After the Kurukshetra war, having offered water (oblations) unto all the deceased friends and relatives, the Pandavas continued to live on the banks of the Ganges for the period of one month where many great sages and rishis and thousands of brahmanas came to comfort the King Yudhisthira who was mourning the death of so many kinsmen and offer him some consolation.
At that time the great sage Narada visited the King and spoke to him, O Yudhisthira, by the prowess of your arms and by the grace of the Supreme Lord ShriKrishna, you have conquered the earth. By good luck, you have escaped this great slaughter of men. O son of Pandu, after defeating the sinful Duryodhana, are you not happy? I hope that grief and lamentation are not afflicting you.
O Narada, Yudhisthira replied, Indeed, I have conquered the whole earth relying on the grace of ShriKrishna, the blessings of the brahmanas and the strength of Bhima and Arjuna. There is, however, a heavy grief that is still sitting in my heart.
I feel that my own greed has caused this great slaughter of kinsmen. Lamenting the death of Abhimanyu and the sons of Draupadi, I feel victory to be defeat. What will Subhadra say to me? The lamentation of Draupadi is more than I can bear.
It was after the slaughter of all these men that I came to know that Karna was my brother. He was born of the union of the Sun god and my mother Kunti. He was regarded by the whole world to be the son of Radha, but in actuality, he was my mother's eldest son. I have, unknowingly, caused him to be slain. This is burning my limbs like fire burns a heap of cotton. Neither Arjuna nor Bhima nor the twins knew him to be our eldest brother.
However, he knew that we were his younger brothers. He was informed of this by Lord Krishna and my mother. Because of his close ties with Duryodhana, he could not come to our side. He did, however, agree not to take our lives. If I could have had both Arjuna and Karna, I could have conquered over any of the great maharathis. During the gambling match, even though provoked by Karna's words, I became pacified by his sight. He always seemed to resemble our mother in many ways. I tried to find out the reason for the likeness, but I never came to any conclusion.
O Narada, why has the earth swallowed up his chariot wheels? Why was my elder brother cursed? I desire to hear all that you know regarding this subject matter.
At that time the great sage Narada visited the King and spoke to him, O Yudhisthira, by the prowess of your arms and by the grace of the Supreme Lord ShriKrishna, you have conquered the earth. By good luck, you have escaped this great slaughter of men. O son of Pandu, after defeating the sinful Duryodhana, are you not happy? I hope that grief and lamentation are not afflicting you.
O Narada, Yudhisthira replied, Indeed, I have conquered the whole earth relying on the grace of ShriKrishna, the blessings of the brahmanas and the strength of Bhima and Arjuna. There is, however, a heavy grief that is still sitting in my heart.
I feel that my own greed has caused this great slaughter of kinsmen. Lamenting the death of Abhimanyu and the sons of Draupadi, I feel victory to be defeat. What will Subhadra say to me? The lamentation of Draupadi is more than I can bear.
It was after the slaughter of all these men that I came to know that Karna was my brother. He was born of the union of the Sun god and my mother Kunti. He was regarded by the whole world to be the son of Radha, but in actuality, he was my mother's eldest son. I have, unknowingly, caused him to be slain. This is burning my limbs like fire burns a heap of cotton. Neither Arjuna nor Bhima nor the twins knew him to be our eldest brother.
However, he knew that we were his younger brothers. He was informed of this by Lord Krishna and my mother. Because of his close ties with Duryodhana, he could not come to our side. He did, however, agree not to take our lives. If I could have had both Arjuna and Karna, I could have conquered over any of the great maharathis. During the gambling match, even though provoked by Karna's words, I became pacified by his sight. He always seemed to resemble our mother in many ways. I tried to find out the reason for the likeness, but I never came to any conclusion.
O Narada, why has the earth swallowed up his chariot wheels? Why was my elder brother cursed? I desire to hear all that you know regarding this subject matter.