Shloka 160
कर्णेन युधिष्ठिरानीकविदारणम् / Karṇa’s Breach of Yudhiṣṭhira’s Battle-Line
देवपुत्रमहं मन्ये क्षत्रियाणां कुलोद्धवम् | विसृष्टमवबोधार्थ कुलस्थेति मतिर्मम
devaputram ahaṃ manye kṣatriyāṇāṃ kulodbhavam | visṛṣṭam avabodhārthaṃ kulastheti matir mama, rājan |
دُریودھن نے کہا—“میں اسے کشتریوں کے کُل میں جنما ہوا دیوپُتر سمجھتا ہوں۔ اے راجَن، میرا خیال یہ ہے کہ اسے جان بوجھ کر چھوڑ دیا گیا تاکہ لوگ اسے کسی دوسرے گھرانے کا سمجھیں اور حقیقت پہچانی نہ جا سکے۔”
दुर्योधन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how claims of birth and lineage are used to confer honor and legitimacy; Duryodhana frames Karna’s worth as inherently Kṣatriya/divine, challenging social stigma attached to the sūta identity and using lineage as an ethical-political argument for respect.
Duryodhana argues before the king that Karna is not truly of the sūta community; he insists Karna is divinely born in a Kṣatriya line and suggests he was intentionally abandoned to conceal the mother’s secret and make him appear to belong to another family.