Shloka 39
सहदेव उवाच अक्षान् यान् मन्यसे मूढ गान्धाराणां यशोहर । नैते5क्षा निशिता बाणास्त्वयैते समरे वृता:
sahadeva uvāca | akṣān yān manyase mūḍha gāndhārāṇāṁ yaśohara | naite 'kṣā niśitā bāṇās tvayāite samare vṛtāḥ ||
Sahadeva berkata: “Wahai si bodoh—pencemar nama baik kaum Gandhāra! Dadu yang kau sangka kau lempar itu bukanlah dadu. Itu anak panah yang tajam; dengan memilih permainan ini, sesungguhnya kau telah memilihnya untuk medan perang.”
सहदेव उवाच
Educational Q&A
Unrighteous means (deceitful gambling) are not harmless play; they are morally equivalent to violence because they inflict ruin and inevitably summon retaliation. Sahadeva frames the dice as ‘arrows’ to stress accountability and the karmic/ethical consequences of adharma.
In the wake of the dice-game outrage, Sahadeva addresses Śakuni with contempt, declaring that the ‘dice’ Śakuni relies on are effectively weapons. The statement foreshadows that the injustice of the game will culminate in war, with Śakuni’s choices becoming a cause of armed conflict.