Shloka 11
Adhyāya 5 (Śānti-parva): Nārada’s account of Karṇa—Jarāsandha encounter and the causal grounds of Karṇa’s fall
ब्राह्मणस्याभिशापेन रामस्य च महात्मन: । कुन्त्याश्न वरदानेन मायया च शतक्रतो:
brāhmaṇasyābhiśāpena rāmasya ca mahātmanaḥ | kuntyāś ca varadānena māyayā ca śatakratoḥ ||
Nārada said: “By the curse of a Brāhmaṇa, and also by that of the great-souled Rāma (Paraśurāma); by the boon granted by Kuntī; and by the stratagem (māyā) of Śatakratu (Indra)—through such causes working together, his downfall was brought about.”
नारद उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how moral causality operates through multiple channels—curses incurred by wrongdoing or deception, boons given for protection, and divine stratagems—showing that outcomes in the epic are not due to a single factor but to an accumulation of ethical and karmic conditions.
Nārada is enumerating the forces that contributed to a warrior’s eventual defeat: a Brāhmaṇa’s curse, Paraśurāma’s curse, Kuntī’s boon, and Indra’s deceptive act. The verse functions as a compact causal summary within the larger reflection on how victory and defeat arise.