Shloka 16
Jatugṛha-dāhānantara-vṛttāntaḥ
Aftermath of the Lac House Fire
भवतां च यथा जन्म तदप्यागमितं मया । सकुण्डलं सकवचं सर्वलक्षणलक्षितम् | कथमादित्यसदृशं मृगी व्यात्रं जनिष्यति,“तुम सब भाइयोंका जन्म जिस प्रकार हुआ है, वह भी मुझे अच्छी तरह मालूम है। समस्त शुभ लक्षणोंसे सुशोभित तथा कुण्डल और कवचके साथ उत्पन्न हुआ सूर्यके समान तेजस्वी कर्ण किसी सूत जातिकी स्त्रीका पुत्र कैसे हो सकता है। क्या कोई हरिणी अपने पेटसे बाघ पैदा कर सकती है?
bhavatāṁ ca yathā janma tad apy āgamitaṁ mayā | sakuṇḍalaṁ sakavacaṁ sarvalakṣaṇalakṣitam | katham ādityasadṛśaṁ mṛgī vyāghraṁ janiṣyati |
Sinabi ni Vaiśampāyana: “Alam ko rin nang mabuti kung paano kayo, mga magkakapatid, isinilang. At alam ko rin ito: si Karṇa, maningning na gaya ng araw, ay isinilang na may hikaw at baluting-katawan, taglay ang lahat ng mapalad na palatandaan. Paano siya magiging anak ng isang babae mula sa pamayanang sūta? May usa bang babae na makapapanganak ng tigre?”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse challenges superficial judgments based on social label (sūta) by pointing to extraordinary signs and inherent radiance. It raises an ethical tension in the epic: how society’s assumptions about birth and status can obscure a person’s true origin and worth.
Vaiśaṃpāyana asserts that he knows the brothers’ births and emphasizes that Karṇa was born with divine tokens (earrings and armor) and sun-like splendor. Using the metaphor of a doe giving birth to a tiger, he questions how such a being could be born from a sūta woman, hinting at Karṇa’s exceptional—indeed divine—parentage.