Shloka 14
कर्णपर्व — अध्याय ४०
Karṇa’s Pressure on the Pāñcālas; Duryodhana Disabled; Arjuna’s Counter-Advance
मांसौदनं दधि क्षीरं पायसं मधुसर्पिषी । वैश्यके बालक उस कौएको सदा मांस, भात, दही, दूध, खीर, मधु और घी आदि दिया करते थे ।। १३ ह || सचोच्छिष्टभूत: काको वैश्यपुत्रै: कुमारकै:
māṃsaudanaṃ dadhi kṣīraṃ pāyasaṃ madhusarpiṣī | satocchiṣṭabhūtaḥ kāko vaiśyaputraiḥ kumārakaiḥ ||
संजय म्हणाला—वैश्यपुत्र ते कुमारक त्या कावळ्याला नेहमी मांस, भात, दही, दूध, खीर, मधु आणि तूप देत; त्यामुळे तो कावळा त्यांच्या उच्छिष्टावरच जगणारा झाला.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse uses a simple image—boys repeatedly feeding a crow rich foods—to suggest how repeated indulgence and dependence on easy gains can shape behavior and weaken restraint, a moral lens often applied to human choices in the epic.
Sanjaya describes a crow that is regularly fed by young vaiśya boys with various rich foods (meat, rice, dairy, sweets, honey, ghee), portraying the bird as living on their continual leavings.