Shloka 14

अक्षविजय-प्रसङ्गः

Escalation of Wagers and Shakuni’s Repeated Declarations of Victory

Devanagari script

युधिष्ठिर उवाच महाभया: कितवा: संनिविष्टा मायोपधा देवितारोअत्र सन्ति । धात्रा तु दिष्टस्य वशे किलेदं सर्व जगत्‌ तिष्ठति न स्वतन्त्रम्‌

Transliteration

Yudhiṣṭhira uvāca—mahābhayāḥ kitavāḥ sanniviṣṭā māyopadhā devitāro ’tra santi | dhātrā tu diṣṭasya vaśe kiledaṃ sarvaṃ jagat tiṣṭhati na svatantram ||

Translation

Yudhiṣṭhira nói: “Vậy thì quả thật, ở đó tụ hội những tay cờ bạc đáng sợ—xảo trá và đầy mưu mẹo. Bởi toàn thể thế gian này đứng dưới quyền của điều Đấng Tạo Hóa đã định; nó chẳng tự do theo ý mình.”

Word by Word

• {'mahābhayāḥ': 'very dreadful

• causing great fear', 'kitavāḥ': 'gamblers

• dice-players (often with the sense of rogues)', 'sanniviṣṭāḥ': 'seated/assembled

• gathered together', 'māyā-upadhāḥ': 'having deception as a pretext

• employing tricks and fraud', 'devitāraḥ': 'players at dice

• gamblers', 'atra': 'here

• in this place', 'dhātrā': 'by Dhātṛ (the Creator/Ordainer)', 'diṣṭasya': 'of what is ordained/fated

• of destiny', 'vaśe': 'under the control

• in the power', 'kila': 'indeed

• as is said (emphatic particle)', 'idam': 'this', 'sarvam jagat': 'the whole world', 'tiṣṭhati': 'stands

• is sustained', 'na svatantram': 'not independent

Speaker

युधिष्ठिर उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Yudhiṣṭhira
• Dhātṛ (the Creator/Ordainer)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse contrasts human deceit (the gamblers’ trickery) with a broader reflection on destiny: worldly events unfold under an ordained order (diṣṭa) rather than pure personal autonomy, urging ethical caution and humility in judgment.

What is happening in the narrative?

Yudhiṣṭhira reacts to the presence of dangerous, deceitful dice-players and recognizes that the unfolding situation is driven not merely by individual choice but also by a larger force of fate/ordination—foreshadowing the peril of the dice match.