यद्यद्वच्मि तदादेयं हृदि कार्यं प्रयत्नतः । नो चेत् प्रष्टव्य एवाऽहं न त्वयेह निरर्थकम् ॥ ५५ ॥
yadyadvacmi tadādēyaṁ hṛdi kāryaṁ prayatnataḥ | nō cēt praṣṭavya ēvā’haṁ na tvayēha nirarthakam || 55 ||
Translation
Whatever I say is to be received and with effort placed in your heart. If not, you should not be asking me here, to no purpose.
Word by word
- yad
- whatever
- vacmi
- I say
- tad
- that
- ādēyaṁ
- is to be received
- hṛdi
- in your heart
- kāryaṁ
- placed
- prayatnataḥ
- with effort
- nō
- not
- cēt
- if
- praṣṭavya
- (praṣṭavyaḥ) to be asked
- ēva
- at all
- ahaṁ
- I
- na
- not
- tu
- indeed
- tvayā
- by you
- iha
- here
- nirarthakam
- to no purpose
Meaning
A startlingly direct sentence, said to a prince by his family priest. If you will not take this in, do not ask. After all the courtesy, this firmness shows that the praise was never flattery. Teaching costs something on both sides, and a question put without intention to act is a waste of both.