Shloka 19
Kuntī–Karṇa Saṃvāda: Lineage Disclosure and Appeal to Fraternal Dharma
प्रसादयितुमासाद्य दर्शयन्ती यथातथम् | “इसने सदा पाण्डवोंका बड़ा भारी अनर्थ करनेके लिये हठ ठान लिया है। साथ ही कर्ण अत्यन्त बलवान् भी है। यह बात इस समय मेरे हृदयको दग्ध किये देती है। अच्छा
vaiśaṃpāyana uvāca | prasādayitum āsādya darśayantī yathātatham | "asne sadā pāṇḍavānāṃ baḍā bhārī anartha karne ke liye haṭh ṭhān liyā hai | sātha hī karṇa atyanta balavān bhī hai | yaha bāta isa samaya mere hṛdaya ko dagdha kiye detī hai | acchā, āja maiṃ karṇa ke mana ko pāṇḍavoṃ ke prati prasanna karne ke liye uske pāsa jāūṃgī aura yathārtha sambandha kā paricaya detī huī usse bātacīta karūṃgī || toṣito bhagavān yatra durvāsā me varaṃ dadau, "jab maiṃ pitā ke ghara rahatī thī, unhīṃ dinoṃ apnī sevāoṃ dvārā maine bhagavān durvāsā ko saṃtuṣṭa kiyā aura unhoṃne mujhe yaha vara diyā ki mantroccāraṇapūrvaka āvāhana karne para maiṃ kisī bhī devatā ko apne pāsa bulā saktī hūṃ | mere pitā kuntibhoja merā baḍā ādara karte the | maiṃ rājā ke antaḥpura meṃ rahkar vyathita hṛdaya se mantroṃ ke balābala aura brāhmaṇa kī vākśakti ke viṣaya meṃ aneka prakāra kā vicāra karne lagī"
Vaiśaṃpāyana said: Seeking to win him over and to set forth the truth as it truly was, she reflected: “He has stubbornly resolved to bring great calamity upon the Pāṇḍavas, and Karṇa too is exceedingly powerful. This thought burns my heart at this moment. Therefore today I shall go to Karṇa, make his mind favorable toward the Pāṇḍavas, and speak with him while revealing the true bond between us.” “Formerly, when I lived in my father’s house, I pleased the revered sage Durvāsā through my service, and he granted me a boon: by invoking with the proper mantra, I could summon any deity to my presence. My father Kuntibhoja honored me greatly. Living within the king’s inner apartments, with an anxious heart I pondered in many ways the power and peril of mantras and the formidable potency of a brāhmaṇa’s spoken word.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage highlights ethical responsibility in crisis: Kuntī seeks reconciliation and truth-telling to prevent harm, while also acknowledging the dangerous potency of mantras and speech—powers that must be handled with restraint and foresight.
Kuntī resolves to approach Karṇa to soften his hostility toward the Pāṇḍavas and to reveal their true relationship. She recalls her earlier life in Kuntibhoja’s house, where she pleased the sage Durvāsā and received a boon enabling her to summon deities through mantra-invocation.