Shloka 11
युधिष्ठिरस्य द्यूते द्रव्यवर्णनम्
Yudhiṣṭhira’s Enumeration of Stakes in the Dice Match
अन्तर्वेद्यां ददद् वित्तं कामाननुभवन् प्रियान् क्रीडन् स्त्रीभिर्निरातडुक: प्रशाम्य भरतर्षभ
Dhṛtarāṣṭra uvāca: antarvedyāṁ dadad vittaṁ kāmān anubhavan priyān krīḍan strībhir nirātaṅkaḥ praśāmya bharatarṣabha.
Dhṛtarāṣṭra berkata: “Wahai yang terbaik di antara keturunan Bharata, berdiam dalam damai—berikanlah harta sebagai derma di dalam lingkup upacara yajña, nikmatilah kesenangan yang disukai hatimu, dan tanpa takut maupun gelisah, bersenang-senanglah bersama para wanita.”
घतरयाट्र उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse presents a model of worldly pacification: peace is sought through ritual giving (dāna in the sacrificial space) and the sanctioned enjoyment of pleasures (kāma), coupled with a call to be ‘nirātaṅka’—free from anxiety. Ethically, it reflects a tension in the epic between outward prosperity/ritual merit and deeper justice-oriented dharma.
Dhṛtarāṣṭra addresses a Bharata hero (honorific ‘bharatarṣabha’), advising him to settle down calmly by donating wealth in a sacrificial context and enjoying agreeable pleasures without fear—an attempt to soothe, normalize, or redirect conduct through ritual and comfort.