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: “Melihat kemakmuran dan tuah diraja ini pada Yudhiṣṭhira, putera Pāṇḍu, engkau terbakar oleh iri hati. Aku akan merampas sinar kemuliaan itu daripadanya melalui perjudian—wahai yang terbaik antara para pemenang.”
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.