntargataṁ śiśum kuntyāpaviddhaṁ kānīnam anapatyo ’karot sutam
While playing on the bank of the Ganges, Adhiratha found a baby wrapped up in a basket. The baby had been left by Kuntī because he was born before she was married. Because Adhiratha had no sons, he raised this baby as his own. [This son was later known as Karṇa.]
FAQs
This verse states that Kuntī cast away an infant in a casket, and a childless man later found him on the Gaṅgā’s bank and accepted him as his son.
Śukadeva Gosvāmī narrates this account while describing royal lineages connected with Mahābhārata history.
Even amid painful or morally complex situations, providence can arrange protection and new guardianship—encouraging responsibility, compassion, and faith in divine arrangement.