Shloka 11

Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s Counsel on Restraint and the Pāṇḍavas’ Authorized Return (धृतराष्ट्र-उपदेशः)

Devanagari script

वैशम्पायनजी कहते हैं-जनमेजय! यह सुनकर छल-कपटका आश्रय लेनेवाले शकुनिने युधिष्ठिरसे निश्चयपूर्वक कहा--“लो, यह भी मैंने जीता”

Transliteration

vaiśampāyana uvāca—janamejaya! etac chrutvā chala-kapaṭam āśritya śakunir yudhiṣṭhiraṃ niścayapūrvakaṃ provāca—“lo, idam api mayā jitam.”

Translation

Vaiśampāyana said: “O Janamejaya, hearing this, Śakuni—who had taken refuge in deceit and trickery—spoke to Yudhiṣṭhira with deliberate certainty: ‘Look, this too I have won.’”

Word by Word

वैशम्पायनःVaishampayana

उवाचsaid

जनमेजयO Janamejaya

एतत्this

श्रुत्वाhaving heard

छल-कपट-आश्रयःone who resorts to deceit and fraud

शकुनिःShakuni

युधिष्ठिरम्Yudhishthira

निश्चय-पूर्वम्with firm resolve; decisively

अब्रवीत्said; spoke

गृहाणtake (it)!

इदम्this

अपिalso; even

मयाby me

जितम्won; conquered

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 how adharma operates through calculated deceit: Śakuni’s confidence in ‘winning’ underscores the ethical danger of gambling and the corrosive power of trickery when a righteous person is drawn into an unrighteous game.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the dice-match setting, after a preceding stake is lost, Śakuni—resorting to fraud—declares to Yudhiṣṭhira that he has won yet another stake, intensifying Yudhiṣṭhira’s downfall within the rigged contest.