Shloka 8
पाण्डोः तपः-प्रसङ्गः, ऋण-धर्मः, अपत्य-प्राप्ति-चिन्ता
Pāṇḍu’s Asceticism, the Doctrine of Debts, and Deliberations on Progeny
तथोक्ता सा तु विप्रेण कुन्ती कौतूहलान्विता । कन्या सती देवमर्कमाजुहाव यशस्विनी,ब्रह्मर्षि दुर्वासाके यों कहनेपर कुन्तीके मनमें बड़ा कौतूहल हुआ। वह यशस्विनी राजकन्या यद्यपि अभी कुमारी थी, तो भी उसने मन्त्रकी परीक्षाके लिये सूर्यदेवका आवाहन किया
tathoktā sā tu vipreṇa kuntī kautūhalānvitā | kanyā satī devam arkam ājuhāva yaśasvinī ||
Vaiśampāyana dijo: Así interpelada por el brahmán, Kuntī, colmada de curiosidad, aunque aún era una doncella sin esposo, invocó al dios Sol, Arka, para poner a prueba el poder del mantra.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Sacred power is not merely to be tested out of curiosity; invoking divine forces carries moral and practical consequences. The verse frames an ethical tension between inquisitiveness and responsibility, especially when one acts without fully foreseeing outcomes.
After being instructed by a brahmin (contextually connected with the mantra given to her), Kuntī—still a maiden—invokes the Sun-god Arka to verify the mantra’s efficacy, setting in motion the events that will lead to Karṇa’s birth.