Shloka 8
कर्णेन सैन्यस्थापनं तथा नानायुद्धसमवायः
Karna Reforms the Host and Multiple Duels Converge
भवन्त्येककुले विप्रा: प्रसृष्टा: कामचारिण: । गान्धारा मद्रकाश्नैव वाहीकाक्षाल्पचेतस:
bhavanty ekakule viprāḥ prasṛṣṭāḥ kāmacāriṇaḥ | gāndhārā madrakāś caiva vāhīkāś cālpacetasāḥ ||
Karna sprach: „In ein und derselben Linie können Brahmanen entstehen, und ebenso andere, die zügellos, dem bloßen Begehren folgend, gemischte Nachkommenschaft zeugen. Auch die Menschen von Gandhāra, Madra und Vāhīka sind von geringem Urteilsvermögen.“
कर्ण उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse illustrates how polemical speech in the epic links moral restraint (self-control) with social order (lineage and conduct), using sweeping generalizations to condemn perceived lack of discipline and discernment; ethically, it serves as an example of harsh, prejudicial rhetoric rather than a universal moral rule.
In the midst of the Karṇa Parva battle context, Karna speaks in a derisive tone, asserting that within a single family different social types may arise and then disparaging certain regions—Gandhāra, Madra, and Vāhīka—as lacking good judgment, as part of verbal aggression and psychological warfare.