Shloka 14
Adhyāya 59: Vidura’s Admonition to Duryodhana after the Summons of Draupadī (सभा पर्व)
शकुनिरुवाच श्रोत्रिय: श्रोत्रियानेति निकृत्यैव युधिष्ठिर । विद्वानविदुषो5भ्येति नाहुस्तां निकृतिं जना:
śakunir uvāca—śrotriyaḥ śrotriyān iti nikṛtyaiva yudhiṣṭhira | vidvān aviduṣo ’bhyeti nāhus tāṃ nikṛtiṃ janāḥ ||
Śakuni sprach: „O Yudhiṣṭhira, ein vedischer Gelehrter (śrotriya) geht, wenn er andere Gelehrte mit dem Ziel aufsucht, sie zu besiegen, allein mit List und Kunstgriff vor. Ebenso überwindet der Wissende den Unwissenden durch solche Schlauheit; doch das Volk nennt dies nicht ‘Betrug’.“
युधिषछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
Śakuni attempts to normalize ‘nikṛti’ (crafty stratagem) by arguing that even learned people use tactics to defeat others, and society does not label it deceit. The ethical tension is that he reframes manipulation as acceptable skill, thereby blurring the boundary between legitimate strategy and adharma.
In the context of the dice-game episode, Śakuni speaks to Yudhiṣṭhira to justify the use of trickery and unequal advantage. His statement functions as persuasion: it is meant to reduce Yudhiṣṭhira’s moral resistance and make the rigged contest appear socially defensible.