Mahabharata 2.53.11–12

Dyūta-parva (dyūta-prārambha) (The Beginning of the Dice Game)2.53.11–12

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Mahabharata · 2.53.11–12

॥

Devanāgarī

शकुनिर् उवाच
श्रोत्रियो ऽश्रोत्रियम् उत निकृत्यैव युधिष्ठिर ॥
विद्वान् अविदुषो ऽभ्येति नाहुस् तां निकृतिं जनाः ॥
एवं त्वं माम् इहाभ्येत्य निकृतिं यदि मन्यसे ॥
देवनाद् विनिवर्तस्व यदि ते विद्यते भयम् ॥

Transliteration (IAST)

śakunir uvāca
śrotriyo 'śrotriyam uta nikṛtyaiva yudhiṣṭhira ||
vidvān aviduṣo 'bhyeti nāhus tāṃ nikṛtiṃ janāḥ ||
evaṃ tvaṃ mām ihābhyetya nikṛtiṃ yadi manyase ||
devanād vinivartasva yadi te vidyate bhayam ||

Word-by-word

SanskritIASTMeaning

श्रोत्रियो ऽश्रोत्रियम् उतśrotriyo 'śrotriyam uta"the learned [approaches] the unlearned,

निकृत्या एव युधिष्ठिरnikṛtyā eva yudhiṣṭhira[through] deceit, O Yudhishthira;

विद्वान् अविदुषो ऽभ्येतिvidvān aviduṣo 'bhyetithe skilled approaches [overcomes] the unskilled —

नाहुस् तां निकृतिं जनाःnāhus tāṃ nikṛtiṃ janāḥ[but] people do not call that deceit;

एवं त्वं माम् इह अभ्येत्यevaṃ tvaṃ mām iha abhyetyaso you too, having come here to me,

निकृतिं यदि मन्यसेnikṛtiṃ yadi manyaseif you think [it] to be deceit,

देवनाद् विनिवर्तस्वdevanād vinivartasvawithdraw from the game,

यदि ते विद्यते भयम्yadi te vidyate bhayamif you have fear."

शकुनिर्śakuniroriginal form "śakunir", added to complete the word-by-word coverage

निकृत्यैवnikṛtyaivaoriginal form "nikṛtyaiva", added to complete the word-by-word coverage

इहाभ्येत्यihābhyetyaoriginal form "ihābhyetya", added to complete the word-by-word coverage

Translation

[Shakuni:] "The learned [man overcomes] the unlearned through deceit, O Yudhishthira; the skilled approaches the unskilled — but people do not call this deceit. So you too, having come here to me, if you think [this] to be deceit — withdraw from the game, if you have fear."

Commentary

Shakuni pushes the sophistry to its edge: every superiority of skill, he says, is "deceit," yet it is not called deceit — therefore his own cheating is not deceit either. It is telling how falsehood conflates things that cannot be conflated: he places honest superiority of knowledge and dishonest trickery in the same rank, to justify the second by the first. The verse teaches how to recognize this substitution: not every advantage equals deceit, and the skill of an honest man is not comparable to the maneuver of a sharper. And the barb — "withdraw, if you are afraid" — is aimed at honor: to wound pride so as to strip away judgment. One who, lacking an argument, appeals to shame — "or are you a coward?" — drags the victim along not by truth but by wounded vanity.

Version

19d56b65c295 · published Jul 16, 2026, 4:03:36 PM UTC

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