Shloka 27
Aśvatthāman’s Arrow-Screen and the Confrontation with Yudhiṣṭhira (द्रौणि–युधिष्ठिर-संग्रामः)
येषां गृहेष्वशिष्टानां सक्तुमत्स्याशिनां तथा । पीत्वा सीधु सगोमांसं क्रन्दन्ति च हसन्ति च
yeṣāṃ gṛheṣv aśiṣṭānāṃ saktumatsyāśināṃ tathā | pītvā sīdhu sa-gomāṃsaṃ krandanti ca hasanti ca ||
Karna berkata: “Di rumah orang yang tidak beradab—yang hidup dengan makanan kasar seperti bubur barli dan ikan—setelah meneguk arak yang diperam dan memakan daging lembu, mereka meratap dan ketawa dalam satu nafas yang sama.”
कर्ण उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames ethical judgment through the lens of āchāra (conduct): lack of refinement is portrayed as leading to loss of self-control and emotional instability (crying and laughing indiscriminately), especially under intoxication and indulgence. It also shows how moral language can be used rhetorically to shame opponents.
Karna is speaking in a heated context and disparages a group by describing their household habits—coarse food, fish, liquor, and beef—and their behavior after drinking. The line functions as a polemical insult, intensifying hostility in the war narrative.