Shloka 24
Gaṅgā-tīra Udaka-kriyā and Kuntī’s Disclosure of Karṇa’s Maternity
Strī-parva, Adhyāya 27
कर्णमेवानुशोचामि दह्दाम्यग्नाविवाहित: । नेह सम किंचिदप्राप्यं भवेदपि दिवि स्थितम्
karṇam evānuśocāmi dahdāmy agnāv ivāhitaḥ | neha samaṁ kiñcid aprāpyaṁ bhaved api divi sthitam ||
Vaiśampāyana said: “It is Karṇa alone whom I grieve for; I burn like one placed in fire. Here, there is nothing comparable to him—no such man could be found, even if one searched among those who dwell in heaven.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the moral weight of recognizing true worth only after irreversible loss: grief becomes a form of inner burning, and the speaker elevates Karṇa as a rare excellence whose equal is not found even in heaven—underscoring the tragedy of war and the belated acknowledgment of virtue and prowess.
In the aftermath of the Kurukṣetra war, amid the lamentations of the bereaved (Strī-parvan), the narrator Vaiśampāyana conveys intense mourning focused on Karṇa, portraying him as incomparable and expressing sorrow so sharp it feels like being consumed by fire.