युधिष्ठिर उवाच
रथानां शकटानां च हयानां चायुतानि मे ॥
युक्तानाम् एव तिष्ठन्ति वाहैर् उच्चावचैर् वृताः ॥
एवं वर्णस्य वर्णस्य समुच्चीय सहस्रशः ॥
क्षीरं पिबन्तस् तिष्ठन्ति भुञ्जानाः शालितण्डुलान् ॥
षष्टिस् तानि सहस्राणि सर्वे पृथुलवक्षसः ॥
एतद् राजन् धनं मह्यं तेन दीव्याम्य् अहं त्वया ॥
वैशंपायन उवाच
एतच् छ्रुत्वा व्यवसितो निकृतिं समुपाश्रितः ॥
जितम् इत्य् एव शकुनिर् युधिष्ठिरम् अभाषत ॥
yudhiṣṭhira uvāca
rathānāṃ śakaṭānāṃ ca hayānāṃ cāyutāni me ||
yuktānām eva tiṣṭhanti vāhair uccāvacair vṛtāḥ ||
evaṃ varṇasya varṇasya samuccīya sahasraśaḥ ||
kṣīraṃ pibantas tiṣṭhanti bhuñjānāḥ śālitaṇḍulān ||
ṣaṣṭis tāni sahasrāṇi sarve pṛthulavakṣasaḥ ||
etad rājan dhanaṃ mahyaṃ tena dīvyāmy ahaṃ tvayā ||
vaiśaṃpāyana uvāca
etac chrutvā vyavasito nikṛtiṃ samupāśritaḥ ||
jitam ity eva śakunir yudhiṣṭhiram abhāṣata ||
[Yudhishthira:] "Tens of thousands of harnessed chariots, carts, and horses stand with me, surrounded by drivers of every kind; and people of every varna, gathered by the thousand, stand there drinking milk and eating shali rice — sixty thousand of them, all broad-chested; this is my wealth, O king, with it I play against you." Hearing this, Shakuni, having resorted to deceit, said to Yudhishthira only: "Won!"
ed0655b373bc · published Jul 16, 2026, 4:03:36 PM UTC
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Now it is the population itself that is staked — "people of every varna," sixty thousand of them. It is telling that the gambling appetite keeps expanding its reach: from goods to herds, from herds to servants, from servants to whole multitudes of people. The verse teaches that passion is never satisfied but only grows: the more that is lost, the larger the next stake, for the one desperate to win back his loss stakes ever more. And the drawing of the fates of thousands of the innocent into the game shows how a ruler's sin drags many down with him: not the gambler alone perishes, but those who depend on him. One who, while gambling, stakes his subjects disposes not only of what is his own but of other people's lives as well; and the ruin of the ruler becomes the ruin of the people.