Shloka 46
कर्णपरर्वणि त्रयोचत्वारिंशदध्यायः (Karṇa-parva Adhyāya 43) — Kṛṣṇa’s Battlefield Assessment and the Reversal Around Bhīma
वेदा न तेषां वेद्यक्ष॒ यज्ञा यजनमेव च । व्रात्यानां दासमीयानामन्नं देवा न भुज्जते,उन अधम ब्राह्मणोंको न तो वेदोंका ज्ञान है, न वहाँ यज्ञकी वेदियाँ हैं और न उनके यहाँ यज्ञ-याग ही होते हैं। वे संस्कारहीन एवं दासोंसे समागम करनेवाली कुलटा स्त्रियोंकी संतानें हैं; अत: देवता उनका अन्न नहीं ग्रहण करते हैं
vedā na teṣāṁ vedyakṣa yajñā yajñam eva ca | vrātyānāṁ dāsamīyānām annaṁ devā na bhuñjate ||
Karna said: “Among them there is no knowledge of the Vedas, no sacred altars fit for Vedic rites, and no true performance of sacrifice. Being born of the uninitiated and of women who consort with slaves, their food is not accepted by the gods.”
कर्ण उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse illustrates how ritual legitimacy and Vedic initiation are invoked as markers of religious and social authority; it also shows the ethical tension in the epic where such claims can be weaponized as condemnation, equating divine acceptance with conformity to Vedic norms.
In Karna Parva, Karna is speaking amid the battlefield discourse and uses sharp denunciation to discredit a group by alleging lack of Vedic knowledge and sacrifice, asserting that even the gods reject their offerings—an example of ideological attack within war-time rhetoric.