Shloka 1
भीष्मस्य दुर्योधनं प्रति कुलहितोपदेशः | Bhīṣma’s Counsel to Duryodhana on Dynastic Welfare
अपर षट्चत्वारिशर्दाधेकशततमो< ध्याय: कर्णका कुन्तीको उत्तर तथा अर्जुनको छोड़कर शेष चारों पाण्डवोंको न मारनेकी प्रतिज्ञा वैशम्पायन उवाच ततः सूर्यन्निश्वरितां कर्ण: शुश्राव भारतीम् । दुरत्ययां प्रणयिनीं पितृवद् भास्करेरिताम्
vaiśampāyana uvāca | tataḥ sūryān niścaritāṃ karṇaḥ śuśrāva bhāratīm | duratyayāṃ praṇayinīṃ pitṛvad bhāskareritām ||
Vaiśampāyana said: Then Karṇa heard a voice that issued forth from the Sun. It was the Sun’s own utterance—affectionate like a father’s counsel, yet seeming hard to disregard—addressed to Karṇa with intimate concern, as if binding him by love and duty at once.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even when counsel comes with deep affection and divine authority, it tests one’s discernment: love can bind as strongly as law. The verse frames ethical pressure—an instruction that feels ‘hard to disregard’—highlighting the Mahābhārata’s recurring tension between personal loyalty, moral duty, and the weight of destiny.
As the story proceeds in Udyoga Parva, Karṇa hears a voice emerging from the Sun—Sūrya, his divine father. The narration emphasizes the voice’s fatherly affection and compelling force, setting the stage for consequential advice and vows connected with the coming war.