Shloka 21
Kuntī–Karṇa Saṃvāda: Lineage Disclosure and Appeal to Fraternal Dharma
“जब मैं पिताके घर रहती थी
yadāhaṃ pituḥ gṛhe vasāmi sma, tadā svasevayā bhagavantaṃ durvāsasam ārādhitavatī; sa ca me varaṃ dadau—mantroccāraṇapūrvakam āvāhane kṛte ahaṃ yathā-kāmaṃ yaṃ yaṃ devaṃ samīpam ānayituṃ śakṣyāmi. mama pitā kuntibhojaḥ māṃ mahad ādareṇa pālayām āsa. ahaṃ rājñaḥ antaḥpure duḥkhitahṛdayā mantrāṇāṃ balābalaṃ brāhmaṇavācaḥ śaktiṃ ca bahuvidhaṃ vicārayām āsaṃ.
Dijo Vaiśampāyana: «Cuando vivía en la casa de mi padre, complací al venerable sabio Durvāsā con mi servicio. Él me concedió una gracia: si invocaba con la recitación debida de un mantra, podía llamar a mi presencia a la deidad que yo quisiera. Mi padre Kuntibhoja me honraba grandemente. Pero, viviendo en los aposentos interiores del palacio, mi corazón se turbó al meditar de muchas maneras sobre el poder y los límites de los mantras y sobre la temible potencia de la palabra de un brāhmaṇa.»
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Extraordinary powers gained through devotion and ascetic grace (such as mantra-based invocation) demand ethical restraint and discernment. The passage highlights that sacred speech—mantra and a brahmin’s word—has real consequences, so one must reflect on its proper use and limits.
Kuntī recounts that while living in her father’s home she served the sage Durvāsā and received a boon enabling her to summon any deity by mantra-invocation. Though honored by Kuntibhoja and living in the palace inner quarters, she becomes inwardly uneasy and begins contemplating the potency and boundaries of mantras and the power of brahminical speech.