Shloka 8
'जो प्रदेश हिमालय, गंगा, सरस्वती, यमुना और कुरक्षेत्रकी सीमासे बाहर हैं तथा जो सतलज, व्यास, रावी, चिनाव और झेलम--इन पाँचों एवं छठी सिंधु नदीके बीचमें स्थित हैं, उन्हें बाहीक कहते हैं। वे धर्मबाह्म और अपवित्र हैं। उन्हें त्याग देना चाहिये ।। गोवर्धनो नाम वट: सुभद्रंं नाम चत्वरम् । एतद् राजकुलद्वारमाकुमारात् स्मराम्यहम्,“गोवर्धन नामक वटवृक्ष और सुभद्र नामक चबूतरा--ये दोनों वहाँके राजभवनके द्वारपर स्थित हैं, जिन्हें मैं बचपनसे ही भूल नहीं पाता हूँ
yo pradeśaḥ himālaya-gaṅgā-sarasvatī-yamunā-kurukṣetra-sīmābhyaḥ bahiḥ santi tathā yaḥ śatadru-vipāśā-irāvatī-candrabhāgā-vitastā—etāsu pañcasu nadīṣu ṣaṣṭhyā sindhunā ca madhye sthitāḥ, te bāhīkāḥ ucyante | te dharmabāhyāḥ apavitrāś ca; tān tyaktavyān iti || govardhano nāma vaṭaḥ, subhadraṃ nāma catvaram | etad rāja-kula-dvāram ā-kumārāt smarāmy aham ||
Karna said: “Those regions that lie outside the bounds marked by the Himalaya and the rivers Gaṅgā, Sarasvatī, Yamunā, and the sacred field of Kurukṣetra—and those lands situated between the five rivers Śatadru (Sutlej), Vipāśā (Beas), Irāvatī (Ravi), Candrabhāgā (Chenab), Vitastā (Jhelum) and the sixth river Sindhu (Indus)—are called Bāhīka. Their ways stand outside dharma and are deemed impure; therefore they should be abandoned. And I still remember from my very childhood the royal gateway there: the banyan called Govardhana and the platform named Subhadrā that stood at its entrance.”
कर्ण उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames dharma as tied to sacred geography and social-ritual norms, using the label “dharmabāhya/apavitra” to argue for avoidance of certain regions/peoples. Ethically, it illustrates how war-time speech can weaponize purity and regional identity to justify exclusion.
Karna is speaking and defines the “Bāhīka” territory by its location between the Punjab rivers and the Sindhu, outside the sacred heartland boundaries. He then recalls specific landmarks at a royal gateway—Govardhana the banyan and Subhadrā the platform—showing personal memory intertwined with his denunciation.