Shloka 33

Devanagari script

ताभ्यां द्यूतं समासक्तं विजयायेतराय च । अस्माकं पाण्डवानां च स्थितानां रणमूर्धनि,उन दोनोंने युद्धके मुहानेपर खड़े हुए हमलोगों तथा पाण्डवोंकी विजय अथवा पराजयके लिये रणद्यूत आरम्भ किया था

Transliteration

tābhyāṃ dyūtaṃ samāsaktaṃ vijayāyetarāya ca | asmākaṃ pāṇḍavānāṃ ca sthitānāṃ raṇamūrdhani ||

Translation

Sañjaya sprach: „Jene beiden, die an der äußersten Front des Schlachtfeldes standen, begannen ein grimmiges ‘Kriegsspiel’—eine Wette, deren Einsatz Sieg oder Niederlage für uns und für die Pāṇḍavas war.“

Word by Word

• ताभ्याम्: by those two (fem.)
• ताभ्याम्: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: feminine, instrumental, dual

• द्यूतम्: game; gambling
• द्यूतम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: द्यूत (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: neuter, accusative, singular

• समासक्तम्: attached/engaged (in)
• समासक्तम्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: सम्-आ-√सञ्ज् (क्त)
• Form: neuter, accusative, singular

• विजयाय: for victory
• विजयाय: Sampradana
• Type: Noun
• Root: विजय (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: masculine, dative, singular

• इतराय: for the other (i.e., defeat)
• इतराय: Sampradana
• Type: Adjective
• Root: इतर (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: feminine, dative, singular

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च

• अस्माकम्: of us
• Type: Noun
• Root: अस्मद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: common, genitive, plural

• पाण्डवानाम्: of the Pandavas
• Type: Noun
• Root: पाण्डव (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: masculine, genitive, plural

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च

• स्थितानाम्: of those standing
• Type: Adjective
• Root: √स्था (क्त)
• Form: masculine, genitive, plural

• रणमूर्धनि: on the battlefield-front/at the head of battle
• रणमूर्धनि: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: रणमूर्धन् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: neuter, locative, singular

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• Pāṇḍavas
• Kauravas (implied by asmākam)
• battlefield (raṇamūrdhan)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse frames warfare as dyūta (gambling), highlighting the ethical danger of treating human lives and collective destiny as stakes in a contest driven by attachment to victory. It implicitly critiques the mentality that reduces dharma and responsibility to a win–lose wager.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya describes two principal warriors confronting each other at the battle’s forefront and commencing a decisive engagement, upon which the victory or defeat of both sides—Kauravas and Pāṇḍavas—seems to hang.