Shloka 6
राधेयो वाप्याधिरथि: कर्ण: किमकरोद् युधि । पुत्रा वा मम दुर्धर्षा राजानो वा महारथा: । एतनमे सर्वमाचक्ष्व कुशलो हासि संजय
sañjaya uvāca |
rādheyo vāpy ādhirathiḥ karṇaḥ kim akarod yudhi |
putrā vā mama durdharṣā rājāno vā mahārathāḥ |
etan me sarvam ācakṣva kuśalo hāsi sañjaya ||
Sañjaya nói: “Hãy kể cho ta—Rādheya, con của Adhiratha, Karṇa, đã làm gì trong trận chiến? Còn các con ta, khó bề công phá, và các vua là những đại xa chiến, đã làm gì? Hãy thuật lại tất cả cho ta thật đầy đủ, hỡi Sañjaya—mong ngươi được bình an.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the moral tension of war-reporting: a ruler’s attachment to ‘my sons’ and to celebrated champions like Karṇa drives anxious inquiry, while the narrator’s duty is truthful, complete reporting. It also underscores how identity in the epic is layered—Karṇa is named through foster-lineage (Rādheya, Ādhirathi), reminding readers that social identity and ethical judgment often intertwine.
Dhṛtarāṣṭra, hearing the ongoing account of the Kurukṣetra war, presses Sañjaya to describe in detail what Karṇa did in battle and how the Kaurava princes and allied great kings fared. Sañjaya is addressed as the reliable eyewitness-reporter, and Dhṛtarāṣṭra expresses concern for the outcome.