Shloka 36

Devanagari script

यदि मे याचमानाया वचन न करिष्यसि । दुष्यन्त शतधा मूर्धा ततस्तेडद्य स्फुटिष्यति,“महाराज दुष्यन्त! यदि मेरे उचित याचना करनेपर भी आप मेरी बात नहीं मानेंगे, तो आज आपके सिरके सैकड़ों टुकड़े हो जायँगे

Transliteration

yadi me yācamānāyā vacanaṁ na kariṣyasi | duṣyanta śatadhā mūrdhā tatas te 'dya sphuṭiṣyati ||

Translation

If you will not comply with my words, though I am making a rightful plea, then, O Duṣyanta, your head will this very day split into a hundred pieces.

Word by Word

यदिif

मेof me / my

याचमानायाःof (me) who is requesting/begging

वचनम्word, request, statement

नnot

करिष्यसिyou will do / you will comply

दुष्यन्तO Duṣyanta

शतधाinto a hundred parts, a hundredfold

मूर्धाhead

ततःthen, thereupon

तेof you / your

अद्यtoday

स्फुटिष्यतिwill split/burst

Speaker

दुष्यन्त उवाच

Characters & Entities

द

दुष्यन्त (Duṣyanta)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

A ruler must heed a rightful petition and act according to dharma; ignoring a just plea is portrayed as a moral breach that brings swift, severe consequences.

What is happening in the narrative?

A speaker addresses King Duṣyanta with an ultimatum-like warning: if he refuses the petitioner’s request, a catastrophic punishment—his head splitting into a hundred pieces—will occur that very day.