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 ||
کرن نے کہا—“جو لوگ پانچ دریاؤں کے درمیان—جن میں چھٹا سندھُو بھی شمار ہوتا ہے—اس خطّے میں رہتے ہیں، وہ دھرم کی حد سے باہر اور ناپاک سمجھے جاتے ہیں؛ اس لیے واہیکوں سے بھی پرہیز کرنا چاہیے۔”
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.