Shloka 14
Book 3 (Āraṇyaka-parva), Adhyāya 13 — Alliance Gathering; Arjuna’s Praise of Keśava; Draupadī’s Duḥkha-nivedana; Assurances and Vows
असांनिध्यं तु कौरव्य ममानर्तेष्वभूत् तदा | येनेदं व्यसन प्राप्ता भवन्तो द्यूतकारितम्,कुरुश्रेष्ठ! मैं उन दिनों आनर्तदेशमें ही नहीं था, इसीलिये आपलोगोंपर यह द्यूतजनित संकट आ गया
asānnidhyaṃ tu kauravya mamānarteṣv abhūt tadā | yenedaṃ vyasanaṃ prāptā bhavanto dyūtakāritam kuruśreṣṭha |
Dijo Vāyu: «Oh descendiente de los Kurus, en aquel tiempo yo no estaba presente en la tierra de Ānarta. Por esa ausencia, oh el mejor de los Kurus, todos vosotros caísteis en esta calamidad: este desastre provocado por el juego de dados.»
वायुदेव उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames gambling as an ethically destructive cause of ruin (vyasana) and highlights how the absence of a protective or guiding presence can allow adharma-driven events to unfold. It implicitly warns that dyūta (gambling) invites calamity and social collapse.
Vāyu addresses a Kuru prince and explains that he was not present in Ānarta at the relevant time; due to that absence, the Kuru heroes suffered a crisis brought on by the dice-game—an allusion to the chain of events triggered by the infamous gambling match.