विदुर उवाच
द्यूतं मूलं कलहस्यानुपाति; मिथोभेदाय महते वा रणाय ॥
यद् आस्थितो ऽयं धृतराष्ट्रस्य पुत्रो; दुर्योधनः सृजते वैरम् उग्रम् ॥
प्रातिपीयाः शांतनवा भैमसेनाः सबाह्लिकाः ॥
दुर्योधनापराधेन कृच्छ्रं प्राप्स्यन्ति सर्वशः ॥
दुर्योधनो मदेनैव क्षेमं राष्ट्राद् अपोहति ॥
विषाणं गौर् इव मदात् स्वयम् आरुजते बलात् ॥
vidura uvāca
dyūtaṃ mūlaṃ kalahasyānupāti; mithobhedāya mahate vā raṇāya ||
yad āsthito 'yaṃ dhṛtarāṣṭrasya putro; duryodhanaḥ sṛjate vairam ugram ||
prātipīyāḥ śāṃtanavā bhaimasenāḥ sabāhlikāḥ ||
duryodhanāparādhena kṛcchraṃ prāpsyanti sarvaśaḥ ||
duryodhano madenaiva kṣemaṃ rāṣṭrād apohati ||
viṣāṇaṃ gaur iva madāt svayam ārujate balāt ||
«Gambling is the root of strife, leading to a great mutual rupture or to battle; established in it, this son of Dhritarashtra, Duryodhana, breeds fierce enmity. The Pratipyas, the descendants of Shantanu, the Bhaimasenas together with the Bahlikas — all will come to grief because of Duryodhana's transgression. Through his own madness Duryodhana strips the kingdom of its well-being, as a bull in fury itself breaks its own horn by force.»
891be5d122e1 · published Jul 16, 2026, 4:03:36 PM UTC
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The image is precise: the madman destroys himself, like a bull that in its fury breaks its own horn. It is significant that evil turns first of all against the evildoer himself: the enmity sown by Duryodhana will strike his own house before it strikes others. The verse teaches that a ruler's sin is not a private matter — by “the transgression of one,” grief comes to “all” the houses. And the “root of strife” is named directly — gambling; a seed small in appearance carries war within it. One who, like a maddened bull, wrecks his own in blind passion, reveals the nature of all evil: it is self-destructive. Anger and greed break the one who carries them before they ever reach others.