Shloka 30
Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s Counsel on Restraint and the Pāṇḍavas’ Authorized Return (धृतराष्ट्र-उपदेशः)
शकुनिरुवाच एतत् पापिष्ठमकरोर्यदात्मानमहारय: । शिष्टे सति धने राजन् पाप आत्मपराजय:,शकुनि फिर बोला--राजन्! आप अपनेको दाँवपर लगाकर जो हार गये, यह आपके द्वारा बड़ा अधर्म-कार्य हुआ। धनके शेष रहते हुए अपने-आपको हार जाना महान् पाप है
śakunir uvāca: etat pāpiṣṭham akaror yad ātmānam ahārayaḥ | śiṣṭe sati dhane rājan pāpa ātma-parājayaḥ ||
Śakuni said: “O King, you committed a most sinful act in staking your own person and then losing. While wealth still remained, to suffer defeat of oneself—to lose one’s very self in the game—is a grave wrongdoing.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even within a flawed contest like gambling, staking one’s own person is portrayed as a severe ethical transgression; self-loss (ātma-parājaya) is condemned as worse than losing wealth, because it violates dignity, duty, and responsible kingship.
In the dice-game episode of the Sabha Parva, Śakuni comments on the moment when the king stakes himself and loses; he frames this as a grave sin, emphasizing that wealth still remained and therefore the self-wager was an especially blameworthy step.