Shloka 16
कर्णपरर्वणि त्रयोचत्वारिंशदध्यायः (Karṇa-parva Adhyāya 43) — Kṛṣṇa’s Battlefield Assessment and the Reversal Around Bhīma
कश्चिद् वाहीकदुष्टानां नातिहृष्टमना जगौ । उन्हीं बाहीकदेशी मदमत्त एवं दुष्ट स्त्रियोंका कोई सम्बन्धी वहाँसे आकर कुरुजांगल प्रदेशमें निवास करता था। वह अत्यन्त खिन्नचित्त होकर इस प्रकार गुनगुनाया करता था -- १५३ || सा नूनं बृहती गौरी सूक्ष्मकम्बलवासिनी
kaścid vāhīkaduṣṭānāṁ nātihṛṣṭamanā jagau |
Karna said: “Someone connected with those depraved people of Vāhīka, his mind far from cheerful, uttered (these words) in a low, murmuring manner.” The line frames a moral critique: the speaker introduces a lament that arises from disgust and sorrow at corrupt conduct, preparing the listener for an ethical condemnation of a region’s degraded customs.
कर्ण उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse sets up an ethical lens: when society is marked by corruption, a sensitive observer responds with inner heaviness rather than delight, and truthful speech may arise as lament or critique rather than celebration.
Karna introduces a dejected person connected with the Vāhīkas who ‘murmurs’ a statement; this functions as a narrative preface to a longer denunciation or description that follows in subsequent lines.