Shloka 79

अध्याय ९ — कर्णस्य प्रहारः, योधयुग्मनियोजनम्, शैनेय-कैकेययोर्युद्धविन्यासः

Devanagari script

द्यूतं॑ कृत्वा पुरा हृष्ो वज्चयित्वा च पाण्डवान्‌

Transliteration

dyūtaṃ kṛtvā purā hṛṣṭo vañcayitvā ca pāṇḍavān

Translation

Vaiśaṃpāyana said: Once, in former times, he entered the game of dice and grew exultant—and by deceit he cheated the Pāṇḍavas. This line recalls the moral stain of gambling and fraud that helped set the course toward the later catastrophe of war.

Word by Word

द्यूतम्gambling, dice-play

कृत्वाhaving done/made

पुराformerly, earlier

हृष्टःdelighted, elated

वञ्चयित्वाhaving deceived/cheated

चand

पाण्डवान्the Pandavas

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśaṃpāyana

Pāṇḍavas

dyūta (dice-game)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights adharma in the form of gambling and deception: delight taken in winning through fraud becomes a moral fault that contributes to wider suffering, reminding the listener that unethical means corrupt outcomes and can ignite large-scale conflict.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśaṃpāyana briefly recalls the earlier dice episode in which the Pāṇḍavas were cheated; this recollection functions as a causal reminder—an earlier act of deceit that helped drive events toward the Kurukṣetra war described in the Karṇa Parva.