उद्योगपर्व — अध्याय १४० (कृष्णेन कर्णं प्रति पाण्डवबल-वैशिष्ट्यप्रदर्शनम्) / Udyoga Parva, Chapter 140
Krishna’s appraisal of Pandava advantage and war portents
इष्टं च बहुभिय्यज्ञै: सह सूतैर्मयासकृत् । आवाहाश्न विवाहाश्नव सह सूतैर्मया कृता:
iṣṭaṃ ca bahubhir yajñaiḥ saha sūtair mayā sakṛt | āvāhāś ca vivāhāś ca saha sūtair mayā kṛtāḥ |
قال كارنا: «لقد أقمتُ مرارًا كثيرةً قرابينَ اليَجْنَة مع السوتا؛ وإذ عشتُ بينهم أتممتُ كذلك طقوسًا عديدة من عادات الأسرة، بما فيها مراسم الخطبة والزواج. وهكذا ارتبطت حياتي بهم، في الواجب الديني وفي السلوك الاجتماعي معًا.»
कर्ण उवाच
Karna frames dharma not only as abstract virtue but as lived obligation shaped by one’s community and shared rites. By emphasizing sacrifices and family ceremonies performed with the sūtas, he argues that long-standing social bonds and ritual participation create moral commitments that cannot be casually renounced.
In Udyoga Parva, amid negotiations and rising tensions before the war, Karna speaks about his life-associations. He recalls that he has repeatedly performed sacrifices and customary household rites—betrothal and marriage-related ceremonies—together with the sūtas, underscoring his embeddedness among them and the loyalty and identity that follow from that shared life.