Shloka 45

Devanagari script

आरट्टा नाम ते देशा वाहीकं॑ नाम तज्जलम्‌ | ब्राह्मणापसदा यत्र तुल्यकाला: प्रजापते:,जहाँ ब्रह्माजीके समकालीन (अत्यन्त प्राचीन) वेदविरुद्ध आचरणवाले नीच ब्राह्मण निवास करते हैं, वे आरट्ट नामक देश हैं और वहाँके जलका नाम बाहीक है

Transliteration

āraṭṭā nāma te deśā vāhīkaṃ nāma taj jalam | brāhmaṇāpasadā yatra tulyakālāḥ prajāpateḥ ||

Translation

Karna nói: “Những xứ ấy gọi là Āraṭṭa, và dòng nước nơi đó được gọi là Vāhīka. Ở vùng ấy cư ngụ những Bà-la-môn suy đọa—kẻ hành xử trái với Veda—được truyền rằng cổ xưa ngang với thời đại của Prajāpati.”

Word by Word

आरट्टाःArattas (a people/region)

नामby name / called

तेthey/those

देशाःcountries/lands

वाहीकम्Vāhīka (name)

नामby name / called

तत्that

जलम्water

ब्राह्मणापसदाःdegraded/low Brahmins

यत्रwhere

तुल्यकालाःof equal time; contemporaneous

प्रजापतेःof Prajāpati

Speaker

कर्ण उवाच

Characters & Entities

Karna

Āraṭṭa (Āraṭṭāḥ)

Vāhīka

Prajāpati

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 underscores a dharmic critique framed through Vedic norms: merely bearing a revered social identity (Brahmin) is not sufficient—conduct aligned with the Veda is treated as the true measure; deviation is condemned as moral and social ‘fallenness’ (apasada).

What is happening in the narrative?

Karna is speaking polemically, identifying a region (Āraṭṭa) and its water (Vāhīka) while disparaging the inhabitants as ‘degraded Brahmins’ with Veda-opposed behavior, using antiquity (linked to Prajāpati’s age) to intensify the denunciation.