Shloka 14
Āśvamedhika-parva Adhyāya 1 — Yudhiṣṭhira’s Lament by the Gaṅgā and Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s Counsel
कर्णश्न शकुनिश्चैव नैनं पश्यतु कहिचित् । द्यूतसंघातमप्येषामप्रमादेन वारय,“कर्ण और शकुनिको इससे कभी मिलने न दीजिये। आप पूर्ण सावधान रहकर इन सबके द्यूतविषयक संगठनको रोकिये
karṇaś ca śakuniś caiva nainaṁ paśyatu karhi cit | dyūtasaṅghātam apy eṣām apramādena vārayet ||
Vaiśaṃpāyana said: “Let neither Karṇa nor Śakuni ever meet him. And with unremitting vigilance, restrain even the slightest gathering among them that tends toward gambling.”
वैशमग्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Negligence (apramāda) in guarding against known sources of adharma—here, the influence of Karṇa and Śakuni and the lure of gambling—can reopen the path to ruin; therefore one must proactively prevent the conditions that enable deceit and reckless decision-making.
The narrator Vaiśaṃpāyana reports an instruction to keep a certain person away from Karṇa and Śakuni and to prevent any dice-related gatherings among their circle, reflecting the epic’s memory of how gambling and manipulative counsel previously triggered catastrophic conflict.