Shloka 3

अध्याय ८७: कृष्णस्य हस्तिनापुरप्रवेशः

Krishna’s Entry into Hastināpura and Court Reception

Devanagari script

देश: कालस्तथायुक्तो न हि नाहति केशव: । मंस्यत्यधोक्षजो राजन्‌ भयादर्चति मामिति

Transliteration

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

Translation

Duryodhana berkata: “Tempat dan waktu kini tidak selaras; bukan berarti Keśava tidak layak. Namun aku menolak dari sudut pandang ini—keadaan sekarang tidak pantas untuk memberinya penghormatan yang luar biasa. Wahai Raja, Adhokṣaja (Kṛṣṇa) akan mengira, ‘Ia menyembahku karena takut kepadaku.’”

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.