अध्याय १५ (Āśramavāsika-parva): धृतराष्ट्रस्य वनवासानुज्ञायाचनम् — Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s renewed plea for consent to forest-dwelling
एवं गते तु कि शक्यं मया कर्तुमरिंदम | मम दोषो<5यमत्यर्थ ख्यापितो यन्न सूर्यज:,शत्रुदमन! ऐसी दशामें मैं क्या कर सकती हूँ। यह मेरा ही महान् दोष है कि मैंने सूर्यपुत्र कर्णका तुमलोगोंको परिचय नहीं दिया
evaṃ gate tu kiṃ śakyaṃ mayā kartum ariṃdama | mama doṣo 'yam atyarthaṃ khyāpito yan na sūryajaḥ śatrudamana ||
Vaiśampāyana said: “Since matters have come to this pass, what can I do now, O subduer of foes? This is wholly my grave fault—that I did not make known to you all that Karṇa was the son of the Sun. In such a situation, what remedy remains for me?”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
The verse highlights ethical accountability: withholding a crucial truth (Karṇa’s divine parentage) can have irreversible consequences, and one must own the moral burden when disclosure comes too late to prevent harm.
The speaker laments that events have already unfolded beyond repair and confesses a serious fault—failing to reveal in time that Karṇa was Sūrya’s son—addressing a listener with honorific epithets like ‘foe-subduer’ and ‘enemy-tamer.’