Shloka 131
वैशम्पायन उवाच 52886: 4 २#44028 निकृतिं समुपाश्रित: । शकुनिर्युधिष्ठटिरमभाषत
vaiśampāyana uvāca | nikṛtiṃ samupāśritaḥ | śakunir yudhiṣṭhiram abhāṣata |
Vaiśampāyana said: Having taken refuge in deceitful stratagems, Śakuni addressed Yudhiṣṭhira. In that moment the tale turns, by design, from fair dealing to manipulation, sharpening the moral tension: a righteous king is being drawn into a contest shaped by cunning rather than by dharma.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse foregrounds the ethical contrast between dharma and nikṛti (deceit): when a situation is engineered through fraud, even a virtuous person can be pressured into harmful choices. It warns that the moral quality of an action is shaped not only by intent but also by the integrity of the means and the context created by others.
The narrator indicates that Śakuni, adopting deceitful tactics, begins speaking to Yudhiṣṭhira—introducing the manipulative approach that will drive the dice-game episode, where Yudhiṣṭhira is coaxed into a perilous wager under unfair conditions.