Shloka 51
पुनर्द्यूत-समाह्वानम्
Renewed Summons to the Dice-Game and Exile Wager
अशुद्धभावैरनिकृतिप्रवृत्तै- रबुध्यमान: कुरुपाण्डवाग्रय: । सम्भूय सर्वैश्व॒ जितो5पि यस्मात् पश्चादयं कैतवमभ्युपेत:
aśuddhabhāvair anikṛtipravṛttair abudhyamānaḥ kurupāṇḍavāgryaḥ | sambhūya sarvaiś ca jito 'pi yasmāt paścād ayaṃ kaitavam abhyupetaḥ ||
Bhīṣma dit : «Parce que des hommes aux intentions impures — toujours voués à la ruse et à la fraude — se sont ligués et ont d’abord vaincu, au jeu de dés, le roi Yudhiṣṭhira, candide et premier parmi les Kurus et les Pāṇḍava, cet autre acte de tromperie a ensuite été entrepris.»
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhīṣma highlights the ethical collapse that occurs when impure-minded people act in concert: victory gained through fraud is not true victory, and deceit multiplies once dharma is abandoned.
In the aftermath of the dice match, Bhīṣma explains that Yudhiṣṭhira—upright and unsuspecting—was first defeated by a coalition of deceitful men, and that the assembly has then proceeded to further fraudulent measures (the continuing ‘kaitava’) against him.