Shloka 7
Svargārohaṇa-parva Adhyāya 2 — Yudhiṣṭhira’s Inquiry for His Kin and the Vision of a Punitive Realm
युद्धके बाद जब मैं अपने मृत सम्बन्धियोंको जलाञज्जलि दे रहा था उस समय मेरी माता कुन्तीने कहा था--“बेटा! कर्णको भी जलाञ्जलि देना।” माताकी यह बात सुनकर मुझे मालूम हुआ कि महात्मा कर्ण मेरे ही भाई थे। तबसे मुझे उनके लिये बड़ा दुःख होता है ।। इदं च परितप्यामि पुन: पुनरहं सुरा: । यन्मातु: सदृशौ पादौ तस्याहममितात्मन:,देवताओ! यह सोचकर तो मैं और भी पश्चात्ताप करता रहता हूँ कि “महामना कर्णके दोनों चरणोंको माता कुन्तीके चरणोंके समान देखकर भी मैं क्यों नहीं शत्रुदलमर्दन कर्णका अनुगामी हो गया?” यदि कर्ण हमारे साथ होते तो हमें इन्द्र भी युद्धमें परास्त नहीं कर सकते
yudhiṣṭhira uvāca |
yuddhake bāda jaba maiṃ apane mṛta sambandhiyoṃ ko jalāñjali de rahā thā usa samaya merī mātā kuntī ne kahā thā— “beṭā! karṇa ko bhī jalāñjali denā।” mātā kī yaha bāta sunkara mujhe mālūm huā ki mahātmā karṇa mere hī bhāī the। tabse mujhe unke liye baṛā duḥkha hotā hai॥
idaṃ ca paritapyāmi punaḥ punar ahaṃ surāḥ |
yan mātuḥ sadṛśau pādau tasyāham amitātmanaḥ |
devatāo! yaha socakara to maiṃ aura bhī paścāttāpa kartā rahtā hūṃ ki “mahāmanā karṇa ke donoṃ caraṇoṃ ko mātā kuntī ke caraṇoṃ ke samān dekhkar bhī maiṃ kyoṃ nahīṃ śatrudala-mardana karṇa kā anugāmī ho gayā?” yadi karṇa hamāre sātha hote to hameṃ indra bhī yuddha meṃ parāsta nahīṃ kara sakte।
Yudhiṣṭhira said: After the war, when I was offering the water-rites to my dead kinsmen, my mother Kuntī said to me, “Son, offer the libation to Karṇa as well.” Hearing this, I learned that the great-souled Karṇa was my own brother. From that moment, grief for him has weighed heavily upon me. And, O gods, I burn with remorse again and again at this thought: though I saw that the feet of that noble, immeasurable-souled man were like my mother Kuntī’s, why did I not become a follower of Karṇa, the crusher of enemy hosts? Had Karṇa stood with us, even Indra could not have defeated us in battle.
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the ethical weight of hidden kinship and the lasting consequences of ignorance and delayed truth. Yudhiṣṭhira’s remorse shows how dharma is not only about victory or duty in war, but also about responsibility toward family, truthful disclosure, and the inner reckoning that follows violence.
After the Kurukṣetra war, Yudhiṣṭhira performs funerary water-offerings for the dead. Kuntī instructs him to offer for Karṇa too, revealing that Karṇa was his brother. Yudhiṣṭhira then laments repeatedly, wondering why he did not align with Karṇa, and asserts that with Karṇa on their side even Indra would not have been able to defeat them.