Shloka 12
अध्याय १५ (Āśramavāsika-parva): धृतराष्ट्रस्य वनवासानुज्ञायाचनम् — Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s renewed plea for consent to forest-dwelling
आयसं हृदयं नूनं मन्दाया मम पुत्रक । यत् सूर्यजमपश्यन्त्या: शतधा न विदीर्यते,बेटा! मुझ अभागिनीका हृदय निश्चय ही लोहेका बना हुआ है; तभी तो आज सूर्यनन्दन कर्णको न देखकर भी इसके सैकड़ों टुकड़े नहीं हो जाते
āyasaṁ hṛdayaṁ nūnaṁ mandāyā mama putraka | yat sūryajam apaśyantyāḥ śatadhā na vidīryate ||
Vaiśampāyana said: “Surely my heart is made of iron, my child—so dull and ill-fated am I—for even though I do not see Karṇa, the son of the Sun, it does not split into a hundred pieces.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the depth of human grief and the moral weight of kinship: the speaker condemns her own emotional numbness as ‘iron-hearted’ for surviving the pain of separation from Karṇa. It underscores how the aftermath of war continues as inner suffering and remorse, not merely external loss.
In the Ashramavāsika context of post-war mourning, the speaker expresses anguish at not seeing Karṇa (identified by the epithet ‘son of the Sun’) and marvels bitterly that her heart has not shattered from sorrow, calling herself unfortunate and emotionally dulled.