शकुनिर् उवाच
अमुञ्चत् स्थविरो यद् वो धनं पूजितम् एव तत् ॥
महाधनं ग्लहं त्व् एकं शृणु मे भरतर्षभ ॥
वयं द्वादश वर्षाणि युष्माभिर् द्यूतनिर्जिताः ॥
प्रविशेम महारण्यं रौरवाजिनवाससः ॥
त्रयोदशं च सजने अज्ञाताः परिवत्सरम् ॥
ज्ञाताश् च पुनर् अन्यानि वने वर्षाणि द्वादश ॥
अस्माभिर् वा जिता यूयं वने वर्षाणि द्वादश ॥
वसध्वं कृष्णया सार्धम् अजिनैः प्रतिवासिताः ॥
त्रयोदशे च निर्वृत्ते पुनर् एव यथोचितम् ॥
स्वराज्यं प्रतिपत्तव्यम् इतरैर् अथ वेतरैः ॥
अनेन व्यवसायेन सहास्माभिर् युधिष्ठिर ॥
अक्षान् उप्त्वा पुनर्द्यूतम् एहि दीव्यस्व भारत ॥
śakunir uvāca
amuñcat sthaviro yad vo dhanaṃ pūjitam eva tat ||
mahādhanaṃ glahaṃ tv ekaṃ śṛṇu me bharatarṣabha ||
vayaṃ dvādaśa varṣāṇi yuṣmābhir dyūtanirjitāḥ ||
praviśema mahāraṇyaṃ rauravājinavāsasaḥ ||
trayodaśaṃ ca sajane ajñātāḥ parivatsaram ||
jñātāś ca punar anyāni vane varṣāṇi dvādaśa ||
asmābhir vā jitā yūyaṃ vane varṣāṇi dvādaśa ||
vasadhvaṃ kṛṣṇayā sārdham ajinaiḥ prativāsitāḥ ||
trayodaśe ca nirvṛtte punar eva yathocitam ||
svarājyaṃ pratipattavyam itarair atha vetaraiḥ ||
anena vyavasāyena sahāsmābhir yudhiṣṭhira ||
akṣān uptvā punardyūtam ehi dīvyasva bhārata ||
[Śakuni:] "The wealth that the old man released to you — that we honor; but hear from me one wager of great worth, O bull among the Bharatas. We, if defeated by you at dice, shall enter the great forest for twelve years, clad in the skins of ruru deer, and spend the thirteenth year unrecognized among people; but if we are recognized, again twelve years in the forest. Or you, if defeated by us, shall dwell in the forest for twelve years, together with Kṛṣṇā, clothed in skins; and when the thirteenth year has passed, let one's own kingdom be regained again, as is fitting — whether by those who won or by the others. With this agreement, having thrown the dice, come and play with us, O Yudhiṣṭhira, O Bhārata."
7ffae3ff6159 · published Jul 16, 2026, 4:12:36 PM UTC
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The stake is no longer gold but the very years of life and the fate of the throne: a single throw will decide the lot of thirteen years and the destiny of the kingdom. Śakuni clothes his fraud in a guise of generosity — "we honor the wealth" — pretending to forgo the small for the sake of an honest and great wager; but the loaded die in his hand makes the "agreement" predetermined. Thus evil, sated with property, reaches for the victim's very life, and the higher the stake, the more evident its insatiability. The verse teaches that deceit always increases its demands until it meets resistance; that a show of generosity in small things serves to cloak plunder in great ones; and that consenting to play with a known cheat is consenting to defeat, however "equal" the agreement is called.