मैवं जीर्णम् उपासिष्ठाः सख्यं नवम् उपाकुरु ॥
आसीत् सख्यं द्विजश्रेष्ठ त्वया मे ऽर्थनिबन्धनम् ॥
न दरिद्रो वसुमतो नाविद्वान् विदुषः सखा ॥
शूरस्य न सखा क्लीबः सखिपूर्वं किम् इष्यते ॥
ययोर् एव समं वित्तं ययोर् एव समं कुलम् ॥
तयोः सख्यं विवाहश् च न तु पुष्टविपुष्टयोः ॥
नाश्रोत्रियः श्रोत्रियस्य नारथी रथिनः सखा ॥
नाराज्ञा संगतं राज्ञः सखिपूर्वं किम् इष्यते ॥
maivaṃ jīrṇam upāsiṣṭhāḥ sakhyaṃ navam upākuru ||
āsīt sakhyaṃ dvijaśreṣṭha tvayā me 'rthanibandhanam ||
na daridro vasumato nāvidvān viduṣaḥ sakhā ||
śūrasya na sakhā klībaḥ sakhipūrvaṃ kim iṣyate ||
yayor eva samaṃ vittaṃ yayor eva samaṃ kulam ||
tayoḥ sakhyaṃ vivāhaś ca na tu puṣṭavipuṣṭayoḥ ||
nāśrotriyaḥ śrotriyasya nārathī rathinaḥ sakhā ||
nārājñā saṃgataṃ rājñaḥ sakhipūrvaṃ kim iṣyate ||
"Do not cling so to a friendship gone stale; form a new one. There was a friendship, O best of the twice-born, between you and me, bound by advantage. A poor man is not friend to the wealthy, nor an ignorant man to the learned; a coward is no friend to a hero -- what use is it to speak of past friendship? Friendship and marriage belong to those whose wealth is equal and whose lineage is equal, not to the prosperous and the destitute. One unversed in the Veda is no friend to the learned, nor one without a chariot to a charioteer; it is not fitting for a king to associate with a non-king -- what use is it to speak of past friendship?"
7bccfb8d797c · publicado 12 jul 2026, 16:53:32 UTC
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Here Drupada completes his haughty renunciation of a friend. Telling is the measure he repeats -- equality of wealth, lineage, learning, and rank: everything is measured by outward things, nothing by the heart. Here the very sickness of the worldly mind is laid bare: to value a person by possessions rather than by the worth of the soul. It is telling, too, that Drupada does not lie about this world -- in it friendship is indeed often self-interested; but he raises this baseness into a law, disowning a friend in his need. Here is the sin of ingratitude and the pride of wealth: exalted by power, Drupada tramples the one who came to him with an open heart. Thus the text shows how much the arrogance of rank disfigures the soul; and the insulted Drona, gentle until now, will carry away from this a grievance that will resolve itself in war and in Drupada's own destruction.