Shloka 236
ऋषिसमागमः — युधिष्ठिरस्य शोकवर्णनम्
Sage Assembly and Yudhiṣṭhira’s Articulation of Grief
स ज्येष्ठपुत्र: कुन्त्या वै भ्रातास्माकं च मातृज: । नारदजी! मेरी माता कुन्तीने कर्णको जन्मके पश्चात् एक पेटीमें रखकर गड़ाजीकी धारामें बहाया था। जिन्हें यह सारा संसार अबतक अधिरथ सूत एवं राधाका पुत्र समझता था
sa jyeṣṭhaputraḥ kuntyā vai bhrātāsmākaṃ ca mātṛjaḥ |
Yudhiṣṭhira said: “He was indeed Kuntī’s eldest son—born of the same mother as we are, and therefore our own brother. O Nārada, after giving birth to Karṇa, my mother Kuntī placed the infant in a chest and set it afloat upon the current of the river. The one whom the whole world has long believed to be the son of the charioteer Adhiratha and Rādhā was in truth Kuntī’s firstborn and our full brother.”
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage highlights the ethical weight of truth about lineage and the duties that follow from kinship: recognizing a brother changes one’s moral obligations, intensifying themes of responsibility, remorse, and the tragic consequences of concealed identity.
Yudhiṣṭhira addresses Nārada and reveals/affirms Karṇa’s true birth: Karṇa was Kuntī’s firstborn, abandoned in a chest and set afloat on a river, later raised as the son of Adhiratha and Rādhā—making him the Pāṇḍavas’ full brother.