Shloka 33

Devanagari script

ताभ्यां द्यूतं समासक्तं विजयायेतराय च । अस्माकं पाण्डवानां च स्थितानां रणमूर्धनि,उन दोनोंने युद्धके मुहानेपर खड़े हुए हमलोगों तथा पाण्डवोंकी विजय अथवा पराजयके लिये रणद्यूत आरम्भ किया था

Transliteration

tābhyāṃ dyūtaṃ samāsaktaṃ vijayāyetarāya ca | asmākaṃ pāṇḍavānāṃ ca sthitānāṃ raṇamūrdhani ||

Translation

Sañjaya nói: “Hai người ấy, đứng ngay nơi mũi nhọn chiến trường, đã khởi sự ‘ván cờ chiến tranh’ khốc liệt—một canh bạc đặt cược thắng hay bại cho chúng ta và cho các Pāṇḍava.”

Word by Word

• ताभ्याम्: by those two (fem.)
• ताभ्याम्: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: feminine, instrumental, dual

• द्यूतम्: game; gambling
• द्यूतम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: द्यूत (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: neuter, accusative, singular

• समासक्तम्: attached/engaged (in)
• समासक्तम्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: सम्-आ-√सञ्ज् (क्त)
• Form: neuter, accusative, singular

• विजयाय: for victory
• विजयाय: Sampradana
• Type: Noun
• Root: विजय (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: masculine, dative, singular

• इतराय: for the other (i.e., defeat)
• इतराय: Sampradana
• Type: Adjective
• Root: इतर (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: feminine, dative, singular

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च

• अस्माकम्: of us
• Type: Noun
• Root: अस्मद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: common, genitive, plural

• पाण्डवानाम्: of the Pandavas
• Type: Noun
• Root: पाण्डव (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: masculine, genitive, plural

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च

• स्थितानाम्: of those standing
• Type: Adjective
• Root: √स्था (क्त)
• Form: masculine, genitive, plural

• रणमूर्धनि: on the battlefield-front/at the head of battle
• रणमूर्धनि: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: रणमूर्धन् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: neuter, locative, singular

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• Pāṇḍavas
• Kauravas (implied by asmākam)
• battlefield (raṇamūrdhan)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse frames warfare as dyūta (gambling), highlighting the ethical danger of treating human lives and collective destiny as stakes in a contest driven by attachment to victory. It implicitly critiques the mentality that reduces dharma and responsibility to a win–lose wager.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya describes two principal warriors confronting each other at the battle’s forefront and commencing a decisive engagement, upon which the victory or defeat of both sides—Kauravas and Pāṇḍavas—seems to hang.