Shloka 159
कर्णेन युधिष्ठिरानीकविदारणम् / Karṇa’s Breach of Yudhiṣṭhira’s Battle-Line
नापि सूतकुले जात॑ कर्ण मन््ये कथंचन
nāpi sūtakule jātaṁ karṇa manye kathaṁcana | rājan! naiva me viśvāsaḥ kathaṁcid atra vartate yat karṇaḥ sūtakule samutpannaḥ | tam ahaṁ kṣatriyakule jātaṁ devaputram iva manye | mama tu viśvāsa eṣaḥ—tasya mātā svaguhyarahasyaṁ gopayituṁ tathā cainaṁ anyakulabālaka iti vikhyāpayituṁ sūtakule parityajya sthāpayām āsa ||
Dijo Duryodhana: «Karna, de ningún modo creo que hayas nacido en un linaje de aurigas, entre los Sūtas. Oh rey, no puedo aceptar esa afirmación en absoluto. Te considero un hijo de origen divino, nacido en una casa de kṣatriyas. Esta es mi convicción: tu madre, para ocultar su secreto y para que fueras conocido como hijo de otra familia, debió abandonarte entre los Sūtas.»
दुर्योधन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage highlights how social identity and honor are contested in epic ethics: Duryodhana rejects a stigmatized birth-label for Karna and asserts a nobler origin, showing how loyalty and political alliance can reshape narratives of status—yet also revealing the Mahabharata’s tension between birth-based hierarchy and personal worth.
In the Karna Parva war setting, Duryodhana speaks to affirm Karna’s dignity and legitimacy. He denies that Karna is truly of Sūta birth and proposes that Karna’s mother hid her secret by abandoning him among the Sūtas, thereby explaining Karna’s public reputation while elevating him as Kshatriya/divine-born.