Shloka 15

Adhyāya 59: Vidura’s Admonition to Duryodhana after the Summons of Draupadī (सभा पर्व)

Devanagari script

अक्षेहि शिक्षितो5भ्येति निकृत्यैव युधिष्ठिर । विद्वानविदुषो5भ्येति नाहुस्तां निकृतिं जना:,धर्मराज! जो द्यूतविद्यामें पूर्ण शिक्षित है, वह अशिक्षितोंपर शठतासे ही विजय पाता है। विद्वान्‌ पुरुष अविद्वानोंको जो परास्त करता है, वह भी शठता ही है; किंतु लोग उसे शठता नहीं कहते

Transliteration

akṣaiḥ śikṣito 'bhyeti nikṛtyaiva yudhiṣṭhira | vidvān aviduṣo 'bhyeti nāhus tāṁ nikṛtiṁ janāḥ ||

Translation

Yudhiṣṭhira dit : «Au jeu de dés, celui qui est parfaitement entraîné ne triomphe de l’inexpérimenté que par ruse. De même, quand l’instruit vainc l’ignorant, c’est encore une forme de tromperie ; pourtant les gens ne l’appellent pas tromperie.»

Word by Word

अक्षेषुin dice (in the game of dice)

शिक्षितःtrained, instructed

अभ्येतिovercomes, wins against

निकृत्याby deceit, by trickery

एवindeed, only

युधिष्ठिरO Yudhiṣṭhira

विद्वान्a learned man

अविदुषःof an unlearned man

अभ्येतिovercomes, wins against

नnot

आहुःthey say, they call

ताम्that (deceit)

निकृतिम्deceit, trickery

जनाःpeople

Speaker

युधिषछिर उवाच

Characters & Entities

Yudhiṣṭhira

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Yudhiṣṭhira highlights a moral inconsistency: advantage gained through superior skill over the unskilled can resemble deceit, especially in gambling, yet society often excuses it when it appears as ‘learning’ or ‘expertise’ rather than trickery.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the context of the dice episode in the Sabha Parva, Yudhiṣṭhira reflects on how a trained gambler defeats an untrained opponent through unfair advantage, questioning whether such victory is ethically different from outright fraud.