Shloka 10
Saṃjaya’s Warning to Dhṛtarāṣṭra: Accountability, Alliance-Shift, and the Pāṇḍava Strategic Edge
कुमारवच्च स्मयसे द्यूते विनिकृतेषु यत् । पाण्डवेषु वने राजन प्रव्रजत्सु पुन: पुनः:
kumāravac ca smayase dyūte vinikṛteṣu yat | pāṇḍaveṣu vane rājan pravrajatsu punaḥ punaḥ ||
Sañjaya berkata: “Wahai Raja, engkau tersenyum seperti kanak-kanak terhadap perbuatan tipu daya dalam permainan dadu; dan engkau terus tersenyum berulang-ulang ketika para Pāṇḍava dihalau berangkat ke rimba.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
Taking delight in wrongdoing—especially fraud and the suffering it causes—reveals moral immaturity and a failure of kingship. The verse censures the king’s complacent pleasure in an unjust dice-game and its cruel consequence: the repeated exile of the righteous.
Sañjaya rebukes Dhṛtarāṣṭra, pointing out that he smiles childishly at the deceit in the dice match and continues to do so as the Pāṇḍavas are repeatedly sent away to the forest—highlighting the king’s complicity and lack of remorse.