Shloka 28

सभा-पर्व, अध्याय ६१ — द्रौपदी-प्रश्नः, सभाधर्मः, सत्यवचन-नियमः

Devanagari script

वैशम्पायन उवाच पी आर ९ निकृतिं समुपाश्रित: । शकुनिर्युधिष्ठटिरमभाषत,वैशम्पायनजी कहते हैं--जनमेजय! यह सुनकर शठताके उपासक शकुनिने पुनः युधिष्ठिरसे पूर्ण निश्चयके साथ कहा--“यह दाँव भी मैंने ही जीता है”

Transliteration

Vaiśampāyana uvāca: nikṛtiṁ samupāśritaḥ śakunir yudhiṣṭhiram abhāṣata—“ayaṁ dāvo ’pi mayā eva jitaḥ.”

Translation

Вайшампаяна сказал: Прибегнув к обману, Шакуни обратился к Юдхиштхире с твёрдой уверенностью и заявил: «И этот бросок костей выиграл я один».

Word by Word

वैशम्पायनःVaiśampāyana

उवाचsaid/spoke

निकृतिम्deceit, trickery

समुपाश्रितःhaving resorted to, devoted to

शकुनिःŚakuni

युधिष्ठिरम्Yudhiṣṭhira

अभाषतspoke (to), addressed

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

Janamejaya

Śakuni

Yudhiṣṭhira

dice throw/wager (dāva)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights how adharma operates through deception: Śakuni’s ‘victory’ is explicitly grounded in nikṛti (fraud), contrasting with Yudhiṣṭhira’s dharma-oriented disposition and warning that participation in unethical systems (like rigged gambling) erodes moral agency.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the dice-hall episode, Śakuni—skilled in manipulation—speaks to Yudhiṣṭhira after a throw, asserting with certainty that he has won this stake as well, signaling the continuing, deliberate entrapment of the Pāṇḍava king through a deceitful game.