Shloka 42
“वहाँ भी तो महात्मा भीमसेन, अर्जुन और नकुल-सहदेवने ही मिलकर उन गन्धर्वोंको परास्त किया था ।। एतान्यस्य मृषोक्तानि बहूनि भरतर्षभ | विकत्थनस्य भद्रं ते सदा धर्मार्थलोपिन:,“भरतश्रेष्ठ! तुम्हारा भला हो। यह कर्ण व्यर्थ ही शेखी बघारता रहता है। इसकी कही हुई बहुत-सी बातें इसी तरह झूठी हैं। यह तो धर्म और अर्थ--दोनोंका ही लोप करनेवाला है
vaiśampāyana uvāca | tatra api tu mahātmā bhīmasenaḥ arjunaḥ nakula-sahadevau ca eva militvā tān gandharvān parājitavantaḥ || etāni asya mṛṣoktāni bahūni bharatarṣabha | vikatthanasya bhadraṃ te sadā dharmārtha-lopinaḥ ||
Vaiśampāyana said: “Even there, it was the great-souled Bhīmasena, Arjuna, and Nakula–Sahadeva together who overcame those Gandharvas. Many statements of his are false in this very way, O bull among the Bharatas. Blessings upon you: this Karṇa is ever given to empty boasting, and his conduct tends to undermine both dharma and artha.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Empty boasting and false self-praise are ethically corrosive: they distort truth, inflame conflict, and ultimately erode both dharma (righteous order) and artha (stable welfare and polity).
Vaiśampāyana recalls an earlier incident where the Pāṇḍavas—Bhīma, Arjuna, and the twins Nakula and Sahadeva—together defeated the Gandharvas, and he uses this to expose Karṇa’s claims as exaggerated or false, characterizing him as a habitual boaster who harms dharma and artha.