Shloka 31

Devanagari script

वैशम्पायन उवाच ४: 4 आट निकृतिं समुपाश्रित: । शकुनिर्युधिष्टिमभाषत,वैशम्पायनजी कहते हैं--जनमेजय! ऐसा सुनकर छलका आश्रय लेनेवाले शकुनिने पूर्ववत्‌ पूर्ण निश्चयके साथ युधिष्ठिससे कहा--“यह दाँव भी मैंने ही जीता”

Transliteration

Vaiśampāyana uvāca | etac chrutvā nikṛtiṁ samupāśritaḥ śakunir yudhiṣṭhiram abhāṣata pūrvavat pūrṇa-niścayena — “ayaṁ dāvo ’pi mayā eva jitaḥ” |

Translation

Vaiśampāyana said: Hearing this, Śakuni—having taken refuge in deceit—spoke to Yudhiṣṭhira again, as before, with firm resolve: “This stake too has been won by me.”

Word by Word

वैशम्पायनःVaiśampāyana

उवाचsaid

निकृतिम्deceit, fraud

समुपाश्रितःhaving resorted to, having taken refuge in

शकुनिःŚakuni

युधिष्ठिरम्Yudhiṣṭhira

अभाषतspoke (to)

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

Janamejaya

Śakuni

Yudhiṣṭhira

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 the ethical corruption of the dice match: Śakuni openly operates through nikṛti (deceit) while presenting outcomes as legitimate victory. It frames a dharma-crisis where Yudhiṣṭhira’s commitment to truthfulness and keeping agreements is exploited by an opponent who has abandoned fairness.

What is happening in the narrative?

After the preceding exchange, Śakuni responds to Yudhiṣṭhira with unwavering confidence, declaring that he has won this wager as well. The narration emphasizes that Śakuni’s ‘victory’ rests on trickery, intensifying the pressure on Yudhiṣṭhira within the escalating sequence of stakes in the dice hall.