Shloka 45
कर्णपरर्वणि त्रयोचत्वारिंशदध्यायः (Karṇa-parva Adhyāya 43) — Kṛṣṇa’s Battlefield Assessment and the Reversal Around Bhīma
आरट्टा नाम ते देशा वाहीकं॑ नाम तज्जलम् | ब्राह्मणापसदा यत्र तुल्यकाला: प्रजापते:,जहाँ ब्रह्माजीके समकालीन (अत्यन्त प्राचीन) वेदविरुद्ध आचरणवाले नीच ब्राह्मण निवास करते हैं, वे आरट्ट नामक देश हैं और वहाँके जलका नाम बाहीक है
āraṭṭā nāma te deśā vāhīkaṃ nāma taj jalam | brāhmaṇāpasadā yatra tulyakālāḥ prajāpateḥ ||
Karna said: “Those lands are called Āraṭṭa, and the water there is known as Vāhīka. In that region dwell degraded Brahmins—men who act against the Veda—said to be as ancient as Prajāpati’s own age.”
कर्ण उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores a dharmic critique framed through Vedic norms: merely bearing a revered social identity (Brahmin) is not sufficient—conduct aligned with the Veda is treated as the true measure; deviation is condemned as moral and social ‘fallenness’ (apasada).
Karna is speaking polemically, identifying a region (Āraṭṭa) and its water (Vāhīka) while disparaging the inhabitants as ‘degraded Brahmins’ with Veda-opposed behavior, using antiquity (linked to Prajāpati’s age) to intensify the denunciation.