Shloka 12
अक्षदेवन-प्रवर्तनम् | Commencement of the Dice Game
अभिमजममुर्महात्मानो मन्त्रवद् भूरिदक्षिणम् । महेन्द्रमिव देवेन्द्र दिवि सप्तर्षयो यथा
abhimajam amur mahātmāno mantravad bhūridakṣiṇam | mahendram iva devendra divi saptarṣayo yathā
Duryodhana disse: “Aqueles sábios de grande alma, como se estivessem realizando um rito com fórmulas sagradas e dádivas abundantes, assistiam-no—tal como os Sete Ṛṣis no céu assistem Mahendra (Indra), o senhor dos deuses.”
दुर्योधन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how ritual authority and social reverence can magnify a person’s stature: when sages honor someone as if in a mantra-guided rite with abundant dakṣiṇā, that person appears almost divinely enthroned. Ethically, it also hints at how such public honor can provoke envy and political resentment in observers like Duryodhana.
Duryodhana describes a scene of eminent sages showing formal, reverential attendance—likened to the Seven Sages attending Indra in heaven—thereby emphasizing the extraordinary honor being accorded to the person in question and setting the emotional tone of awe mixed with Duryodhana’s jealousy.