Shloka 45
Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s Counsel on Restraint and the Pāṇḍavas’ Authorized Return (धृतराष्ट्र-उपदेशः)
सौबलस्त्वभिधायैवं जितकाशी मदोत्कट: । जितमित्येव तानक्षान् पुनरेवान्वपद्यत,सुबलपुत्र शकुनिने मैंने यह भी जीत लिया, ऐसा कहकर पासोंको पुनः उठा लिया। उस समय वह विजयोल्लाससे सुशोभित और मदोन्मत्त हो रहा था
Saubalastv abhidhāyaivaṃ jitakāśī madotkaṭaḥ | jitam ity eva tān akṣān punar evānvapadyata ||
Vaiśampāyana berkata: Setelah berkata demikian, Śakuni—putera Subala—yang meluap dengan bangga kemenangan dan mabuk oleh kejayaan, mengisytiharkan, “Aku telah menang,” lalu sekali lagi mengambil dadu itu.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how victory gained through unethical means breeds arrogance and loss of self-control. Śakuni’s repeated return to the dice after declaring victory illustrates the compulsive pull of gambling and the moral danger of pride (mada) that pushes one further into adharma.
Vaiśampāyana narrates that Śakuni, flushed with triumph, proclaims he has won and immediately takes up the dice again—signaling the continuation of the rigged gambling sequence in the royal assembly and the escalating humiliation and ruin it brings to the opposing side.