एकाह्ना द्रव्यनाशो ऽत्र ध्रुवं व्यसनम् एव च ॥
अभुक्तनाशश् चार्थानां वाक्पारुष्यं च केवलम् ॥
एतच् चान्यच् च कौरव्य प्रसङ्गि कटुकोदयम् ॥
द्यूते ब्रूयां महाबाहो समासाद्याम्बिकासुतम् ॥
एवम् उक्तो यदि मया गृह्णीयाद् वचनं मम ॥
अनामयं स्याद् धर्मस्य कुरूणां कुरुनन्दन ॥
न चेत् स मम राजेन्द्र गृह्णीयान् मधुरं वचः ॥
पथ्यं च भरतश्रेष्ठ निगृह्णीयां बलेन तम् ॥
अथैनान् अभिनीयैवं सुहृदो नाम दुर्हृदः ॥
सभासदश् च तान् सर्वान् भेदयेयं दुरोदरान् ॥
असांनिध्यं तु कौरव्य ममानर्तेष्व् अभूत् तदा ॥
येनेदं व्यसनं प्राप्ता भवन्तो द्यूतकारितम् ॥
सो ऽहम् एत्य कुरुश्रेष्ठ द्वारकां पाण्डुनन्दन ॥
अश्रौषं त्वां व्यसनिनं युयुधानाद् यथातथम् ॥
श्रुत्वैव चाहं राजेन्द्र परमोद्विग्नमानसः ॥
तूर्णम् अभ्यागतो ऽस्मि त्वां द्रष्टुकामो विशां पते ॥
अहो कृच्छ्रम् अनुप्राप्ताः सर्वे स्म भरतर्षभ ॥
ये वयं त्वां व्यसनिनं पश्यामः सह सोदरैः ॥
ekāhnā dravyanāśo 'tra dhruvaṃ vyasanam eva ca ||
abhuktanāśaś cārthānāṃ vākpāruṣyaṃ ca kevalam ||
etac cānyac ca kauravya prasaṅgi kaṭukodayam ||
dyūte brūyāṃ mahābāho samāsādyāmbikāsutam ||
evam ukto yadi mayā gṛhṇīyād vacanaṃ mama ||
anāmayaṃ syād dharmasya kurūṇāṃ kurunandana ||
na cet sa mama rājendra gṛhṇīyān madhuraṃ vacaḥ ||
pathyaṃ ca bharataśreṣṭha nigṛhṇīyāṃ balena tam ||
athainān abhinīyaivaṃ suhṛdo nāma durhṛdaḥ ||
sabhāsadaś ca tān sarvān bhedayeyaṃ durodarān ||
asāṃnidhyaṃ tu kauravya mamānarteṣv abhūt tadā ||
yenedaṃ vyasanaṃ prāptā bhavanto dyūtakāritam ||
so 'ham etya kuruśreṣṭha dvārakāṃ pāṇḍunandana ||
aśrauṣaṃ tvāṃ vyasaninaṃ yuyudhānād yathātatham ||
śrutvaiva cāhaṃ rājendra paramodvignamānasaḥ ||
tūrṇam abhyāgato 'smi tvāṃ draṣṭukāmo viśāṃ pate ||
aho kṛcchram anuprāptāḥ sarve sma bharatarṣabha ||
ye vayaṃ tvāṃ vyasaninaṃ paśyāmaḥ saha sodaraiḥ ||
"In gambling, in a single day, property is lost and misfortune inevitably follows; riches vanish without benefit, and only harshness of speech remains. Of this and of everything else that bears the bitter fruit of attachment, I would have spoken to Ambika's son. Had he accepted my word, the dharma of the Kurus would have remained sound. Had he not accepted my sweet and wholesome word, I would have restrained him by force. And those who called themselves friends but were in truth enemies, and all the wicked gamblers in the assembly, I would have set against one another. But at that time I was not present, and so you all came to this misfortune brought on by the game. When I returned to Dvaraka, I heard from Yuyudhana what had happened to you. As soon as I heard it, I hastened, deeply troubled, to see you. Alas, what misery has befallen us all: we see you and your brothers in such distress."
6a4e28644d09 · published Jul 16, 2026, 4:44:34 PM UTC
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Krishna speaks plainly: sometimes wrongdoing must be not only counseled against but restrained by force. Mercy is not passive when addiction and bad counsel are tearing dharma apart. His grief is not performance -- he feels the Pandavas' suffering as his own.