युधिष्ठिर उवाच
शृणुध्वं यत् करिष्यामि कर्म वै कुरुनन्दनाः ॥
विराटम् अनुसंप्राप्य राजानं पुरुषर्षभम् ॥
सभास्तारो भविष्यामि तस्य राज्ञो महात्मनः ॥
कङ्को नाम द्विजो भूत्वा मताक्षः प्रियदेविता ॥
वैडूर्यान् काञ्चनान् दान्तान् फलैर् ज्योतीरसैः सह ॥
कृष्णाक्षांल् लोहिताक्षांश् च निर्वर्त्स्यामि मनोरमान् ॥
आसं युधिष्ठिरस्याहं पुरा प्राणसमः सखा ॥
इति वक्ष्यामि राजानं यदि माम् अनुयोक्ष्यते ॥
इत्य् एतद् वो मयाख्यातं विहरिष्याम्य् अहं यथा ॥
वृकोदर विराटे त्वं रंस्यसे केन कर्मणा ॥
yudhiṣṭhira uvāca
śṛṇudhvaṃ yat kariṣyāmi karma vai kurunandanāḥ ||
virāṭam anusaṃprāpya rājānaṃ puruṣarṣabham ||
sabhāstāro bhaviṣyāmi tasya rājño mahātmanaḥ ||
kaṅko nāma dvijo bhūtvā matākṣaḥ priyadevitā ||
vaiḍūryān kāñcanān dāntān phalair jyotīrasaiḥ saha ||
kṛṣṇākṣāṃl lohitākṣāṃś ca nirvartsyāmi manoramān ||
āsaṃ yudhiṣṭhirasyāhaṃ purā prāṇasamaḥ sakhā ||
iti vakṣyāmi rājānaṃ yadi mām anuyokṣyate ||
ity etad vo mayākhyātaṃ vihariṣyāmy ahaṃ yathā ||
vṛkodara virāṭe tvaṃ raṃsyase kena karmaṇā ||
Yudhishthira said: "Listen, descendants of Kuru, to the task I shall perform upon coming to the great-souled king Virata, bull among men. I shall become the great king's court gamester: becoming a brahmin named Kanka, versed in dice, fond of play. I shall bring out delightful dice for the game -- of beryl, of gold, of ivory, along with fruit-shaped ones, luminous ones, black and red ones. If the king asks me, I shall say: 'Once I was a friend of Yudhishthira, dear to him as his own life.' So I have told you how I shall live. And you, Vrikodara, by what work will you live at Virata's?"
5b519215d73b · published Jul 16, 2026, 5:58:59 PM UTC
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The bitterest mask falls to Yudhishthira: he steps into the very game that cost him his kingdom. But now he is no slave to passion -- he is a self-possessed witness, turning his old wound into a means of protection.