Shloka 23

Adhyāya 52 (Sabhā-parva): Vidura Invites Yudhiṣṭhira to Hastināpura for the Dice Match

Devanagari script

राजा चित्ररथो नाम गन्धर्वो वासवानुग: । शतानि चत्वार्यददद्धयानां वातरंहसाम्‌,इन्द्रके अनुगामी गन्धर्वराज चित्ररथने चार सौ दिव्य अश्व दिये, जो वायुके समान वेगशाली थे

Transliteration

rājā citraratho nāma gandharvo vāsavānugaḥ | śatāni catvāry adadad dhayānāṃ vātarāṃhasām ||

Translation

Duryodhana sprach: „Es gibt einen Gandharva-König namens Citraratha, einen Gefolgsmann Vāsavas (Indras). Er schenkte vierhundert Pferde, schnell wie der Wind.“

Word by Word

राजाking

चित्ररथःChitraratha (lit. 'having a splendid chariot')

नामby name

गन्धर्वःGandharva

वासवानुगःfollower of Vāsava (Indra)

शतानिhundreds

चत्वारिfour

अददत्gave

हयानाम्of horses

वातरंहसाम्of wind-swift (ones)

Speaker

दुर्योधन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Duryodhana

Citraratha

Gandharvas

Vāsava (Indra)

horses

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 how worldly authority often expresses itself through spectacular gifts and associations with powerful beings; ethically, it invites reflection on whether prestige and acquisition are being pursued in harmony with dharma or merely to inflate status.

What is happening in the narrative?

Duryodhana refers to the Gandharva-king Citraratha, aligned with Indra, and mentions that Citraratha granted four hundred exceptionally swift horses—an example of extraordinary resources and honor being brought into the royal sphere.