Droṇa’s Ācārya-Dakṣiṇā: Capture of Drupada and Division of Pāñcāla (द्रोण-आचार्यदक्षिणा)
अतिक्रान्तसुखा: काला: पर्युपस्थितदारुणा: । श्रः श्र: पापिष्ठदिवसा: पृथिवी गतयौवना,“माँ! अब सुखके दिन बीत गये। बड़ा भयंकर समय उपस्थित होनेवाला है। उत्तरोत्तर बुरे दिन आ रहे हैं। पृथ्वीकी जवानी चली गयी
atikrāntasukhāḥ kālāḥ paryupasthitadāruṇāḥ | śraḥ śraḥ pāpiṣṭhadivasāḥ pṛthivī gatayauvanā ||
Vaiśampāyana berkata: “Ibu, hari-hari bahagia telah berlalu. Suatu zaman yang menggerunkan kini kian mendekat. Hari demi hari, hari yang lebih berdosa dan sial semakin tiba. Bumi telah kehilangan masa mudanya—daya dan kemakmuran lamanya sedang pudar.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
The verse frames moral and social decline as a loss of auspiciousness: when dharma weakens, time itself feels ‘terrible,’ and the world’s vitality diminishes. It warns that complacency in prosperity is dangerous, and that ethical deterioration manifests as increasingly harmful days.
The speaker (reported by Vaiśampāyana) addresses ‘Mother,’ lamenting that good times have ended and that ominous, worsening days are approaching. The statement functions as a foreboding sign of an impending crisis affecting the whole world (pṛthivī).