Shloka 4
युधिष्ठिरस्य द्यूते द्रव्यवर्णनम्
Yudhiṣṭhira’s Enumeration of Stakes in the Dice Match
अथ यज्ञविभूतिं तां काड्क्षसे भरतर्षभ । ऋषत्विजस्तव तन्वन्तु सप्ततन्तुं महाध्वरम्,भरतश्रेष्ठ।! यदि तुम उस यज्ञ-वैभवको पानेकी अभिलाषा रखते हो तो ऋत्विजलोग तुम्हारे लिये भी गायत्री आदि सात छन्दरूपी तन्तुओंसे युक्त राजसूय महायज्ञका अनुष्ठान करा देंगे
atha yajña-vibhūtiṁ tāṁ kāṅkṣase bharatarṣabha | ṛṣitvijaḥ tava tanvantu saptatantuṁ mahādhvaram ||
Dhṛtarāṣṭra said: “O bull among the Bharatas, if you desire that splendor and prosperity that comes from sacrifice, then let the seer-priests perform for you the great royal rite—a mighty sacrifice woven with seven ‘threads’ (the sacred metres such as Gāyatrī).”
घतरयाट्र उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse links royal prosperity and public legitimacy to dharmic, properly conducted Vedic ritual: if one seeks the ‘splendor of sacrifice,’ it should be pursued through qualified priests and established sacred forms (the metres), emphasizing order, tradition, and ethical restraint in the pursuit of power.
Dhṛtarāṣṭra addresses a Bharata prince (honorifically ‘bharatarṣabha’) and says that if he wishes to attain the grandeur associated with sacrificial achievement, the seer-priests can conduct for him a great royal sacrifice—described as ‘seven-threaded,’ i.e., structured by the canonical Vedic metres such as Gāyatrī.