Shloka 18
सभा-पर्व, अध्याय 56: विदुरस्य द्यूत-निन्दा
Vidura’s Censure of Dicing and Warning to the Kurus
सहस्रस्तम्भां हेमवैदूर्यचित्रां शतद्वारां तोरणस्फाटिकाख्याम् | सभामग्रयां क्रोशमात्रायतां मे तद्विस्तारामाशु कुर्वन्तु युक्ता:
Vaiśampāyana uvāca |
Sahasrastambhāṃ hemavaidūryacitrāṃ śatadvārāṃ toraṇasphāṭikākhyām |
Sabhām agryāṃ krośamātrāyatāṃ me tad-vistārām āśu kurvantu yuktāḥ ||
Vaiśampāyana sprach: „Mein vornehmster Versammlungssaal—genannt ‘Toraṇa-sphāṭikā’—soll unverzüglich von tüchtigen Handwerkern errichtet werden: geschmückt mit Gold und vaidūrya, getragen von tausend Säulen, versehen mit hundert Toren, und sich über ein volles krośa in Länge und Breite erstreckend.“
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
External grandeur and royal power, when driven by attachment and the pressure of partiality, can eclipse moral discernment. The verse highlights how a ruler’s compromised judgment enables conditions for adharma to unfold.
Dhṛtarāṣṭra (as narrated by Vaiśampāyana) orders the rapid construction of an exceptional assembly hall named Toraṇa-sphāṭikā—crystal-gated, richly inlaid with gold and vaidūrya, with a thousand pillars and a hundred doors, measuring a krośa in extent—setting the stage for the events of the dice-hall episode.