Shloka 2
कुन्ती–कर्णसंवादः
Kuntī–Karṇa Dialogue: Loyalty, Fate, and Constrained Assurance
कुन्त्युवाच कौन्तेयस्त्वं न राधेयो न तवाधिरथ: पिता । नासि सूतकुले जात: कर्ण तद् विद्धि मे वच:,कुन्तीने कहा--कर्ण! तुम राधाके नहीं, कुन्तीके पुत्र हो। तुम्हारे पिता अधिरथ नहीं हैं और तुम सूतकुलमें नहीं उत्पन्न हुए हो। मेरी इस बातको ठीक मानो
kunty uvāca—kaunteyas tvaṁ na rādheyo na tavādhirathaḥ pitā | nāsi sūtakule jātaḥ karṇa tad viddhi me vacaḥ ||
Kuntī berkata: “Wahai Karṇa! Engkau ialah putera Kuntī, bukan putera Rādhā. Adhiratha bukanlah ayahmu, dan engkau tidak dilahirkan dalam kaum sūta (golongan pemandu kereta perang). Wahai Karṇa, ketahuilah bahawa kata-kataku ini benar.”
कर्ण उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse foregrounds satya (truth) and the ethical weight of identity: Kuntī asserts Karṇa’s true parentage, challenging social labels and urging him to recognize a deeper familial and dharmic connection beyond the status of the household that raised him.
On the eve of the Kurukṣetra war, Kuntī approaches Karṇa privately and discloses that he is her son, not the biological son of Rādhā and Adhiratha, and not born in the sūta community—an attempt to reshape his loyalties and choices before the conflict.