Shloka 9
कर्णपरर्वणि त्रयोचत्वारिंशदध्यायः (Karṇa-parva Adhyāya 43) — Kṛṣṇa’s Battlefield Assessment and the Reversal Around Bhīma
कार्येणात्यर्थगूढेन वाहीकेपूषितं मया । तत एषां समाचार: संवासाद् विदितो मम,“मैं अत्यन्त गुप्त कार्यवश कुछ दिनोंतक बाहीक देशमें रहा था। इससे वहाँके निवासियोंके सम्पर्कमें आकर मैंने उनके आचार-व्यवहारकी बहुत-सी बातें जान ली थीं
kāryeṇātyarthagūḍhena vāhīke pūṣitaṃ mayā | tata eṣāṃ samācāraḥ saṃvāsād vidito mama ||
Karna said: “On account of a certain mission that had to be kept extremely secret, I lived for some days in the land of the Vāhīkas. Therefore, through close association and residence among them, their customary conduct and ways became known to me.”
कर्ण उवाच
Educational Q&A
Karna grounds his claims in direct experience: ethical or social judgments should be based on close observation and lived contact (saṃvāsa), not mere hearsay—though such testimony can also be used rhetorically to persuade in a wartime context.
Karna explains that he once stayed in the Vāhīka region on a highly confidential assignment; because he lived among the people there, he learned their customary behavior firsthand and now cites that knowledge in his speech.