Shloka 4
Bhīmasena’s Admonition to Yudhiṣṭhira on Rājya and the Ordering of Dharma–Artha–Kāma
Book 3, Chapter 34
महामाय: शकुनि: पर्वतीय: सभामध्ये प्रवपन्नक्षपूगान् । अमायिन॑ मायया प्रत्यजैषीत् ततो<पश्यं वृजिनं भीमसेन,भीमसेन! पर्वतीय प्रदेशका निवासी शकुनि बड़ा मायावी है। उसने द्यूतसभामें पासे फेंककर अपनी मायाद्वारा मुझे जीत लिया; क्योंकि मैं माया नहीं जानता था; इसीलिये मुझे यह संकट देखना पड़ा है
Yudhiṣṭhira uvāca — mahāmāyaḥ śakuniḥ parvatīyaḥ sabhāmadhye prapannākṣapūgān | amāyī māyayā pratyajaiṣīt tato ’paśyaṃ vṛjinaṃ bhīmasena, bhīmasena ||
Yudhiṣṭhira said: “Śakuni, a mountain-born man of great deceit, cast heaps of dice in the assembly and, by his trickery, defeated me—who was not versed in such guile. Therefore, O Bhīmasena, I came to behold this calamity.”
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the ethical danger of entering contests (especially gambling) where deceit and manipulation dominate: innocence or lack of guile (amāyī) can become a vulnerability, and one must exercise discernment and restraint to protect dharma and avoid foreseeable ruin.
Yudhiṣṭhira addresses Bhīma, recalling how Śakuni, skilled in trickery, cast the dice in the royal assembly and defeated him through deceptive means; Yudhiṣṭhira attributes the ensuing calamity to his own lack of such cunning and his being outmatched in that setting.