Shloka 4

Dyūta-kathā-praśnaḥ — Inquiry into the Dice-Game Calamity

Devanagari script

अथोपविष्ट राजानं भ्रातृभि: परिवारितम्‌ | उवाच भगवान्‌ व्यासस्तत्तद्वाक्यविशारद:,भाइयोंसे घिरे हुए राजा युधिष्ठिरके बैठ जानेपर बातचीतमें कुशल भगवान्‌ व्यासने उनसे कहा--

Transliteration

athopaviṣṭaṁ rājānaṁ bhrātṛbhiḥ parivāritam | uvāca bhagavān vyāsas tattad-vākya-viśāradaḥ ||

Translation

സഹോദരന്മാർ ചുറ്റിനിന്ന രാജാവ് യുധിഷ്ഠിരൻ ഇരുന്ന ശേഷം, അവസരോചിത വാക്കുകളിൽ നിപുണനായ ഭഗവാൻ വ്യാസൻ അവനോട് പറഞ്ഞു—

Word by Word

अथthen/thereupon

उपविष्टेwhen (he) had sat down

राजानम्the king

भ्रातृभिःby (his) brothers

परिवारितम्surrounded/attended

उवाचsaid/spoke

भगवान्the venerable/lordly

व्यासःVyasa

तत्that

तत्that (various/that-and-that)

वाक्यविशारदःskilled in speech/words

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

Vyāsa

Yudhiṣṭhira

the brothers of Yudhiṣṭhira (Pāṇḍavas, implied)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights the ethical importance of timely, context-sensitive speech in matters of governance: a righteous king benefits from counsel delivered by a wise authority who knows how to speak appropriately to the situation.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the royal assembly context, Yudhiṣṭhira sits with his brothers around him, and the sage Vyāsa begins to address him, signaling the start of an advisory or consequential conversation.