batch.motif.hindu-mahabharata-dutt-gutenberg-l4649-l4677
---
record_id: batch.motif.hindu-mahabharata-dutt-gutenberg-l4649-l4677
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/hindu/project-gutenberg/mahabharata-dutt.md
passage_locator:
label: BOOK VII / UDYOGA / BOOK VIII / BHISHMA-BADHA; lines 4649-4677
start: '4649'
end: '4677'
translation: Maha-bharata
notes: Generated from OpenAI Batch run motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority;
human review required.
canonical_text:
quote: ''
summary: At gloomy midnight, Karna visits the dying Bhishma, who lies on a bed of
arrows. Bhishma speaks of the end of envy and discord at death, reveals that Karna
is Pritha's son and was born through the Sun, states that Arjun is Karna's brother,
and urges Karna to end the fraternal war. Karna does not heed the warning, and
hatred rises in him.
language: English
quote_policy: summarized
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: The scene occurs during a dark, gloomy midnight after the princes have departed.
category: setting
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: Bhishma lies alone and dying on a bed of pointed arrows.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:3
text: Karna comes gently to the dying Bhishma in the midnight darkness.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:4
text: Bhishma addresses Karna with affection and sadness while close to death.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- id: obs:5
text: Bhishma says pride and envy had caused strife, but discord and envy end with
departing breath and fleeting life.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:6
text: Bhishma says Karna is Pritha's son and that the Sun inspired Karna's birth.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:7
text: Bhishma says Pritha cast Karna away in sorrow and shame, and that a driver,
not Karna's father, nursed him.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:8
text: Bhishma says Arjun is Karna's brother and urges Karna not to seek his brother's
life-blood or drive his car against him.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: obs:9
text: The narration states that Bhishma's warning is vain and that hatred rises
in Karna.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: Bhishma
description: A chieftain lying alone and dying on a bed of pointed arrows; he speaks
to Karna and gives a warning.
role_refs:
- role:1
- role:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:6
- ev:7
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: Karna
description: A noble warrior and archer who visits Bhishma; Bhishma identifies him
as Pritha's son and Arjun's brother.
role_refs:
- role:3
- role:4
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:4
- ev:5
- ev:6
- ev:7
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: Pritha
description: Named by Bhishma as Karna's mother, who bore him while unwedded and
cast him away in sorrow and shame.
role_refs:
- role:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- id: fig:4
name_or_label: Sun
description: Named by Bhishma as the divine power that inspired Karna's birth.
role_refs:
- role:7
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: fig:5
name_or_label: Arjun
description: Named by Bhishma as Karna's brother and as a warrior comparable to
Karna in valor and lineage.
role_refs:
- role:4
- role:8
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:6
- id: fig:6
name_or_label: driver
description: The driver who nursed Karna and is explicitly said not to be Karna's
father.
role_refs:
- role:9
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
roles:
- id: role:1
label: dying elder or chieftain
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: Bhishma lies dying on a bed of arrows and speaks with failing breath.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:3
- id: role:2
label: deathbed revealer and warner
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: Bhishma reveals Karna's birth and brotherhood with Arjun and warns him to
end the fraternal war.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:6
- ev:7
- id: role:3
label: recipient of revelation
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: Karna is directly addressed by Bhishma and told of his mother, divine birth,
and brother.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:6
- id: role:4
label: brother in fraternal conflict
assigned_to:
- fig:2
- fig:5
basis: Bhishma identifies Arjun as Karna's brother and calls the conflict a fraternal
war.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: role:5
label: god-born archer
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: Bhishma calls Karna god-born and says no mightier archer treads the earth.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: role:6
label: mother who abandoned child
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: Pritha bore Karna while unwedded and cast him away in sorrow and shame.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- id: role:7
label: divine source of birth
assigned_to:
- fig:4
basis: The Sun is said to have inspired Karna's birth.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: role:8
label: opposed brother
assigned_to:
- fig:5
basis: Bhishma urges Karna not to seek Arjun's life-blood or drive against him.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: role:9
label: foster nurturer
assigned_to:
- fig:6
basis: A driver, not Karna's father, nursed Karna.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: bed of arrows
literal_form: bed of pointed arrows
associated_figures:
- fig:1
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: sym:2
label: midnight darkness
literal_form: gloomy midnight and midnight darkness
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- id: sym:3
label: Sun birth source
literal_form: the Sun inspired Karna's birth
associated_figures:
- fig:2
- fig:4
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: sym:4
label: war chariot
literal_form: car driven against a brother
associated_figures:
- fig:2
- fig:5
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Karna visits dying Bhishma at midnight
summary: After the princes depart, Bhishma lies dying on a bed of arrows, and Karna
comes to him in the darkness.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- id: scene:2
label: Bhishma reveals Karna's birth and kinship
summary: Bhishma tells Karna that he is Pritha's son, that the Sun inspired his
birth, that he was cast away and nursed by a driver, and that Arjun is his brother.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:3
- fig:4
- fig:5
- fig:6
symbol_refs:
- sym:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- ev:6
- id: scene:3
label: Warning rejected by hatred
summary: Bhishma urges Karna to end the fraternal war, but the narration says the
warning is vain and hatred awakens in Karna.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:5
symbol_refs:
- sym:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- ev:7
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: deathbed revelation and warning
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: A dying Bhishma reveals concealed kinship and offers counsel intended to
stop a destructive conflict.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
- ev:6
- ev:7
confidence: medium
cautions: The available taxonomy has only a broad wisdom family; the passage presents
warning and revelation but not a formal wisdom teaching cycle.
