Shloka 7
कर्णपरर्वणि त्रयोचत्वारिंशदध्यायः (Karṇa-parva Adhyāya 43) — Kṛṣṇa’s Battlefield Assessment and the Reversal Around Bhīma
पज्चानां सिन्धुषष्ठानां नदीनां येडन्तराश्रिता: । तान् धर्मबाह्यानशुचीन् वाहीकानपि वर्जयेत्
pañcānāṃ sindhu-ṣaṣṭhānāṃ nadīnāṃ ye 'ntarāśritāḥ | tān dharma-bāhyān aśucīn vāhīkān api varjayet ||
Karna disse: “Aqueles que habitam a faixa entre os cinco rios—contando o Sindhu como o sexto—são tidos como fora dos limites do dharma e impuros; por isso, deve-se evitar até mesmo os Vāhīkas.”
कर्ण उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames a normative warning: association should be guided by dharma, and those portrayed as ‘outside dharma’ and ‘impure’ are to be avoided. It reflects epic-era moral and ritual categories used to judge communities, emphasizing social boundaries rather than universal inclusion.
In Karna Parva, Karna is speaking amid the war narrative and delivers a pointed characterization of the Vāhīkas—people said to live between the five rivers (with Sindhu as the sixth). The statement functions as a rhetorical denunciation within his speech, marking certain groups as blameworthy and socially avoidable.