Shloka 12
नारायणं हृषीकेशमश्चिनौ यमजौ तथा । यः स वैरार्थमुद्भूत: संघर्षजननस्तथा । तं॑ कर्ण विद्धि कल्याणि भास्करं शुभदर्शने,भगवान् श्रीकृष्ण नारायण ऋषिके अवतार हैं। नकुल और सहदेव दोनोंको अश्विनीकुमार समझो। कल्याणि! जो केवल वैर बढ़ानेके लिये उत्पन्न हुआ था और कौरव- पाण्डवोंमें संघर्ष पैदा करानेवाला था, उस कर्णको सूर्य समझो। जिस पाण्डवपुत्रको छः महारथियोंने मिलकर मारा था, उस सुभद्राकुमार अभिमन्युके रूपमें साक्षात् चन्द्रमा ही इस भूतलपर अवतीर्ण हुए थे। वे अपने योगबलसे दो रूपोंमें प्रकट हो गये थे (एक रूपसे चन्द्रलोकमें रहते थे और दूसरेसे भूतलपर)
nārāyaṇaṁ hṛṣīkeśam aśvinau yamajau tathā | yaḥ sa vairārtham udbhūtaḥ saṅgharṣa-jananas tathā | taṁ karṇa viddhi kalyāṇi bhāskaraṁ śubhadarśane ||
Vyāsa said: “Know Kṛṣṇa—Nārāyaṇa, the Lord of the senses (Hṛṣīkeśa)—to be Nārāyaṇa Himself. Know the twin sons of Mādrī, Nakula and Sahadeva, to be the Aśvinī-kumāras. And, O auspicious lady of fair vision, know Karṇa to be the Sun: he was born chiefly to intensify enmity and to generate the great clash between the Kauravas and the Pāṇḍavas.”
व्यास उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames key heroes as manifestations of cosmic powers: Kṛṣṇa as Nārāyaṇa, the twins as the Aśvins, and Karṇa as the Sun. It suggests that the epic conflict is not merely human politics but also a providential unfolding in which certain births serve larger cosmic purposes—illumination, healing, and even the intensification of rivalry that culminates in a decisive reckoning.
Vyāsa is revealing identifications of major figures with divine beings. He instructs the listener (addressed as ‘kalyāṇi, śubhadarśane’) to recognize Kṛṣṇa’s supreme nature, to see Nakula and Sahadeva as incarnations of the Aśvin twins, and to understand Karṇa as the Sun, whose role is portrayed as catalyzing enmity and generating the Kaurava–Pāṇḍava confrontation.