Shloka 1
Adhyāya 2: Nārada’s Disclosure—Karṇa’s Training and the Brahmin’s Curse (Śānti-parva)
इस प्रकार श्रीमह्याभारत शान्तिपर्वके अन्तर्गत राजधमनुशासनपर्वमें कर्णकी पहचानविषयक पहला अध्याय पूरा हुआ,>> | अं हि कक द्वितीयो&्ध्याय: नारदजीका कर्णको शाप प्राप्त होनेका प्रसंग सुनाना वैशम्पायन उवाच स एवमुक्तस्तु मुनिर्नारदो वदतां वर: । कथयामास तत् सर्व यथा शप्त: स सूतज: वैशम्पायनजी कहते हैं--राजन! युधिष्ठिरके इस प्रकार पूछनेपर वक्ताओंमें श्रेष्ठ नारदमुनिने सूतपुत्र कर्णको जिस प्रकार शाप प्राप्त हुआ था, वह सब प्रसंग कह सुनाया
vaiśampāyana uvāca | sa evam uktas tu munir nārado vadatāṃ varaḥ | kathayām āsa tat sarvaṃ yathā śaptaḥ sa sūtajaḥ ||
Vaiśampāyana said: When Yudhiṣṭhira had thus spoken, the sage Nārada—foremost among speakers—recounted in full how Karṇa, the son of a charioteer, came to be cursed. The narrative turns to the moral causality behind Karṇa’s fate, showing how words and deeds, once set in motion, return as consequences even upon the great.
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse foregrounds moral causality: even heroic stature does not exempt one from the results of prior actions and speech. By introducing Karṇa’s śāpa, it frames fate as ethically intelligible—consequences arise from causes, and understanding them is part of dharma-inquiry.
In the frame dialogue, after Yudhiṣṭhira’s query, Nārada begins narrating the full account of how Karṇa incurred a curse. This verse functions as a transition into the detailed backstory explaining Karṇa’s misfortunes.