Shloka 1

Devanagari script

हम (_) ऑन आा5ह अष्टाधिकांत्रेशततमो< ध्याय: कर्णका जन्म, कुन्तीका उसे पिटारीमें रखकर जलमें बहा देना और विलाप करना वैशग्पायन उवाच ततो गर्भ: समभवत्‌ पृथाया: पृथिवीपते । शुक्ले दशोत्तरे पक्षे तारापतिरिवाम्बरे,वैशम्पायनजी कहते हैं--राजन! इस प्रकार आकाशमें जैसे चन्द्रमाका उदय होता है, उसी प्रकार ग्यारहवें मासके- शुक्लपक्षकी प्रतिपदाको कुन्तीके उदरमें भगवान्‌ सूर्यके द्वारा गर्भ स्थापित हुआ

Transliteration

Vaiśaṃpāyana uvāca | tato garbhaḥ samabhavat pṛthāyāḥ pṛthivīpate | śukle daśottare pakṣe tārāpatir ivāmbare ||

Translation

Vaiśaṃpāyana said: “O lord of the earth, then a conception arose in Pṛthā (Kuntī). In the bright fortnight, in the eleventh month, it appeared like the lord of the stars—the Moon—rising in the sky.”

Word by Word

वैशम्पायनःVaiśampāyana

उवाचsaid

ततःthen; thereafter

गर्भःembryo; pregnancy

समभवत्arose; came to be

पृथायाःof Pṛthā (Kuntī)

पृथिवीपतेO lord of the earth (king)

शुक्लेin the bright (fortnight)

दशोत्तरेin the eleventh

पक्षेfortnight

तारापतिःlord of stars (the moon)

इवlike; as

अम्बरेin the sky

Speaker

वैशग्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśaṃpāyana

Pṛthā (Kuntī)

Pṛthivīpati (the king addressed, i.e., Janamejaya)

Candra (Moon, implied by tārāpati)

Āmbara (sky)

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse frames an extraordinary conception in dignified, cosmic imagery, suggesting that events shaping lineage and destiny can arise through forces beyond ordinary human control; it invites reflection on responsibility and dharma when confronted with unforeseen consequences.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśaṃpāyana narrates to the king that Kuntī (Pṛthā) becomes pregnant; the moment is described poetically as resembling the Moon’s rise in the sky on the eleventh day of the bright fortnight, introducing the episode that leads to Karṇa’s birth.