Shloka 10
Adhyāya 59: Vidura’s Admonition to Duryodhana after the Summons of Draupadī (सभा पर्व)
इदं वै देवनं पापं निकृत्या कितवै: सह । धर्मेण तु जयो युद्धे तत्परं न तु देवनम्
idaṁ vai devanaṁ pāpaṁ nikṛtyā kitavaiḥ saha | dharmeṇa tu jayo yuddhe tat-paraṁ na tu devanam ||
Yudhiṣṭhira berkata: “Perjudian ini sungguh berdosa bila dilakukan dengan tipu daya di tengah para penjudi. Kemenangan yang selaras dengan dharma diraih dalam peperangan; karena itu, bagi para kṣatriya, jalan yang patut adalah bertekun pada perang, bukan pada perjudian.”
युधिषछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
Gambling—especially when mixed with deceit and the company of habitual gamblers—is condemned as sinful; for a kṣatriya, righteous victory aligned with dharma is properly sought in open battle, not through dice.
In the dice-hall context of the Sabha Parva, Yudhiṣṭhira voices a moral judgment on dice-play, contrasting it with the kṣatriya ideal of winning honorably through warfare rather than through fraudulent gambling.