Shloka 4
Book 3 (Āraṇyaka-parva), Adhyāya 13 — Alliance Gathering; Arjuna’s Praise of Keśava; Draupadī’s Duḥkha-nivedana; Assurances and Vows
पुत्राणां तव राजेन्द्र त्वन्निमित्तमिति प्रभो । तत्राचक्षमहं दोषान् यैर्भवान् व्यतिरोपित:,प्रभो! मैं आपके लिये भीष्म, द्रोण, कृप, बाह्नीक तथा राजा धृतराष्ट्रको बुलाकर कहता--“कुरुवंशके महाराज! आपके पुत्रोंकोी जूआ नहीं खेलना चाहिये।” राजन! मैं द्यूतसभामें जूएके उन दोषोंको स्पष्टरूपसे बताता, जिनके कारण आपको अपने राज्यसे वंचित होना पड़ा है
putrāṇāṁ tava rājendra tvannimittam iti prabho | tatrācakṣam ahaṁ doṣān yair bhavān vyatiropitaḥ ||
Vāyu said: “O king of kings, O lord—(I declared) that the fault lay with your sons, and that it was on your account. There, in that very assembly, I pointed out the evils (of gambling), by which you were deprived and cast out (from your rightful kingdom).”
वायुदेव उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores moral accountability and the destructive consequences of gambling: a ruler must recognize and restrain harmful impulses (especially within one’s own family), because such vices can lead to loss of sovereignty, honor, and social order.
Vāyu recalls how, in the relevant assembly, he explicitly pointed out the faults connected with the dice-game—faults that became the cause of the king’s dispossession and exile—framing the calamity as arising from the sons’ wrongdoing and the chain of causation tied to the king’s situation.