शकुनिर् उवाच
द्यूतप्रियश् च कौन्तेयो न च जानाति देवितुम् ॥
समाहूतश् च राजेन्द्रो न शक्ष्यति निवर्तितुम् ॥
देवने कुशलश् चाहं न मे ऽस्ति सदृशो भुवि ॥
त्रिषु लोकेषु कौन्तेयं तं त्वं द्यूते समाह्वय ॥
तस्याक्षकुशलो राजन्न् आदास्ये ऽहम् असंशयम् ॥
राज्यं श्रियं च तां दीप्तां त्वदर्थं पुरुषर्षभ ॥
śakunir uvāca
dyūtapriyaś ca kaunteyo na ca jānāti devitum ||
samāhūtaś ca rājendro na śakṣyati nivartitum ||
devane kuśalaś cāhaṃ na me 'sti sadṛśo bhuvi ||
triṣu lokeṣu kaunteyaṃ taṃ tvaṃ dyūte samāhvaya ||
tasyākṣakuśalo rājann ādāsye 'ham asaṃśayam ||
rājyaṃ śriyaṃ ca tāṃ dīptāṃ tvadarthaṃ puruṣarṣabha ||
"Kaunteya loves the game of dice, but does not know how to play; and once challenged, the lord of kings will not be able to refuse. But I am skilled in the game -- there is none like me on earth, in the three worlds; challenge that Kaunteya to a game. Skilled as I am in dice, O king, I shall without doubt take from him his kingdom and that blazing fortune [Shri] -- for your sake, O bull among men."
e97216f1bb74 · published Jul 16, 2026, 3:49:22 PM UTC
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The scheme is now laid bare in its full nakedness: to overcome the righteous man not by force but by catching him at his weakness and beating him by deceit. It is notable that Shakuni takes aim at two things at once -- Yudhishthira's love of the game and his inability to refuse a challenge: the kshatriya's virtue (never to decline a challenge) is turned against him. The verse teaches how cunning evil is: it makes the very virtues of its victim -- his honor and his weakness together -- the instrument of his fall. And Shakuni's 'skill' is the skill of a cheat, proud of his ability to steal. Whoever boasts of being unsurpassed in deceit has raised vice to the level of mastery; and a victory won by trickery is a defeat of the victor's own soul.