Shloka 363
कर्णपरर्वणि त्रयोचत्वारिंशदध्यायः (Karṇa-parva Adhyāya 43) — Kṛṣṇa’s Battlefield Assessment and the Reversal Around Bhīma
तद्विकारांश्व वाहीका: खादन्ति च पिबन्ति च | किसी दिद्वान् ब्राह्मणने साधु पुरुषोंकी सभामें यह भी कहा था कि “बाहीक देशके लोग काठके कुण्डों तथा मिट्टीके बर्तनोंमें जहाँ सत्तू और मदिरा लिपटे होते हैं और जिन्हें कुत्ते चाटते रहते हैं
tadvikārāṃś ca vāhīkāḥ khādanti ca pibanti ca |
Karna diz que os Vāhīkas, sem qualquer pudor, comem e bebem até coisas tão impuras e degradadas. Um brâmane erudito também declarou na assembleia dos homens virtuosos: “Os do país de Bāhlīka alimentam-se sem repugnância em cochos de madeira e vasos de barro, cobertos de sattu e de bebida alcoólica, que os cães lambem continuamente. Os habitantes de Bāhlīka bebem leite de ovelha, de camela e de burra, e comem também coalhada (dahi), ghee e outros alimentos feitos desse mesmo leite.”
कर्ण उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse illustrates how contempt and purity-based rhetoric can be weaponized in conflict: Karna frames an entire community as shameless and impure to delegitimize them. Ethically, it serves as a cautionary example of moral othering and the degradation of discourse during war.
In Karṇa Parva, Karna is speaking harshly about the Vāhīkas, asserting that they eat and drink degraded ‘products’ (vikāras). The surrounding prose in the Gītā Press edition expands this into a broader denunciation of their food and drink habits to portray them as socially and ritually fallen.