Shloka 25
मानुषाणां मल म्लेच्छा म्लेच्छानां शौण्डिका मलम् | शौण्डिकानां मलं षण्ढा: षण्ढानां राजयाजका:,“मनुष्योंके मल हैं म्लेच्छ, म्लेच्छोंके मल हैं शराब बेचनेवाले कलाल, कलालोंके मल हैं हींजड़े और हींजड़ोंके मल हैं राजपुरोहित
mānuṣāṇāṃ mala mlecchā mlecchānāṃ śauṇḍikā malam | śauṇḍikānāṃ malaṃ ṣaṇḍhāḥ ṣaṇḍhānāṃ rājayājakāḥ ||
Karna said: “Among humans, the outcaste is the ‘mleccha’; among mlecchas, the lowest are liquor-sellers; among liquor-sellers, the lowest are eunuchs; and among eunuchs, the lowest are those who serve as royal priests.”
कर्ण उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse primarily illustrates how abusive speech and social prejudice are deployed as weapons in conflict. Ethically, it serves as a negative example: dharma is compromised when one relies on contempt and dehumanizing hierarchy to attack others.
In the Karna Parva battle setting, Karna speaks in a taunting, derogatory manner, using a graded list of groups to intensify insult. The line functions as rhetorical provocation within the war dialogue rather than as a neutral social doctrine.