Shloka 2
Chapter 61: Karṇa’s martial assurances and Bhīṣma’s strategic rebuttal in the Kuru assembly
मिथ्या प्रतिज्ञाय मया यदस्त्रं रामात् कृतं ब्रह्ममयं पुरस्तात् | विज्ञाय तेनास्मि तदैवमुक्त- स््ते नान्तकाले प्रतिभास्यतीति,“राजन! मैंने पूर्वकालमें झूठे ही अपनेको ब्राह्मण बताकर परशुरामजीसे जब ब्रह्मास्त्रकी शिक्षा प्राप्त कर ली, तब उन्होंने मेरा यथार्थ परिचय जानकर मुझसे इस प्रकार कहा--“कर्ण! अन्त समय आनेपर तुम्हें इस ब्रह्मास्त्रका स्मरण नहीं रहेगा”
mithyā pratijñāya mayā yad astraṃ rāmāt kṛtaṃ brahmamayaṃ purastāt | vijñāya tenāsmi tadaivam uktaḥ te nāntakāle pratibhāsyatīti |
Vaiśampāyana berkata: “Wahai Raja! Dahulu aku berdusta mengaku sebagai Brahmana, lalu menerima ajaran senjata Brahma (Brahmāstra) daripada Rāma (Paraśurāma). Namun apabila baginda mengetahui siapa diriku yang sebenar, baginda serta-merta menjatuhkan sumpahan ini: ‘Pada saat akhir, Brahmāstra itu tidak akan terbit dalam ingatanmu.’”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Power gained through falsehood carries an ethical cost: the very knowledge acquired by deceit becomes unreliable, failing at the decisive moment. The verse frames this as a moral law expressed through Paraśurāma’s curse—untruth undermines one’s own strength.
Karna recounts that he obtained instruction in the Brahmāstra from Paraśurāma by pretending to be a Brahmin. When Paraśurāma realized Karna’s true identity, he cursed him that, at the final crisis (the end-time), the Brahmāstra would not come to Karna’s memory.