Shloka 23

Devanagari script

कर्ण उवाच जानाम्येव महाबाहो सर्वमेतन्न संशय: । यथा वदसि मे भीष्म कौन्तेयो5हं न सूतज:,कर्णने कहा--महाबाहो! भीष्म! आप जो कुछ कह रहे हैं, उसे मैं भी जानता हूँ। यह सब ठीक है, इसमें संशय नहीं है। वास्तवमें मैं कुन्तीका ही पुत्र हूँ, सूतपुत्र नहीं हूँ

Transliteration

karṇa uvāca: jānāmyeva mahābāho sarvam etan na saṁśayaḥ | yathā vadasi me bhīṣma kaunteyo ’haṁ na sūtajaḥ ||

Translation

Karna berkata: “Wahai yang berlengan perkasa, aku sungguh mengetahui semuanya—tanpa keraguan. Wahai Bhishma, tepat seperti yang kau katakan: aku putra Kunti, bukan putra kusir.”

Word by Word

कर्णःKarna

उवाचsaid

जानामिI know

एवindeed/just

महाबाहोO mighty-armed one

सर्वम्all

एतत्this

नnot/no

संशयःdoubt

यथाas/just as

वदसिyou say

मेto me

भीष्मO Bhishma

कौन्तेयःson of Kunti

अहम्I

नnot

सूतजःson of a charioteer (Suta-born)

Speaker

कर्ण उवाच

Characters & Entities

Karna

Bhishma

Kunti

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse foregrounds satya (truthfulness) and the moral weight of acknowledging one’s real identity, even when social labels (like ‘sūta-putra’) have shaped one’s public life and honor.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Bhishma Parva context, Bhishma addresses Karna about his true birth. Karna responds that he already knows the truth without doubt: he is Kunti’s son (thus of royal lineage), not the son of a sūta.