Shloka 8
अक्षग्लह: सो5भिभवेत् परं न- स्तेनैव दोषो भवतीह पार्थ । दीव्यामहे पार्थिव मा विशड्कां कुरुष्य पाणं च चिरं च मा कृथा:
akṣagrahaḥ so 'bhibhavet paraṁ naḥ tenaiva doṣo bhavatīha pārtha | dīvyāmahe pārthiva mā viśaṅkāṁ kuruṣva pāṇaṁ ca ciraṁ ca mā kṛthāḥ ||
Yudhiṣṭhira said: “That master of the dice will surely overpower us; yet, O Pārtha, the fault in this matter will rest with him alone. Let us play, O king—do not harbor suspicion. Make your stake, and do not delay.”
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights a moral rationalization: Yudhiṣṭhira anticipates defeat by a skilled gambler yet claims the blame will lie with the deceiver. It raises an ethical tension between foreseeing harm and still consenting to an action, shifting culpability to the opponent rather than exercising restraint.
In the lead-up to the dice game in the royal assembly, Yudhiṣṭhira addresses Pārtha (Arjuna) and urges proceeding with the play. He predicts that the expert dice-player will overpower them, but he instructs the king to place the wager without suspicion and without delay.