Shloka 11
युधिष्ठिरस्य द्यूते द्रव्यवर्णनम्
Yudhiṣṭhira’s Enumeration of Stakes in the Dice Match
अन्तर्वेद्यां ददद् वित्तं कामाननुभवन् प्रियान् क्रीडन् स्त्रीभिर्निरातडुक: प्रशाम्य भरतर्षभ,भरतश्रेष्ठ! तुम यज्ञमें धन दान करो, मनको प्रिय लगनेवाले भोग भोगो और निर्भय होकर स्त्रियोंके साथ क्रीड़ा करते हुए शान्त रहो
Dhṛtarāṣṭra uvāca: antarvedyāṁ dadad vittaṁ kāmān anubhavan priyān krīḍan strībhir nirātaṅkaḥ praśāmya bharatarṣabha.
Dhṛtarāṣṭra said: “O bull among the Bharatas, remain at peace—make gifts of wealth within the sacrificial enclosure, enjoy the pleasures that are dear to your mind, and, free from fear and anxiety, sport with women.”
घतरयाट्र उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse presents a model of worldly pacification: peace is sought through ritual giving (dāna in the sacrificial space) and the sanctioned enjoyment of pleasures (kāma), coupled with a call to be ‘nirātaṅka’—free from anxiety. Ethically, it reflects a tension in the epic between outward prosperity/ritual merit and deeper justice-oriented dharma.
Dhṛtarāṣṭra addresses a Bharata hero (honorific ‘bharatarṣabha’), advising him to settle down calmly by donating wealth in a sacrificial context and enjoying agreeable pleasures without fear—an attempt to soothe, normalize, or redirect conduct through ritual and comfort.