Shloka 5
राधेयो*5हं कुरुश्रेष्ठ नित्यमक्षिगतस्तव । देष्यो5हं तव सर्वत्र इति चैनमुवाच ह,वीर भीष्मके नेत्र बंद थे। उन्हें देखकर महातेजस्वी कर्णकी आँखोंमें आँसू छलक आये और अभश्रुगदगदकण्ठ होकर उसने कहा--'भीष्म! भीष्म! महाबाहो! कुरुश्रेष्ठ! मैं वही राधापुत्र कर्ण हूँ, जो सदा आपकी आँखोंमें गड़ा रहता था और जिसे आप सर्वत्र द्वेषदृष्टिसे देखते थे।” कर्णने यह बात उनसे कही
sañjaya uvāca | rādheyo 'haṃ kuruśreṣṭha nityam akṣigatas tava | deṣyo 'haṃ tava sarvatra iti cainam uvāca ha ||
Sañjaya said: “O best of the Kurus, I am Rādheya (Karna). I was ever fixed in your sight, and yet I was one whom you regarded with aversion everywhere.” Thus he spoke to him. In the narrative setting, Karna—overcome with emotion on seeing Bhīṣma’s closed eyes—identifies himself and confronts the painful moral tension between personal worth and social judgment, revealing how honor, resentment, and recognition shape conduct amid the war’s tragic inevitability.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the ethical pain caused by prejudice and prior judgment: even a great warrior like Karna can be ‘ever in one’s sight’ yet treated with aversion. It points to the dharmic challenge of seeing merit beyond birth, alliances, or past enmity—especially in a war where personal grievances intensify collective ruin.
Sañjaya narrates that Karna approaches Bhīṣma (whose eyes are closed) and identifies himself as Rādheya. Karna reminds Bhīṣma that he was always before his eyes, yet was disliked by him in every context, expressing both grief and a direct confrontation with Bhīṣma’s longstanding attitude toward him.