Shloka 8

Gaṅgā-tīra Udaka-kriyā and Kuntī’s Disclosure of Karṇa’s Maternity

Strī-parva, Adhyāya 27

Devanagari script

अर्जुनेन जित: संख्ये वीरलक्षणलक्षित: । यं सूतपुत्र॑ मन्यध्वं राधेयमिति पाण्डवा:

Transliteration

arjunena jitaḥ saṅkhye vīralakṣaṇalakṣitaḥ | yaṃ sūtaputraṃ manyadhvaṃ rādheyam iti pāṇḍavāḥ ||

Translation

ໄວສັມປາຍະນະ ກ່າວວ່າ: ໃນສົງຄາມ ຜູ້ນັ້ນ—ຜູ້ຖືກໝາຍໄວ້ດ້ວຍລັກສະນະແຫ່ງວິລະຊົນແທ້—ຖືກອາຈຸນະຊະນະ. ນັ້ນແຫຼະ ຜູ້ທີ່ພວກເຈົ້າ ປານດະວະ ເຄີຍເຫັນວ່າເປັນລູກຊາຍຂອງສູຕະ (ຄົນຂັບລົດ) ແລະເອີ້ນວ່າ ຣາເທຍ (ກັນນະ). ຖ້ອຍຄຳນີ້ຊີ້ໃຫ້ເຫັນວ່າ ສົງຄາມກັບຄືນຊື່ສຽງ ແລະເປີດໂປງການຕັດສິນຕາມຊາດກຳເນີດ ທ່າມກາງການຊຳລະທາງທຳມະໃນສະໜາມຮົບ.

Word by Word

अर्जुनेनby Arjuna

जितःconquered/defeated

संख्येin battle

वीरलक्षणलक्षितःmarked by the signs of a hero

यम्whom

सूतपुत्रम्the charioteer’s son

मन्यध्वम्you thought/considered

राधेयम्Radheya (Karna)

इतिthus/as

पाण्डवाःO Pandavas

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

Arjuna

Pāṇḍavas

Rādheya (Karṇa)

sūta (charioteer class)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights the fragility of social labels in the face of lived action: the one dismissed as ‘sūtaputra’ is still ‘vīralakṣaṇalakṣita’—truly heroic—yet is brought down by destiny and the harsh arithmetic of war. It cautions against reducing a person to birth-status and points to the tragic moral complexity of battlefield outcomes.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana recalls that Rādheya (Karna), whom the Pāṇḍavas had long regarded as a charioteer’s son, was defeated by Arjuna in combat. In the Stree Parva’s aftermath setting, such recollections intensify grief and ethical reflection on the war’s cost.