Shloka 53

Devanagari script

द्रोण उवाच यदि मां नाभिगच्छेथा युद्धाय कृतनिश्चय: । शपेयं त्वां महाराज पराभावाय सर्वश:,द्रोणाचार्य बोले--महाराज! यदि युद्धका निश्चय कर लेनेपर तुम मेरे पास नहीं आते तो मैं तुम्हारी सर्वथा पराजय होनेके लिये तुम्हें शाप दे देता

Transliteration

droṇa uvāca yadi māṁ nābhigacchethā yuddhāya kṛtaniścayaḥ | śapeyaṁ tvāṁ mahārāja parābhāvāya sarvaśaḥ ||

Translation

德罗那说道：“大王啊，若你既已决意开战却不来见我，我必会对你发下诅咒，使你在各方面彻底败北。”

Word by Word

द्रोणःDrona

उवाचsaid

यदिif

माम्me

नnot

अभिगच्छेथाःyou would come to / approach

युद्धायfor battle

कृतनिश्चयःhaving made a firm resolve

शपेयम्I would curse / might curse

त्वाम्you

महाराजO great king

पराभावायfor defeat

सर्वशःentirely, in every way

Speaker

द्रोण उवाच

Characters & Entities

Droṇa

Mahārāja (the king addressed)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights the ethical weight of commitment and proper alignment with one’s appointed guide/commander: once a decision for war is taken, failing to present oneself and coordinate is treated as a grave breach of discipline, inviting severe consequences (here expressed as a potential curse leading to total defeat).

What is happening in the narrative?

Droṇa addresses a king and states that if the king, despite having resolved to fight, had not come to him, Droṇa would have cursed him so that he would suffer complete defeat—underscoring Droṇa’s authority and the seriousness of wartime resolve and obedience.