Shloka 160
कर्णेन युधिष्ठिरानीकविदारणम् / Karṇa’s Breach of Yudhiṣṭhira’s Battle-Line
देवपुत्रमहं मन्ये क्षत्रियाणां कुलोद्धवम् | विसृष्टमवबोधार्थ कुलस्थेति मतिर्मम
devaputram ahaṃ manye kṣatriyāṇāṃ kulodbhavam | visṛṣṭam avabodhārthaṃ kulastheti matir mama, rājan |
Duryodhana berkata: “Aku memandangnya sebagai putera dewa, lahir daripada keturunan Kṣatriya. Wahai raja, inilah keyakinanku: dia sengaja ditinggalkan agar orang menyangka dia berasal daripada rumah tangga yang lain—supaya kebenaran tidak dikenali.”
दुर्योधन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how claims of birth and lineage are used to confer honor and legitimacy; Duryodhana frames Karna’s worth as inherently Kṣatriya/divine, challenging social stigma attached to the sūta identity and using lineage as an ethical-political argument for respect.
Duryodhana argues before the king that Karna is not truly of the sūta community; he insists Karna is divinely born in a Kṣatriya line and suggests he was intentionally abandoned to conceal the mother’s secret and make him appear to belong to another family.