Shloka 3

Devanagari script

देश: कालस्तथायुक्तो न हि नाहति केशव: । मंस्यत्यधोक्षजो राजन्‌ भयादर्चति मामिति,मैं इसलिये नहीं कहता कि श्रीकृष्ण उन वस्तुओंके अधिकारी नहीं हैं; अपितु इस दृष्टिसे मना कर रहा हूँ कि वर्तमान देश-काल इस योग्य नहीं है कि उनका विशेष सत्कार किया जाय। राजन्‌! इस समय तो श्रीकृष्ण यही समझेंगे कि यह डरके मारे मेरी पूजा कर रहा है

Transliteration

deśaḥ kālas tathāyukto na hi nāhati keśavaḥ | maṁsyaty adhokṣajo rājan bhayād arcati mām iti ||

Translation

Duryodhana said: “The place and the time are not suitably aligned; it is not that Keśava is unworthy. But I refuse from this standpoint—that the present circumstances are not fit for offering him exceptional honors. O King, Adhokṣaja (Kṛṣṇa) will think, ‘He is worshipping me out of fear of me.’”

Word by Word

• {'deśaḥ': 'place, setting, locale', 'kālaḥ': 'time, occasion, circumstance', 'tathāyuktaḥ': 'properly joined/appropriate

• suitably arranged', 'na hi': 'certainly not

• not at all (emphatic negation)', 'nāhati': 'is not worthy/fit

• does not deserve (here used in the sense of ‘unworthy’)', 'keśavaḥ': 'Keśava

• an epithet of Kṛṣṇa', 'maṁsyati': 'will think, will suppose', 'adhokṣajaḥ': 'Adhokṣaja

• an epithet of Viṣṇu/Kṛṣṇa', 'rājan': 'O King (vocative address)', 'bhayāt': 'from fear, out of fear', 'arcati': 'worships, honors, offers reverence', 'mām': 'me', 'iti': 'thus (quotative marker)'}

Speaker

दुर्योधन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Duryodhana
• Keśava (Kṛṣṇa)
• Adhokṣaja (Kṛṣṇa)
• Rājan (the King addressed)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights how ethical value can be distorted by motive and perception: honoring a worthy person is not enough—one must also consider sincerity and context, because actions performed under fear or political calculation can be interpreted as weakness rather than virtue.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the tense pre-war negotiations, Duryodhana argues against giving Kṛṣṇa special honors. He claims it is not because Kṛṣṇa is undeserving, but because the current situation would make such reverence look like fear-driven appeasement, undermining his stance.