Shloka 18

सभा-पर्व, अध्याय 56: विदुरस्य द्यूत-निन्दा

Vidura’s Censure of Dicing and Warning to the Kurus

Devanagari script

सहस्रस्तम्भां हेमवैदूर्यचित्रां शतद्वारां तोरणस्फाटिकाख्याम्‌ | सभामग्रयां क्रोशमात्रायतां मे तद्विस्तारामाशु कुर्वन्तु युक्ता:

Transliteration

Vaiśampāyana uvāca |

Sahasrastambhāṃ hemavaidūryacitrāṃ śatadvārāṃ toraṇasphāṭikākhyām |

Sabhām agryāṃ krośamātrāyatāṃ me tad-vistārām āśu kurvantu yuktāḥ ||

Translation

Vaiśampāyana said: “Let my foremost assembly-hall—called ‘Toraṇa-sphāṭikā’—be built at once by capable workmen: adorned with gold and vaidūrya, supported by a thousand pillars, furnished with a hundred doors, and extending a full krośa in length and breadth.”

Word by Word

• सहस्रस्तम्भाम्: having a thousand pillars
• सहस्रस्तम्भाम्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: सहस्र-स्तम्भ (स्तम्भ)
• Form: Feminine, Accusative, Singular

• हेमवैदूर्यचित्राम्: variegated/ornamented with gold and vaidūrya (cat's-eye gem)
• हेमवैदूर्यचित्राम्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: हेम-वैदूर्य-चित्र
• Form: Feminine, Accusative, Singular

• शतद्वाराम्: having a hundred doors
• शतद्वाराम्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: शत-द्वार (द्वार)
• Form: Feminine, Accusative, Singular

• तोरणस्फाटिकाख्याम्: named ‘Toraṇa-sphāṭika’
• तोरणस्फाटिकाख्याम्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: तोरणस्फाटिक-आख्या (आख्या)
• Form: Feminine, Accusative, Singular

• सभाम्: assembly-hall
• सभाम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: सभा
• Form: Feminine, Accusative, Singular

• अग्र्याम्: excellent, foremost
• अग्र्याम्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अग्र्य
• Form: Feminine, Accusative, Singular

• क्रोशमात्रायताम्: having length of (one) krośa
• क्रोशमात्रायताम्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: क्रोश-मात्र-आयत (आयत)
• Form: Feminine, Accusative, Singular

• मे: of me / my
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: अस्मद्
• Form: Genitive, Singular

• तत्: that (hall)
• तत्: Karma
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: तद्
• Form: Feminine, Accusative, Singular

• विस्ताराम्: having breadth/width (extent)
• विस्ताराम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: विस्तार
• Form: Feminine, Accusative, Singular

• आशु: quickly
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: आशु

• कुर्वन्तु: let them make/do
• Type: Verb
• Root: कृ
• Form: Imperative, Third, Plural, Parasmaipada

• युक्ताः: engaged, ready, diligent (persons)
• युक्ताः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: युक्त (युज्)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśampāyana
• Janamejaya
• Dhṛtarāṣṭra
• Toraṇa-sphāṭikā (assembly hall)
• sabhā (royal assembly hall)
• gold (hema)
• vaidūrya (gemstone)
• crystal (sphāṭika)
• pillars (stambha)
• doors (dvāra)
• gateways (toraṇa)
• workmen/servants (yuktāḥ)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

External grandeur and royal power, when driven by attachment and the pressure of partiality, can eclipse moral discernment. The verse highlights how a ruler’s compromised judgment enables conditions for adharma to unfold.

What is happening in the narrative?

Dhṛtarāṣṭra (as narrated by Vaiśampāyana) orders the rapid construction of an exceptional assembly hall named Toraṇa-sphāṭikā—crystal-gated, richly inlaid with gold and vaidūrya, with a thousand pillars and a hundred doors, measuring a krośa in extent—setting the stage for the events of the dice-hall episode.