Shloka 9
कौन्तेयस्त्वं न राधेयो न तवाधिरथ: पिता । सूर्यजस्त्वं महाबाहो विदितो नारदान्मया,“वत्स! तुम राधाके नहीं, कुन्तीके पुत्र हो। तुम्हारे पिता अधिरथ नहीं हैं। महाबाहो! तुम सूर्यके पुत्र हो। मैंने नारदजीसे तुम्हारा परिचय प्राप्त किया था
sañjaya uvāca |
kaunteyas tvaṃ na rādheyo na tavādhirathaḥ pitā |
sūryajas tvaṃ mahābāho vidito nāradān mayā ||
Sañjaya said: “You are a son of Kuntī, not Rādhā’s child; Adhiratha is not your father. Mighty-armed one, you are born of the Sun. I came to know your true identity from Nārada.” In ethical and narrative terms, the verse underscores the tension between social identity (nurture, lineage as recognized by society) and birth identity (origin by blood), and it frames a moral appeal: knowledge of one’s true origin can become a call to reconsider loyalties, duties, and the consequences of standing in a war against one’s own kin.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the ethical weight of truth about one’s origin: identity is not only social but also moral, and knowing the truth can demand a re-evaluation of duty, loyalty, and the harm of fighting one’s own kin.
Sañjaya reports a revelation about Karṇa’s birth: he is actually Kuntī’s son and thus connected to the Pāṇḍavas, not the biological son of his foster parents Rādhā and Adhiratha; Sañjaya says he learned this from the sage Nārada.