Shloka 173

कर्णभीमसमागमः | Karṇa–Bhīma Encounter

Devanagari script

उक्तश्न संज्ञया राजन्‌ मूढ औदरिको यथा । “राजन! बलवान्‌ भीमसेनको भी इसने अपने धनुषकी कोटिसे दबाकर युद्धके लिये प्रेरित किया था और उन्हें मूर्ख, पेटू आदि नामोंसे पुकारा था

Transliteration

uktaś ca saṃjñayā rājan mūḍha audariko yathā |

Translation

ಸಂಜಯನು ಹೇಳಿದನು— “ರಾಜನೇ! ಅವನು ಅವನನ್ನು ‘ಮೂಢ’ ‘ಔದರಿಕ’ (ಪೆಟ್ಟುಗ) ಎಂದು ಅವಮಾನಕಾರಿ ಉಪನಾಮಗಳಿಂದ ಕರೆದನು—ಅಜ್ಞಾನಿ, ಹೊಟ್ಟೆಪರಾಯಣನನ್ನು ಹಾಸ್ಯಮಾಡುವಂತೆ.”

Word by Word

• उक्तश्न: one who eats what is said/given (a dependent eater); (as an epithet)
• उक्तश्न: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: उक्तश्न (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• संज्ञया: by a name/epithet
• संज्ञया: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: संज्ञा (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Feminine, Instrumental, Singular

• राजन्: O king
• राजन्: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: राजन् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Vocative, Singular

• मूढः: deluded, foolish
• मूढः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: मूढ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• औदरिकः: gluttonous, belly-minded
• औदरिकः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: औदरिक (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• यथा: as, like
• यथा: Adhikarana
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: यथा

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• Dhṛtarāṣṭra

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights the ethical weight of speech: derisive labeling and contemptuous name-calling are used as weapons, revealing how verbal aggression can degrade dharma and inflame hostility even amid a kṣatriya war.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that a warrior is being provoked and demeaned through insulting epithets—‘fool’ and ‘glutton’—a tactic meant to shame, unsettle, and spur him into combat.