- id: motif:2
label: divine birth of a hero
taxonomy_refs:
- sacred_birth
- divine_parent_child
basis: Karna is identified as Pritha's son, born through the inspiration of the
Sun, and called god-born.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
confidence: high
cautions: The passage gives a brief retrospective account rather than a full birth
narrative.
- id: motif:3
label: abandoned child raised by another household
taxonomy_refs:
- miraculous_child
basis: Bhishma says Pritha cast Karna away and that a driver, not his father, nursed
him.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
confidence: medium
cautions: The taxonomy ref is approximate; the passage states abandonment and foster
nurture but does not narrate miraculous infancy beyond divine birth.
- id: motif:4
label: brothers in hostile conflict
taxonomy_refs:
- sibling_pair
basis: Bhishma names Arjun as Karna's brother and calls the war fraternal while
urging Karna not to seek his brother's blood.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
confidence: high
cautions: The passage emphasizes opposition rather than a cooperative sibling pair.
- id: motif:5
label: vengeful rejection of reconciliation
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: Bhishma's warning to end the fraternal war is described as vain because hatred
rises in Karna.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- ev:7
confidence: high
cautions: No specific available taxonomy reference fits this motif exactly.
comparison_claims:
- id: claim:1
claim: The passage fits a sacred or divine birth motif family because a human mother
is named and the Sun is said to inspire Karna's birth.
claim_level: same_motif
target: sacred_birth / divine_parent_child motif families
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
counter_evidence_refs: []
confidence: high
limitations: The passage only reports the birth retrospectively and does not include
a full birth episode.
- id: claim:2
claim: The passage fits a sibling-conflict pattern because Karna and Arjun are identified
as brothers within a war that Bhishma calls fraternal.
claim_level: same_motif
target: sibling_pair motif family as hostile fraternal conflict
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
counter_evidence_refs: []
confidence: medium
limitations: The taxonomy label sibling_pair is broad and does not specify hostile
brothers; the passage gives only Bhishma's statement within one encounter.
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: quote
locator: lines 4649-4652
quote_or_summary: "“Darker grew the gloomy midnight” and Bhishma lies “On his bed
of pointed arrows” alone and dying."
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/hindu/project-gutenberg/mahabharata-dutt.md
rights_note: Public domain translation; short excerpt used.
- id: ev:2
type: summary
locator: lines 4653-4658
quote_or_summary: Karna comes gently to the dying Bhishma in the midnight darkness;
Bhishma hears him, opens his eye, and speaks in love and sadness.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/hindu/project-gutenberg/mahabharata-dutt.md
rights_note: Public domain translation; summarized.
- id: ev:3
type: summary
locator: lines 4659-4664
quote_or_summary: Bhishma tells Karna that pride and envy filled their hearts with
strife, that discord ends as breath departs, and that his dying speech may fail.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/hindu/project-gutenberg/mahabharata-dutt.md
rights_note: Public domain translation; summarized.
- id: ev:4
type: quote
locator: lines 4665-4668
quote_or_summary: Bhishma says, “Karna, thou art Pritha's son”; Pritha bore him
unwedded, and “the Sun inspired thy birth.”
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/hindu/project-gutenberg/mahabharata-dutt.md
rights_note: Public domain translation; short excerpt used.
- id: ev:5
type: summary
locator: lines 4669-4670
quote_or_summary: Bhishma says Pritha cast Karna away in sorrow and shame, and that
a driver, not his father, nursed him.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/hindu/project-gutenberg/mahabharata-dutt.md
rights_note: Public domain translation; summarized.
- id: ev:6
type: quote
locator: lines 4671-4672
quote_or_summary: Bhishma says, “Arjun is thy brother, Karna,” urges him to end
the fraternal war, and not to seek his brother's blood.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/hindu/project-gutenberg/mahabharata-dutt.md
rights_note: Public domain translation; short excerpt used.
- id: ev:7
type: summary
locator: lines 4673-4677
quote_or_summary: The narrator says Bhishma's heavenly warning is vain, and that
hatred dearer than life-blood awakens in vengeful Karna.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/hindu/project-gutenberg/mahabharata-dutt.md
rights_note: Public domain translation; summarized.
confidence:
extraction: high
motif_candidates: medium
comparison_claims: medium
notes: Literal extraction is strong for the passage. Motif mapping is limited to
the supplied taxonomy and should be reviewed, especially broad mappings such as
wisdom and sibling_pair.
reviewer_status:
status: needs_review
reviewer: ''
reviewed_at: ''
notes: Machine-generated draft from OpenAI Batch; not human-reviewed.
extracted_by: openai_batch:gpt-5.5
extracted_at: '2026-04-28'
notes: |-
Used only the supplied passage and metadata. No external Mahabharata context was added.
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:hindu-mahabharata-dutt-gutenberg__l4649-l4677
passage_sha256=3926998cd2886c6b34ac2bebcbac8f1eaf10482bbcc0f35566751a3f1415500d