Mahabharata — Anushasana Parva, Shloka 25
Śulka, Kanyā, and Dauhitra-Riktha: Discourse on Bride-Price and Inheritance Rights (शुल्क-कन्या-दौहित्र-रिक्थविचारः)
ततः षडन्यान् पुरुषानक्षै: काउ्चनराजतै: । अपश्यद् दीव्यमानान् वै लोभहर्षान्वितांस्तथा
tataḥ ṣaḍ anyān puruṣān akṣaiḥ kāñcana-rājataiḥ | apaśyad dīvyamānān vai lobha-harṣānvitāṃs tathā ||
भीष्म बोले—तब विपुल ने छह अन्य पुरुषों को देखा, जो सोने-चाँदी के पासों से जुआ खेल रहे थे। वे लोभ और हर्ष में डूबे हुए थे और पहले स्त्री-पुरुष के जोड़े द्वारा ली गई वही शपथ वे भी दोहरा रहे थे। विपुल की ओर दृष्टि करके उन्होंने उससे कहा।
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames gambling as a moral snare: the gamblers are driven by lobha (greed) and harṣa (intoxicating excitement). In dharma-literature, such states cloud judgment and make one prone to rash vows and unethical acts, so the implied teaching is vigilance and self-restraint when confronted by alluring but destabilizing pleasures.
Vipula encounters another group—six men—engaged in dice-play with luxurious (gold and silver) dice. Like the earlier couple, they are making a certain oath and then address Vipula directly, setting up the next exchange in which Vipula is tested or instructed.