Shloka 12
कर्णेन सैन्यस्थापनं तथा नानायुद्धसमवायः
Karna Reforms the Host and Multiple Duels Converge
बालां बन्धुमतीं यन्मामधर्मेणोपगच्छथ । तस्मान्नार्यों भविष्यन्ति बन्धक्यो वै कुलस्य च
bālāṃ bandhumatīṃ yan mām adharmeṇopagacchatha | tasmān nāryo bhaviṣyanti bandhakyo vai kulasya ca ||
Karna sprach: „Weil ihr mich in unrechter, dem Dharma widersprechender Weise wegen eines jungen Mädchens angeht, das unter Schutz steht und durch Familienbande gebunden ist, darum sollen auch die Frauen eures Hauses zu Gefangenen werden.“
कर्ण उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames unethical aggression—especially involving a protected young woman—as a grave breach of dharma that invites reciprocal suffering. It reflects the epic’s moral logic that adharma in dealing with the vulnerable rebounds upon one’s own household.
Karna speaks in anger and condemnation, accusing his opponents of acting adharma by ‘approaching/assailing’ him in connection with a young woman under family protection, and he utters a retaliatory prediction/curse that their women will likewise become captives.