Shloka 1
सभा-पर्व, अध्याय 56: विदुरस्य द्यूत-निन्दा
Vidura’s Censure of Dicing and Warning to the Kurus
ऑपनआक्ात बछ। आर: षट्पज्चाशत्तमो< ध्याय: धृतराष्ट्र और दुर्योधनकी बातचीत, द्यूतक्रीड़ाके लिये सभानिर्माण और धृतराष्ट्रका युधिष्ठिरको बुलानेके लिये विदुरको आज्ञा देना शकुनिरुवाच यां त्वमेतां श्रियं दृष्टवा पाण्डुपुत्रे युधिष्ठिरे । तप्यसे तां हरिष्यामि द्यूतेन जयतां वर
Śakuniḥ uvāca: yāṃ tvam etāṃ śriyaṃ dṛṣṭvā pāṇḍuputre yudhiṣṭhire | tapyase tāṃ hariṣyāmi dyūtena jayatāṃ vara ||
Śakuni berkata: “Wahai yang terbaik di antara para pemenang! Melihat kemakmuran ini pada Yudhiṣṭhira, putra Pāṇḍu, engkau terbakar iri. Aku akan merampas kemuliaan itu darinya melalui perjudian.”
दुर्योधन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse exposes envy as a corrosive motive that seeks to destroy another’s rightful prosperity, and it frames gambling (dyūta) as a tool of deceit rather than honorable contest—an ethical warning about adharma-driven strategy.
Śakuni, aligning with Duryodhana’s jealousy of Yudhiṣṭhira’s success, promises to strip Yudhiṣṭhira of his fortune by defeating him through a dice-game, setting the plot in motion for the infamous gambling episode.