Shloka 19
पूज्यमाने पुरा धर्मे सर्वदेशेषु शाश्वते । धर्म पाज्चनदं दृष्टवा धिगित्याह पितामह:,पूर्वकालमें समस्त देशोंमें प्रचलित सनातन धर्मकी जब प्रशंसा की जा रही थी, उस समय ब्रह्माजीने पंचनदवासियोंके धर्मपर दृष्टिपात करके कहा था कि '“धिक्कार है इन्हें!”
pūjyamāne purā dharme sarvadeśeṣu śāśvate | dharmaṃ pāñcanadaṃ dṛṣṭvā dhig ity āha pitāmahaḥ ||
Karna said: “In former times, when the eternal Dharma was honored throughout all lands, the Grandsire (Brahmā), casting his gaze upon the Dharma of the people of Pañcanada, declared, ‘Shame upon them!’”
कर्ण उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames Dharma as a universal, time-tested standard and uses Brahmā’s censure to warn that local or sectarian practices can be judged blameworthy when they deviate from the broader, ‘eternal’ moral order.
Karna cites an ancient precedent: at a time when Dharma was celebrated everywhere, Brahmā looked at the practices of the Pañcanada people and uttered a sharp condemnation (“dhik”), using this as rhetorical support in his ongoing argument.