The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa Translated into English Prose: Sabha Parva
Religion
The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa Translated into English Prose: Sabha Parva
Epic literature, Sanskrit
"Yudhishthira said,--'O Kshatta, if we sit to a match at dice, we may
quarrel. What man is there, who knowing all this, will consent to
gamble? What dost thou think fit for us? We all are obedient to thy
counsels.'
"Vidura said,--'I know that gambling is the root of misery, and I
strove to dissuade the king from it. The king, however, hath sent me to
thee. Having known all this, O learned one, do what is beneficial.'
"Yudhishthira said,--'Besides the sons of Dhritarashtra what other
dishonest gamblers are there ready for play? Tell us, O Vidura, who
they are and with whom we shall have to play, staking hundreds upon
hundreds of our possessions.'
"Vidura said,--'O monarch, Sakuni, the king of Gandhara, an adept at
dice, having great skill of hand and desperate in stakes, Vivingati,
king Chitrasena, Satyavrata, Purumitra and Jaya, these, O king, are
there.'
"Yudhishthira said,--'It would seem then that some of the most
desperate and terrible gamblers always depending upon deceit are there.
This whole universe, however, is at the will of its Maker, under the
control of fate. It is not free. O learned one, I do not desire, at the
command of king Dhritarashtra to engage myself in gambling. The father
always wisheth to benefit his son. Thou art our master, O Vidura. Tell
me what is proper for us. Unwilling as I am to gamble, I will not do
so, if the wicked Sakuni doth not summon me to it in the Sabha? If,
however, he challengeth me, I will never refuse. For that, as settled,
is my eternal vow.'"
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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