Shloka 18
Somadatta–Sātyaki Engagement; Bhīma’s Interventions; Droṇa–Yudhiṣṭhira Astra Exchange
Book 7, Chapter 132
यान् सम तान् ग्लहते घोरान् शकुनि: कुरुसंसदि
yān sama tān glahate ghorān śakuniḥ kurusaṁsadi
Droṇa said: “Those very men, equal in strength and standing, Śakuni in the Kuru assembly challenged to dreadful games of dice.”
द्रोण उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the ethical danger of gambling and manipulative wagering in a royal assembly: when a skilled deceiver provokes evenly matched opponents into “dreadful” stakes, the act undermines dharma and turns public institutions into arenas of exploitation.
Droṇa points to Śakuni’s conduct in the Kuru court—his habit of initiating high-stakes, ominous dice-play against peers—evoking the remembered pattern of courtly gambling that fueled injustice and helped set the stage for catastrophic war.