Shloka 8
कर्ण–कृष्णसंवादः (Karṇa–Kṛṣṇa-saṃvādaḥ) — Karṇa’s Statement on Lineage, Loyalty, and the ‘Śastra-yajña’ Metaphor
कानीनश्न सहोढश्ष कन्यायां यक्ष जायते । वोढारं पितरं तस्य प्राहुः शास्त्रविदो जना:,कर्ण! कन्याके गर्भसे जो पुत्र उत्पन्न होता है, उसके दो भेद बताये जाते हैं--कानीन और सहोढ। (जो विवाहसे पहले उत्पन्न होता है, वह कानीन है और जो विवाहके पहले गर्भमें आकर विवाहके बाद उत्पन्न होता है, वह सहोढ कहलाता है।) वैसे पुत्रकी माताका जिसके साथ विवाह होता है, शास्त्रज्ञोंने उसीको उसका पिता बताया है
kānīnaś ca sahoḍhaś ca kanyāyāṃ yakṣa jāyate | voḍhāraṃ pitaraṃ tasya prāhuḥ śāstravido janāḥ karṇa |
Vāyu said: “O Yakṣa, when a son is born from an unmarried maiden, he is described as of two kinds—kānīna and sahoḍha. The learned authorities in the śāstras declare that the man who marries the mother is to be regarded as that child’s father, O Karṇa.”
वायुदेव उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse distinguishes two dharma-śāstric categories of sons connected with pre-marital conception/birth (kānīna and sahoḍha) and asserts a normative rule of social/legal fatherhood: the man who marries the mother is recognized as the father.
Vāyudeva addresses the Yakṣa and also speaks to Karṇa, explaining scriptural classifications of birth and the principle by which paternity is assigned, framing questions of lineage and legitimacy within śāstric authority.