Shloka 18

Devanagari script

वैशम्पायन उवाच जनप्रवादान्‌ सुबहूज्छूण्वन्नपि नराधिप: । दिया च धर्मसंयोगात्‌ पार्थों द्यूतमियात्‌ पुन:,वैशम्पायनजी कहते हैं--जनमेजय! लोगोंकी तरह-तरहकी बातें सुनते हुए भी राजा युधिष्ठिर लज्जाके कारण तथा धृतराष्ट्रके आज्ञापालनरूप धर्मकी दृष्टिसे पुनः: जूआ खेलनेके लिये उद्यत हो गये

Transliteration

vaiśampāyana uvāca

janapravādān subahūñ śṛṇvann api narādhipaḥ |

hrīyā ca dharmasaṃyogāt pārtho dyūtam iyāt punaḥ ||

Translation

قال فايشَمبايانا: مع أنه كان يسمع شتى أقوال الناس وأراجيفهم، فإن الملك—بارثا (يودهيشثيرا)—بدافع الحياء، وبإحساسٍ بالواجب المتصل بطاعة أمر دريتاراشترا، عزم مرة أخرى على المضيّ إلى لعبة النرد.

Word by Word

वैशम्पायनःVaiśampāyana

उवाचsaid

जनप्रवादान्public reports/rumours

सुबहून्very many

शृण्वन्hearing

अपिeven/though

नराधिपःthe king (lord of men)

ह्रियाout of shame/modesty

चand

धर्मसंयोगात्from/owing to connection with duty (sense of dharma)

पार्थःPārtha (Yudhiṣṭhira here)

द्यूतम्game of dice

इयात्would go/should go

पुनःagain

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

Janamejaya

Yudhiṣṭhira (Pārtha)

Dhṛtarāṣṭra

dyūta (dice-game)

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights a moral tension: even when aware of public criticism and the dangers of vice, a ruler may act from shame and a misconstrued sense of dharma—here, treating obedience to an elder-king’s command as duty—showing how social pressure and authority can distort ethical judgment.

What is happening in the narrative?

After the first disastrous gambling, Yudhiṣṭhira hears widespread public talk about the events, yet he again prepares to go to the dice-game, motivated by embarrassment and by the duty he feels in complying with Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s directive.