Shloka 19
जानन्नपि महाबुद्धि: पुनर्दयतमवर्तयत् । अप्यासन्नो विनाश: स्यात् कुरूणामिति चिन्तयन्,परम बुद्धिमान् युधिष्ठिर जूएका परिणाम जानते थे, तो भी यह सोचकर कि सम्भवतः कुरुकुलका विनाश बहुत निकट है, वे द्यूतक्रीड़ामें प्रवृत्त हो गये
jānann api mahābuddhiḥ punar dyūtam avartayat | api āsanno vināśaḥ syāt kurūṇām iti cintayan ||
Vaiśampāyana said: Though he was of great intelligence and knew the likely outcome, he again entered the game of dice, thinking, “Perhaps the destruction of the Kurus is already close at hand.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even a wise person can act against better judgment when caught between foreboding, social pressure, and personal weakness; ethical clarity requires resisting harmful courses of action even when one suspects fate is turning toward ruin.
The narrator states that Yudhiṣṭhira, though aware of the consequences, again proceeds with the dice-play, inwardly thinking that the downfall of the Kuru line may already be near.