Shloka 426
Aśvatthāman’s Arrow-Screen and the Confrontation with Yudhiṣṭhira (द्रौणि–युधिष्ठिर-संग्रामः)
पापदेशोद्धवा म्लेच्छा धर्माणामविचक्षणा: । मद्र तथा सिन्धु-सौवीर देशके लोग पापपूर्ण देशमें उत्पन्न हुए म्लेच्छ हैं। उन्हें धर्म- कर्मका पता नहीं है। वे इस जगतमें धर्मकी बातें कैसे समझ सकते हैं?
pāpadeśodbhavā mlecchā dharmāṇām avicakṣaṇāḥ | madra tathā sindhu-sauvīra-deśake lokāḥ pāpapūrṇa-deśe utpannāḥ mlecchāḥ santi | tebhyo dharma-karmāṇāṃ jñānaṃ nāsti | te ’smin jagati dharmasya kathāḥ kathaṃ vijānīyuḥ ||
Karna said: “Those born in sinful lands are mlecchas, lacking discernment in matters of dharma. The people of Madra, and of the Sindhu–Sauvīra region, are mlecchas born in lands filled with wrongdoing. They do not know what righteous conduct is; how, then, could they understand the language and principles of dharma in this world?”
कर्ण उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames dharma as requiring discernment and proper ethical formation; Karna argues that those he labels as culturally ‘outside’ and morally untrained cannot grasp dharma. It illustrates how appeals to dharma can be used rhetorically to delegitimize opponents.
In the Karna Parva war context, Karna delivers a disparaging characterization of certain regions/peoples (Madra, Sindhu, Sauvīra), calling them mlecchas and claiming they lack knowledge of dharma, thereby undermining their moral authority.