Shloka 10
कर्णपरर्वणि त्रयोचत्वारिंशदध्यायः (Karṇa-parva Adhyāya 43) — Kṛṣṇa’s Battlefield Assessment and the Reversal Around Bhīma
शाकलं नाम नगरमापगा नाम निम्नगा | जर्तिका नाम वाहीकास्तेषां वृत्तं सुनिन्दितम्,“वहाँ शाकल नामक एक नगर और आपगा नामकी एक नदी है, जहाँ जर्तिक नामवाले बाहीक निवास करते हैं। उनका चरित्र अत्यन्त निन्दित है
śākalaṃ nāma nagaram āpagā nāma nimnagā | jartikā nāma vāhīkās teṣāṃ vṛttaṃ suninditam ||
Karna said: “There is a city called Śākala and a river called Āpagā. There dwell the Vāhīkas known as the Jartikās; their conduct is held to be deeply blameworthy.” In context, the statement functions as a moral denunciation used to stigmatize a people and their customs, sharpening Karna’s rhetoric amid the harsh ethical atmosphere of wartime speech.
कर्ण उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse illustrates how moral language (praise/blame) can be deployed rhetorically to mark communities as ‘virtuous’ or ‘degraded.’ It invites reflection on ethical judgment, prejudice, and the use of condemnation as a weapon in contentious discourse.
Karna is speaking and points to a specific city and river as the locale of the Vāhīkas called Jartikās, then declares their way of life to be highly censured—part of a broader denunciatory passage characterizing certain peoples and customs.