Shloka 35
कर्णपरर्वणि त्रयोचत्वारिंशदध्यायः (Karṇa-parva Adhyāya 43) — Kṛṣṇa’s Battlefield Assessment and the Reversal Around Bhīma
ब्राह्मणेन तथा प्रोक्त विदुषा साधुसंसदि । काष्ठकुण्डेषु वाहीका मृन्मयेषु च भुज्जते,तद्विकारांश्व वाहीका: खादन्ति च पिबन्ति च | किसी दिद्वान् ब्राह्मणने साधु पुरुषोंकी सभामें यह भी कहा था कि “बाहीक देशके लोग काठके कुण्डों तथा मिट्टीके बर्तनोंमें जहाँ सत्तू और मदिरा लिपटे होते हैं और जिन्हें कुत्ते चाटते रहते हैं, घृणाशून्य होकर भोजन करते हैं। बाहीक देशके निवासी भेड़, ऊँटनी और गदहीके दूध पीते और उसी दूधके बने हुए दही-घी आदि भी खाते हैं
brāhmaṇena tathā proktaṃ viduṣā sādhusaṃsadi | kāṣṭhakuṇḍeṣu vāhīkā mṛṇmayeṣu ca bhuñjate, tadvikārāṃś ca vāhīkāḥ khādanti ca pibanti ca |
Karna said: “So it was declared by a learned Brahmin in an assembly of the virtuous: the Vāhīkas eat from wooden troughs and earthen vessels; and the Vāhīkas also eat and drink those impure remnants and derivatives.”
कर्ण उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse illustrates how ‘authoritative’ testimony can be invoked to justify contempt toward a group; ethically, it warns that harsh, stigmatizing speech—especially in wartime—can become a tool of adharma even when framed as learned opinion.
Karna is speaking and cites a learned Brahmin’s statement made in a virtuous assembly to disparage the Vāhīkas, describing their eating and drinking practices in a deliberately degrading manner as part of his broader rhetoric in the conflict.