Shloka 12

Devanagari script

गायन्त्यथ च नृत्यन्ति स्त्रियो मत्ता विवासस: । नगरागारवप्रेषु बहिर्माल्यानुलेपना:,“वहाँकी स्त्रियाँ बाहर दिखायी देनेवाली माला और अंगराग धारण करके मतवाली तथा नंगी होकर नगर एवं घरोंकी चहारदिवारियोंके पास गाती और नाचती हैं

Transliteration

gāyanty atha ca nṛtyanti striyo mattā vivāsasaḥ | nagarāgāravapreṣu bahirmālyānulepanāḥ ||

Translation

అక్కడి స్త్రీలు మత్తులో, వస్త్రరహితులై, నగర ప్రాకారాల దగ్గరా ఇళ్ల గోడల దగ్గరా పాడుతూ నర్తిస్తారు; బయటే పూలమాలలు, సుగంధ లేపనాలు ధరించి కనిపిస్తారు.

Word by Word

गायन्तिthey sing

अथthen/and

चand

नृत्यन्तिthey dance

स्त्रियःwomen

मत्ताःintoxicated/maddened

विवाससःunclothed/without garments

नगरof the city

आगारof houses/dwellings

वप्रेषुon/at the ramparts/outer walls

बहिःoutside

माल्यgarlands

अनुलेपनाःsmeared/anointed (with unguents)

Speaker

कर्ण उवाच

Characters & Entities

Karna

women (striyaḥ)

city (nagara)

houses (āgāra)

ramparts/fortifications (vapa)

garlands (mālya)

unguents/perfumes (anulepana)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse functions as a moral and social critique: public intoxication, immodesty, and unrestrained revelry are presented as signs of a community that has lost decorum (maryādā) and ethical restraint—an evaluative lens often used in the epic to judge the health of a polity and its adherence to dharma.

What is happening in the narrative?

Karna is describing what is seen in a particular place: women, openly adorned with garlands and perfumes, are outside near city and house walls, singing and dancing while intoxicated and unclothed. The description is meant to characterize the environment as disorderly and morally compromised.