Shloka 14

अक्षविजय-प्रसङ्गः

Escalation of Wagers and Shakuni’s Repeated Declarations of Victory

Devanagari script

युधिष्ठिर उवाच महाभया: कितवा: संनिविष्टा मायोपधा देवितारोअत्र सन्ति । धात्रा तु दिष्टस्य वशे किलेदं सर्व जगत्‌ तिष्ठति न स्वतन्त्रम्‌,युधिष्ठिर बोले--तब तो वहाँ बड़े भयंकर, कपटी और धूर्त जुआरी जुटे हुए हैं। विधाताका रचा हुआ यह सम्पूर्ण जगत्‌ दैवके ही अधीन है; स्वतन्त्र नहीं है

Transliteration

Yudhiṣṭhira uvāca—mahābhayāḥ kitavāḥ sanniviṣṭā māyopadhā devitāro ’tra santi | dhātrā tu diṣṭasya vaśe kiledaṃ sarvaṃ jagat tiṣṭhati na svatantram ||

Translation

Yudhiṣṭhira sprach: „Dann haben sich dort wahrlich furchterregende Spieler versammelt — trügerisch und voller Listen. Denn diese ganze Welt steht unter der Gewalt dessen, was der Schöpfer bestimmt hat; sie ist nicht unabhängig.“

Word by Word

{'mahābhayāḥ''very dreadful

causing great fear', 'kitavāḥ''gamblers

dice-players (often with the sense of rogues)', 'sanniviṣṭāḥ''seated/assembled

gathered together', 'māyā-upadhāḥ''having deception as a pretext

employing tricks and fraud', 'devitāraḥ''players at dice

gamblers', 'atra''here

in this place', 'dhātrā''by Dhātṛ (the Creator/Ordainer)', 'diṣṭasya': 'of what is ordained/fated

of destiny', 'vaśe''under the control

in the power', 'kila''indeed

as is said (emphatic particle)', 'idam''this', 'sarvam jagat': 'the whole world', 'tiṣṭhati': 'stands

is sustained', 'na svatantram''not independent

Speaker

युधिष्ठिर उवाच

Characters & Entities

Yudhiṣṭhira

Dhātṛ (the Creator/Ordainer)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse contrasts human deceit (the gamblers’ trickery) with a broader reflection on destiny: worldly events unfold under an ordained order (diṣṭa) rather than pure personal autonomy, urging ethical caution and humility in judgment.

What is happening in the narrative?

Yudhiṣṭhira reacts to the presence of dangerous, deceitful dice-players and recognizes that the unfolding situation is driven not merely by individual choice but also by a larger force of fate/ordination—foreshadowing the peril of the dice match.