नाहं राज्ञो धृतराष्ट्रस्य शासनान्; न गन्तुम् इच्छामि कवे दुरोदरम् ॥
इष्टो हि पुत्रस्य पिता सदैव; तद् अस्मि कर्ता विदुरात्थ मां यथा ॥
न चाकामः शकुनिना देविताहं; न चेन् मां धृष्णुर् आह्वयिता सभायाम् ॥
आहूतो ऽहं न निवर्ते कदा चित्; तद् आहितं शाश्वतं वै व्रतं मे ॥
nāhaṃ rājño dhṛtarāṣṭrasya śāsanān; na gantum icchāmi kave durodaram ||
iṣṭo hi putrasya pitā sadaiva; tad asmi kartā vidurāttha māṃ yathā ||
na cākāmaḥ śakuninā devitāhaṃ; na cen māṃ dhṛṣṇur āhvayitā sabhāyām ||
āhūto 'haṃ na nivarte kadā cit; tad āhitaṃ śāśvataṃ vai vrataṃ me ||
[Yudhishthira:] 'It is only by the command of King Dhritarashtra; I myself do not wish to go to the game, O seer; but a father is always honored by his son—therefore I will do as you have told me, Vidura. Nor is it by my own desire that I would play with Shakuni; but if some insolent one should challenge me in the assembly—once challenged, I never withdraw: such is my established, eternal vow.'
224e508384e2 · published Jul 16, 2026, 4:03:36 PM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
Yudhishthira is drawn into the trap not by passion or greed, but by two virtues: reverence for his elder and a vow never to refuse a challenge. It is telling, and tragic, that precisely the hero's own dharma becomes the instrument of his downfall: wrongdoing could not overcome him through vice—it caught him through honor. The verse teaches how subtle evil is: having no power over the righteous through weakness, it snares him through his very strength—through fidelity to his word. But herein lies Yudhishthira's greatness too: he goes, knowing the deceit, not for the sake of the game but for the sake of an unbroken vow and reverence for his father. A fall into which fidelity to dharma leads is not a fall of the soul; to fall while keeping one's vow is purer than to stand firm by breaking it.