Shloka 30
राजन! तदनन्तर सेना, सुन्दर वस्त्राभूषणोंसे विभूषित कनन््याओं और वारांगनाओंको भेजकर परम बुद्धिमान मत्स्यनरेश हर्षोल्लासमें भरकर इस प्रकार बोले-- ।।
rājan! tadanantaraṃ senāḥ sundara-vastrābhūṣaṇaiḥ vibhūṣitāḥ kanyāḥ vāraṅganāś ca preṣayitvā parama-buddhimān matsya-nareśo harṣollāseṃ bharan itthaṃ uvāca— akṣān āhara sairandhri, kaṭakaṃ dyūtaṃ pravartatām. taṃ tathāvādinaṃ dṛṣṭvā pāṇḍavaḥ pratyabhāṣata— “sairandhrī! yāhi, pāśān ānaya. kaṅka! dyūtaṃ prārabhyatām.”
Sinabi ni Vaiśampāyana: “O Hari! Pagkaraan nito, ang lubhang marunong na pinuno ng Matsya—matapos ipatawag ang kapulungan, kasama ang mga dalaga at mga babaeng tagapag-aliw na nakabihis at nakahiyas nang maringal—ay nagsalita sa nag-uumapaw na galak: ‘Sairandhrī, dalhin ang mga dice; magsimula na ang mabangis na sugal!’ Nang makita siyang magsalita nang gayon, ang Pāṇḍava (Yudhiṣṭhira), na nanatiling panatag, ay sumagot: ‘Sairandhrī, humayo at kunin ang mga dice. Kaṅka, simulan ang laro.’”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the ethical peril of dyūta (gambling): even when framed as entertainment and surrounded by royal pomp, it can become ‘fierce’ and morally corrosive, recalling how gambling previously led to injustice and catastrophe in the Kuru narrative.
At Virāṭa’s court during the Pāṇḍavas’ incognito stay, the Matsya king enthusiastically orders Sairandhrī to bring dice and calls for gambling to begin. Yudhiṣṭhira—known there as Kaṅka—responds by instructing Sairandhrī to fetch the dice and signaling the start of the game.