Shloka 14
Āśvamedhika-parva Adhyāya 1 — Yudhiṣṭhira’s Lament by the Gaṅgā and Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s Counsel
कर्णश्न शकुनिश्चैव नैनं पश्यतु कहिचित् । द्यूतसंघातमप्येषामप्रमादेन वारय,“कर्ण और शकुनिको इससे कभी मिलने न दीजिये। आप पूर्ण सावधान रहकर इन सबके द्यूतविषयक संगठनको रोकिये
karṇaś ca śakuniś caiva nainaṁ paśyatu karhi cit | dyūtasaṅghātam apy eṣām apramādena vārayet ||
Vaiśaṃpāyana said: “Let neither Karṇa nor Śakuni ever meet him. And with unremitting vigilance, restrain even the slightest gathering among them that tends toward gambling—so that no reckless counsel or deceitful play can again set dharma aside.”
वैशमग्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Negligence (apramāda) in guarding against known sources of adharma—here, the influence of Karṇa and Śakuni and the lure of gambling—can reopen the path to ruin; therefore one must proactively prevent the conditions that enable deceit and reckless decision-making.
The narrator Vaiśaṃpāyana reports an instruction to keep a certain person away from Karṇa and Śakuni and to prevent any dice-related gatherings among their circle, reflecting the epic’s memory of how gambling and manipulative counsel previously triggered catastrophic conflict.