Shloka 29
Gaṅgā-tīra Udaka-kriyā and Kuntī’s Disclosure of Karṇa’s Maternity
Strī-parva, Adhyāya 27
पापेनासौ मया श्रेष्ठो भ्राता ज्ञातिर्निपातित: । अतो मनसि यद् गुहां स्त्रीणां तन्न भविष्यति,तदनन्तर वे बोले--“मुझ पापीने इस रहस्यको न जाननेके कारण अपने बड़े भाईको मरवा दिया; अत: आजसे स्त्रियोंके मनमें कोई गुप्त रहस्य नहीं छिपा रह सकेगा”
pāpenāsau mayā śreṣṭho bhrātā jñātir nipātitaḥ | ato manasi yad guhyaṃ strīṇāṃ tan na bhaviṣyati ||
Vaiśampāyana said: “Through my own sin, my noble elder brother—my kinsman—has been brought down. Therefore, from this day onward, whatever secret lies hidden in the mind of women shall no longer remain concealed.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames moral causality: a grievous act (seen as ‘sin’) leads to irreversible loss, and the speaker’s remorse turns into a sweeping pronouncement about social/psychological consequences—here, the loss of secrecy in women’s minds—highlighting how personal wrongdoing can be projected into broader norms.
In the grief-laden aftermath of the war (Strī-parvan context), a speaker laments that through his own fault he caused the fall/death of a noble elder brother/kinsman, and then utters a declaration that women will no longer be able to keep mental secrets hidden.