Shloka 18

Devanagari script

शक्र उवाच विदितो*<हं रवे: पूर्वमायानेव तवान्तिकम्‌ । तेन ते सर्वमाख्यातमेवमेतन्न संशय:,इन्द्र बोले--कर्ण! जब मैं तुम्हारे पास आ रहा था, उसके पहले ही सूर्यदेवको यह बात मालूम हो गयी थी। इसमें संदेह नहीं कि उन्होंने ही तुमसे सारी बातें बता दी हैं

Transliteration

śakra uvāca: vidito ’haṃ raveḥ pūrvam āyāneva tavāntikam | tena te sarvam ākhyātam evam etan na saṃśayaḥ ||

Translation

Śakra (Indra) said: “Before I even set out to come to you, the Sun already knew of it. Therefore, it was he who disclosed everything to you. This is exactly so—there is no doubt.”

Word by Word

• {'śakra': 'Indra

• the lord of the gods', 'uvāca': 'said', 'viditaḥ': 'known, ascertained', 'aham': 'I', 'raveḥ': 'of Ravi (the Sun)', 'pūrvam': 'beforehand, earlier', 'āyāne eva': 'even while coming / even in the very act of coming', 'tava': 'your', 'antikam': 'near, presence', 'tena': 'by him

• therefore', 'te': 'to you', 'sarvam': 'everything', 'ākhyātam': 'told, revealed', 'evam etat': 'thus it is

• this is exactly so', 'na saṃśayaḥ': 'no doubt'}

Speaker

शक्र उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Śakra (Indra)
• Ravi (Sūrya, the Sun)
• Karna

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights divine foreknowledge and the ethical tension between intention and transparency: Indra acknowledges that his approach was already known to Sūrya, implying that attempts at strategic concealment are limited before higher knowledge, and that moral choices unfold under the gaze of truth.

What is happening in the narrative?

Indra speaks to Karna, stating that Sūrya had already learned of Indra’s plan before Indra arrived, and therefore Sūrya must have informed Karna of all details. This sets the context for Karna’s informed response to Indra’s request.