Shloka 19
Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s Counsel on Restraint and the Pāṇḍavas’ Authorized Return (धृतराष्ट्र-उपदेशः)
युधिष्ठिर बोले--ओ मूढ़! तू निश्चय ही अधर्मका आचरण कर रहा है, जो न्यायकी ओर नहीं देखता। तू शुद्ध हृदयवाले हमारे भाइयोंमें फ़ूट डालना चाहता है ।।
Yudhiṣṭhira uvāca—O mūḍha! tvaṃ niścaya hi adharmasya ācaraṇaṃ karoṣi, yo nyāyasya diśaṃ na paśyasi. tvaṃ śuddha-hṛdayān asmān bhrātṝn bhedayitum icchasi. || Śakuniḥ uvāca—garte mattaḥ prapatate pramattaḥ sthāṇum ṛcchati. jyeṣṭho rājan variṣṭho ’si, namas te bharatarṣabha. ||
Yudhiṣṭhira nói: “Đồ ngu! Ngươi quả thật đang hành xử phi chính pháp, vì ngươi chẳng nhìn về phía công lý. Ngươi muốn gieo rắc chia rẽ giữa anh em chúng ta—những người có tấm lòng trong sạch.” Śakuni nói: “Kẻ say sưa rơi xuống hố; kẻ bất cẩn lao vào cột. Tâu Đại vương, ngài là trưởng huynh và là bậc ưu việt; xin cúi chào ngài, hỡi tráng sĩ kiệt xuất của dòng Bharata.”
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
Yudhiṣṭhira frames the issue as a moral one: ignoring nyāya (justice) and deliberately creating bheda (division) among brothers is adharma. Śakuni’s reply, cloaked in respectful address, uses proverbial imagery to imply that heedlessness leads to ruin—yet it also functions as rhetorical deflection rather than sincere ethical correction.
In the Sabha setting amid the tensions around the dice-game episode, Yudhiṣṭhira directly accuses Śakuni of unrighteous conduct and of trying to split the Pāṇḍava brothers. Śakuni responds with a proverb about the careless meeting disaster and then flatters Yudhiṣṭhira as the eldest and best, masking his manipulative intent under politeness.