Shloka 22

Devanagari script

एष नो ग्लह एवैको वनवासाय पाण्डवा: । यूयं वयं वा विजिता वसेम वनमाश्रिता:,फिर भी (इन्हें छोड़कर) एकमात्र वनवासका निश्चय ही हमारा दाँव है। पाण्डवो! आपलोग या हम, जो भी हारेंगे, उन्हें वनमें जाकर रहना होगा

Transliteration

vaiśaṃpāyana uvāca |

eṣa no glaha evaiko vanavāsāya pāṇḍavāḥ |

yūyaṃ vayaṃ vā vijitā vase ma vanam āśritāḥ ||

Translation

Vaiśampāyana sprach: „Dies allein ist unser Einsatz im Spiel—das Waldexil, o Pāṇḍavas. Welche Seite auch immer besiegt wird, ihr oder wir, sie muss in den Wald gehen und dort leben, dort Zuflucht nehmend.“

Word by Word

एषःthis

नःof us/our

ग्लहःstake/wager

एवindeed/just

एकःone/only

वनवासायfor forest-dwelling (exile)

पाण्डवाःO Pandavas

यूयम्you (pl.)

वयम्we

वाor

विजिताःdefeated

वसेमshould dwell

वनम्forest

आश्रिताःhaving resorted to

Speaker

(वैशग्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśaṃpāyana

Pāṇḍavas

vana (forest)

glaha (wager)

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?

A single unethical decision can be formalized into binding terms that carry severe consequences; the verse highlights how a wager can convert moral failure (gambling) into an enforced social and political outcome (forest exile), testing dharma through acceptance of agreed conditions.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the dice-game setting of the Sabha Parva, the terms of play are being stated: the stake is vanavāsa (living in the forest). Whichever party loses—either the Pāṇḍavas or their opponents—must depart for the forest and reside there.