Shloka 30
राजन! तदनन्तर सेना, सुन्दर वस्त्राभूषणोंसे विभूषित कनन््याओं और वारांगनाओंको भेजकर परम बुद्धिमान मत्स्यनरेश हर्षोल्लासमें भरकर इस प्रकार बोले-- ।। अक्षानाहर सैरन्ध्रि कड़क द्यूतं प्रवर्तताम् । त॑ तथावादिनं दृष्टवा पाण्डव: प्रत्यभाषत,'सैरन्ध्री! जा, पासे ले आ। कंक! जूआ प्रारम्भ हो। “उन्हें ऐसा कहते देख पाण्डुनन्दन युधिष्ठिर बोले---
rājan! tadanantaraṃ senāḥ sundara-vastrābhūṣaṇaiḥ vibhūṣitāḥ kanyāḥ vāraṅganāś ca preṣayitvā parama-buddhimān matsya-nareśo harṣollāseṃ bharan itthaṃ uvāca— akṣān āhara sairandhri, kaṭakaṃ dyūtaṃ pravartatām. taṃ tathāvādinaṃ dṛṣṭvā pāṇḍavaḥ pratyabhāṣata— “sairandhrī! yāhi, pāśān ānaya. kaṅka! dyūtaṃ prārabhyatām.”
Vaiśampāyana said: “O King! Thereafter, the supremely intelligent ruler of Matsya—having sent for the assembly, along with maidens and courtesans adorned in fine garments and ornaments—spoke in exuberant delight: ‘Sairandhrī, bring the dice; let the fierce game of gambling begin!’ Seeing him speak thus, the Pāṇḍava (Yudhiṣṭhira), maintaining composure, replied: ‘Sairandhrī, go and fetch the dice. Kaṅka, let the game commence.’”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the ethical peril of dyūta (gambling): even when framed as entertainment and surrounded by royal pomp, it can become ‘fierce’ and morally corrosive, recalling how gambling previously led to injustice and catastrophe in the Kuru narrative.
At Virāṭa’s court during the Pāṇḍavas’ incognito stay, the Matsya king enthusiastically orders Sairandhrī to bring dice and calls for gambling to begin. Yudhiṣṭhira—known there as Kaṅka—responds by instructing Sairandhrī to fetch the dice and signaling the start of the game.