Shloka 23
कर्णेन सैन्यस्थापनं तथा नानायुद्धसमवायः
Karna Reforms the Host and Multiple Duels Converge
क्षत्रियस्य मल भैक्ष्यं ब्राह्मणस्याश्रुतं मलम् मलं॑ पृथिव्यां वाहीका: स्त्रीणां मद्रस्त्रियो मलम्
kṣatriyasya malaṃ bhaikṣyaṃ brāhmaṇasyāśrutaṃ malam | malaṃ pṛthivyāṃ vāhīkāḥ strīṇāṃ madrastriyo malam ||
Wika ni Karna: “Para sa isang kṣatriya, ang dungis (mala) ay ang mabuhay sa limos. Para sa isang brāhmaṇa, ang dungis ay ang asal na salungat sa narinig sa Veda at sa banal na aral. Ang dungis sa ibabaw ng lupa ay ang mga Vāhīka, at ang dungis sa mga babae ay ang mga babae ng Madra.”
कर्ण उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse asserts that each social role has a defining dharma, and the deepest ‘stain’ is what most contradicts that role: a kshatriya abandoning self-reliant warrior duty for alms, and a brahmin acting against śruti-based discipline. However, the latter half shifts from ethical principle to wartime invective, showing how moral language can be used as a weapon to shame groups and opponents.
In the Karna Parva’s battle context, Karna is speaking in a confrontational tone. He delivers a biting list of ‘disgraces’ to demean certain peoples and, by implication, those associated with them—reflecting the escalating hostility and rhetorical aggression typical of the war books.