Shloka 4
सहदेव उवाच शकुनिस्त्वां यदाजैषीदक्षद्यूतेन भारत । स मया न हतत्तत्र तेन प्राप्ता: सम संशयम्,सहदेवने कहा--भारत! जब शकुनिने आपको जूएमें जीत लिया और उस समय मैंने उसे मार नहीं डाला, उसीका यह फल है कि आज हमलोग धर्मसंकटमें पड़ गये हैं
sahadeva uvāca | śakunis tvāṃ yadājaiṣīd akṣadyūtena bhārata | sa mayā na hataḥ tatra tena prāptāḥ sma saṃśayam ||
Sahadeva said: “O Bhārata, when Śakuni defeated you in the game of dice, I did not kill him then. The consequence of that omission is this: today we have fallen into grave doubt and peril, caught in a crisis of dharma.”
सहदेव उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights moral responsibility and the consequences of failing to act at a decisive moment. Sahadeva frames present suffering as the fruit of earlier restraint or omission, implying that ethical discernment includes timely action to prevent greater adharma.
Sahadeva addresses Yudhiṣṭhira (called ‘Bhārata’) and recalls the dice match where Śakuni won through the dice-game. He laments that he did not kill Śakuni then, and interprets the Pandavas’ current predicament as the result of that missed opportunity.