Shloka 283
कर्णपरर्वणि त्रयोचत्वारिंशदध्यायः (Karṇa-parva Adhyāya 43) — Kṛṣṇa’s Battlefield Assessment and the Reversal Around Bhīma
ऐडं च ये न खादन्ति तेषां जन्म निरर्थकम् । “जो सूअर, मुर्गा, गाय, गदहा, ऊँट और भेड़के मांस नहीं खाते, उनका जन्म व्यर्थ है!
aiḍaṃ ca ye na khādanti teṣāṃ janma nirarthakam |
പന്നി, കോഴി, പശു, കഴുത, ഒട്ടകം, ആട് എന്നിവയുടെ മാംസം ഭക്ഷിക്കാത്തവരുടെ ജന്മം വ്യർത്ഥം.
कर्ण उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse illustrates a polemical, coercive ethic: it tries to define human worth through conformity to a particular practice (here, eating certain foods). Read critically, it highlights how shame-based rhetoric can be used in the epic to pressure behavior, contrasting with broader Mahabharata ideals that ground value in dharma, restraint, and right intention.
Karna is speaking in a charged wartime setting and uses a cutting generalization to provoke or harden resolve. The statement functions more as aggressive persuasion than as a balanced dharmic instruction.