Shloka 25
सूर्य उवाच बालेति कृत्वानुनयं तवाहूं ददानि नान्यानुनयं लभेत । आत्मप्रदानं कुरु कुन्तिकन्ये शान्तिस्तवैवं हि भवेच्च भीरु,सूर्यदेवने कहा--कुन्तिभोजकुमारी कुन्ती! बालिका समझकर ही मैं तुमसे इतनी अनुनय-विनय करता हूँ। दूसरी कोई स्त्री मुझसे अनुनयका अवसर नहीं पा सकती। भीरु! तुम मुझे अपना शरीर अर्पण करो। ऐसा करनेसे ही तुम्हें शान्ति प्राप्त हो सकती है
sūrya uvāca—bāleti kṛtvānunayaṃ tavāhaṃ dadāni nānyānunayaṃ labheta | ātmapradānaṃ kuru kuntikanye śāntis tavaivaṃ hi bhavec ca bhīru ||
Sūrya said: “Taking you to be only a young girl, I speak to you with such coaxing and entreaty; no other woman would ever obtain from me the occasion for such pleading. O daughter of Kuntibhoja, offer yourself to me; only by doing so, O timid one, will you find peace.”
सूर्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the ethical tension when authority and desire pressure a vulnerable person: persuasive speech and promises of “peace” can function as coercion. It invites reflection on dharma as restraint and protection of the vulnerable, not merely the fulfillment of power or desire.
Sūrya addresses the young Kuntī after being invoked, claiming he is unusually pleading only because she is a girl, and urges her to surrender herself to him, asserting that this alone will bring her peace—setting the stage for the consequential episode leading to Kuntī’s first childbirth.