Shloka 9
कर्णपरर्वणि त्रयोचत्वारिंशदध्यायः (Karṇa-parva Adhyāya 43) — Kṛṣṇa’s Battlefield Assessment and the Reversal Around Bhīma
कार्येणात्यर्थगूढेन वाहीकेपूषितं मया । तत एषां समाचार: संवासाद् विदितो मम
kāryeṇātyarthagūḍhena vāhīke pūṣitaṃ mayā | tata eṣāṃ samācāraḥ saṃvāsād vidito mama ||
কর্ণ বললেন—“অত্যন্ত গোপন এক কাজের কারণে আমি কিছুদিন বাহীকদের দেশে ছিলাম; তাই তাদের সঙ্গে বাস ও সান্নিধ্যের ফলে তাদের আচার-ব্যবহার আমার জানা হয়ে গেছে।”
कर्ण उवाच
Educational Q&A
Karna grounds his claims in direct experience: ethical or social judgments should be based on close observation and lived contact (saṃvāsa), not mere hearsay—though such testimony can also be used rhetorically to persuade in a wartime context.
Karna explains that he once stayed in the Vāhīka region on a highly confidential assignment; because he lived among the people there, he learned their customary behavior firsthand and now cites that knowledge in his speech.