Chapter 44

“‘Shalya said, “These, O Karna, are ravings that thou utterest regardingthe foe. As regards myself without a 1,000 Karnas I am able to vanquishthe foe in battle.'”

“Sanjaya continued, ‘Unto the ruler of Madras, of harsh features, who wassaying such disagreeable things unto Karna, the latter once more saidwords that were twice bitter.

“‘Karna said, “Listen with devoted attention to this, O ruler of theMadras, that was heard by me while it was recited in the presence ofDhritarashtra. In Dhritarashtra’s abode the brahmanas used to narrate theaccounts of diverse delightful regions and many kings of ancient times. Aforemost one among brahmanas, venerable in years while reciting oldhistories, said these words, blaming the Vahikas and Madrakas, ‘Oneshould always avoid the Vahikas, those impure people that are out of thepale of virtue, and that live away from the Himavat and the Ganga andSarasvati and Yamuna and Kurukshetra and the Sindhu and its fivetributary rivers. I remember from the days of my youth that aslaughter-ground for kine and a space for storing intoxicating spiritsalways distinguish the entrances of the abodes of the (Vahika) kings. Onsome very secret mission I had to live among the Vahikas. In consequenceof such residence the conduct of these people is well known to me. Thereis a town of the name of Sakala, a river of the name of Apaga, and a clanof the Vahikas known by the name of the Jarttikas. The practices of thesepeople are very censurable. They drink the liquor called Gauda, and eatfried barley with it. They also eat beef with garlic. They also eat cakesof flour mixed with meat, and boiled rice that is bought from others. Ofrighteous practices they have none. Their women, intoxicated with drinkand divested of robes, laugh and dance outside the walls of the houses incities, without garlands and unguents, singing while drunk obscene songsof diverse kinds that are as musical as the bray of the ass or the bleatof the camel. In intercourse they are absolutely without any restraint,and in all other matters they act as they like. Maddened with drink, theycall upon one another, using many endearing epithets. Addressing manydrunken exclamations to their husbands and lords, the fallen women amongthe Vahikas, without observing restrictions even on sacred days, givethemselves up to dancing. One of those wicked Vahikas,–one that is, thatlived amongst those arrogant women,–who happened to live for some daysin Kurujangala, burst out with cheerless heart, saying, “Alas, that(Vahika) maiden of large proportions, dressed in thin blankets, isthinking of me,–her Vahika lover–that is now passing his days inKurujangala, at the hour of her going to bed.” Crossing the Sutlej andthe delightful Iravati, and arriving at my own country, when shall I castmy eyes upon those beautiful women with thick frontal bones, with blazingcirclets of red arsenic on their foreheads, with streaks of jet blackcollyrium on their eyes, and their beautiful forms attired in blanketsand skins and themselves uttering shrill cries! When shall I be happy, inthe company of those intoxicated ladies amid the music of drums andkettle-drums and conchs sweet as the cries of asses and camels and mules!When shall I be amongst those ladies eating cakes of flour and meat andballs of pounded barley mixed with skimmed milk, in the forests, havingmany pleasant paths of Sami and Pilu and Karira! When shall I, amid myown countrymen, mustering in strength on the high-roads, fall uponpassengers, and snatching their robes and attires beat them repeatedly!What man is there that would willingly dwell, even for a moment amongstthe Vahikas that are so fallen and wicked, and so depraved in theirpractises?’ Even thus did that brahmana describe the Vahikas of basebehaviour, a sixth of whose merits and demerits is thine, O Shalya.Having said this, that pious brahmana began once more to say what I amabout to repeat respecting the wicked Vahikas. Listen to what I say, ‘Inthe large and populous town of Sakala, a Rakshasa woman used to sing onevery fourteenth day of the dark fortnight, in accompaniment with a drum,”When shall I next sing the songs of the Vahikas in this Sakala town,having gorged myself with beef and drunk the Gauda liquor? When shall Iagain, decked in ornaments, and with those maidens and ladies of largeproportions, gorge upon a large number of sheep and large quantities ofpork and beef and the meat of fowls and asses and camels? They who do noteat sheep live in vain!”‘ Even thus, O Shalya, the young and old, amongthe inhabitants of Sakala, intoxicated with spirits, sing and cry. Howcan virtue be met with among such a people? Thou shouldst know this. Imust, however, speak again to thee about what another brahmana had saidunto us in the Kuru court, ‘There where forests of Pilus stand, and thosefive rivers flow, viz., the Satadru, the Vipasa, the Iravati, theCandrabhaga, and the Vitasa and which have the Sindhu for their sixth,there in those regions removed from the Himavat, are the countries calledby the name of the Arattas. Those regions are without virtue andreligion. No one should go thither. The gods, the pitris, and thebrahmanas, never accept gifts from those that are fallen, or those thatare begotten by Shudras on the girls of other castes, or the Vahikas whonever perform sacrifices and are exceedingly irreligious.’ That learnedbrahmana had also said in the Kuru court, ‘The Vahikas, without anyfeelings of revulsion, eat of wooden vessels having deep stomachs andearthen plates and vessels that have been licked by dogs and that arestained with pounded barley and other corn. The Vahikas drink the milk ofsheep and camels and asses and eat curds and other preparations fromthose different kinds of milk. Those degraded people number many bastardsamong them. There is no food and no milk that they do not take. TheAratta-Vahikas that are steeped in ignorance, should be avoided.’ Thoushouldst know this, O Shalya. I must, however, again speak to thee aboutwhat another brahmana had said unto me in the Kuru court, ‘How can one goto heaven, having drunk milk in the town called Yugandhara, and residedin the place called Acyutasthala, and bathed in the spot calledBhutilaya? There where the five rivers flow just after issuing from themountains, there among the Aratta-Vahikas, no respectable person shoulddwell even for two days. There are two Pishacas named Vahi and Hika inthe river Vipasa. The Vahikas are the offspring of those two Pishacas.They are not creatures created by the Creator. Being of such low origin,how can they be conversant with the duties ordained in the scriptures?The Karashakas, the Mahishakas, the Kalingas, the Keralas, theKarkotakas, the Virakas, and other peoples of no religion, one shouldalways avoid.’ Even thus did a Rakshasa woman of gigantic hips speak untoa brahmana who on a certain occasion went to that country for bathing ina sacred water and passed a single night there. The regions are called bythe name of Arattas. The people residing there are called the Vahikas.The lowest of brahmanas also are residing there from very remote times.They are without the Veda and without knowledge, without sacrifice andwithout the power to assist at other’s sacrifices. They are all fallenand many amongst them have been begotten by Shudras upon other peoples’girls. The gods never accept any gifts from them. The Prasthalas, theMadras, the Gandharas, the Arattas, those called Khasas, the Vasatis, theSindhus and the Sauviras are almost as blamable in their practices.'”