शकुनिर् उवाच
यो ऽन्वेति संख्यां निकृतौ विधिज्ञश्; चेष्टास्व् अखिन्नः कितवो ऽक्षजासु ॥
महामतिर् यश् च जानाति द्यूतं; स वै सर्वं सहते प्रक्रियासु ॥
अक्षग्लहः सो ऽभिभवेत् परं नस्; तेनैव कालो भवतीदम् आत्थ ॥
दीव्यामहे पार्थिव मा विशङ्कां; कुरुष्व पाणं च चिरं च मा कृथाः ॥
śakunir uvāca
yo 'nveti saṃkhyāṃ nikṛtau vidhijñaś; ceṣṭāsv akhinnaḥ kitavo 'kṣajāsu ||
mahāmatir yaś ca jānāti dyūtaṃ; sa vai sarvaṃ sahate prakriyāsu ||
akṣaglahaḥ so 'bhibhavet paraṃ nas; tenaiva kālo bhavatīdam āttha ||
dīvyāmahe pārthiva mā viśaṅkāṃ; kuruṣva pāṇaṃ ca ciraṃ ca mā kṛthāḥ ||
[Shakuni:] "Whoever follows the calculation in [this] game, a knower of the rules, untiring in the casts of the dice, and whoever, of great intellect, knows the game — he overcomes all in its maneuvers. The throw of the dice would defeat any opponent of ours; that is the point — that is why you speak as you do. Let us play, O king; do not doubt, make your stake, and do not delay."
b86eea5905ba · published Jul 16, 2026, 4:03:36 PM UTC
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Shakuni elevates skill in deceit into a virtue: "the knower prevails." It is telling that he does not deny his superiority in trickery but takes pride in it as an art. The verse teaches that vice knows how to dress itself as mastery: what Yudhishthira called deceit, Shakuni names knowledge of the rules and skill. And "do not delay, make your stake" is the haste of the tempter: he hurries while the victim has not yet changed his mind, for delay and reflection are the enemies of his design. Thus evil drives toward a decision without giving time to think again. One who hurries another toward a step the other hesitates over most often knows that step is ruinous.