Shloka 18
सभा-पर्व, अध्याय ६१ — द्रौपदी-प्रश्नः, सभाधर्मः, सत्यवचन-नियमः
वैशम्पायन उवाच इत्येवंवादिनं पार्थ प्रहसन्निव सौबल: । जितमित्येव शकुनिर्युधिष्ठिरमभाषत
vaiśampāyana uvāca | ityevaṃ-vādinaṃ pārtha prahasan iva saubalaḥ | jitam ity eva śakunir yudhiṣṭhiram abhāṣata ||
وَیشَمپایَن نے کہا—اے جنمیجَے! یوں کہتے ہوئے کُنتی پُتر یُدھِشٹھِر سے سَوبَل شکُنی گویا ہنستے ہوئے بولا—“جیت گیا—ہاں، یہ داؤ بھی میں ہی جیتا ہوں۔”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how adherence to outward rules without vigilance for inner fairness can be exploited: Yudhiṣṭhira’s commitment to the formal process of the game becomes a vulnerability when faced with Śakuni’s mockery and manipulative certainty of victory.
In the dice-hall episode, as Yudhiṣṭhira speaks, Śakuni—laughing derisively—declares that he has won this stake too, intensifying the humiliation and signaling the continuing, calculated domination of the game.