Dyuta Chapters 4-7 (62-65)
Vidura tries to stop the dice match. Yudhishthira is a hot mess.
Intro
Dyuta Parva is the story of the gambling match with dice.
All the chapters in this parva are available -
https://crackpot.substack.com/t/dyuta
Chapter 62-63 - Vidura Strenuously Objects to the GamblingÂ
1-10 [abridged].
Vidura said,
‘Stop! Let the dice be still!
We know Saubala has ill mountain skill.
We know Shakuni makes cards of Vedas.
We know he can roll bones with Devas.
We know his knowledge of betting odds makes him a math mentor.
O’ Dhritarashtra!
Saubala is a gambling savant.Saubala’s services serve as the vehicle of your destruction.
Your son, Duryodhana, is that vehicle’s motor.
Duhshasana is the vehicle’s drunken operator.
I beg you reconsider keeping the present course.War with the Pandava one hundred percent brings tormentors’ remorse.’
Chapter 64 - Duryodhana responds to Vidura
1-20 [abridged]:
Duryodhana said,
‘Do not protect - O’ Vidura!ÂWe get it.
We see through your airs.
Your intellect is bent to their benefit.
But you should mind your own affairs.
And keep your hurt butt out of it.Chapter 65 - Staking the Pandavas
1.
Shakuni said,
‘Pandava Yudhishthira, my mind is seriously blown by how much wealth I have won from you.Kaunteya, could you possibly have more?’
2-4.Yudhishthira said,
‘My wealth is famous and does not decay like the wisdom that the Vedas store.
Now it’s yours, Saubala, yet you ask what more?I have conches.
I have crores.I have a great snow fed lake with fishes covered with lotuses and a mountain view.
This is my stake.’
5.
Ready to roll as soon as Yudhishthira laid a bet Shakuni led.‘Look. I win’, Shakuni said.
6.
Yudhishthira said,
‘A herd of prized cows graze rolling pastures on the Sindhu river.Towers of trees grow along the river’s sandy banks.
The trees’ leaves protect one from the cruel rays for summer sport.
This sacred resort is my stake.’
7.Shakuni was ready to unleash from his hand the moment Yudhishthira committed a stake.
‘Look. I win’, Shakuni said with a shake.
8.Yudhishthira said,
‘I established a temple in the East.
There large numbers of Brahman and mendicants live in peace.
The rights to this district are my stake.’9.
Situated with dice in hand.
Shakuni rolled again, ‘Look. I win.’10.
Yudhishthira said,
‘Princes adorned with rings bearing golden ornaments.
These vassals with streaming tassels are my stake.’11.
Ready with the hair-trigger rolling hand Shakuni pulled another pin.
‘Look’, Shakuni said, ‘I win.’12.
Yudhishthira said,
‘The dark lion twin with iron limbs.Nakula is my stake.’
13-14.
Shakuni said,
‘O’ King! Nakula your dear prince is ours now.
You have no one else to play?’
Shakuni said with a flick, ‘Look. I win.’15.
Yudhishthira said,
‘Sahadeva is an administrator of justice.
He is without decay.’
16.
Ready and engaged, Shakuni gave the dice a spin.
‘Look. I win.’17.
Shakuni said,
‘How glorious! Madri’s pair must be dear.ÂBut by betting them first you make your favoritism (for Bhimasena and Arjuna) clear.’
18.
Yudhishthira said,
‘Tossed like a boat lost at sea.
First you take the stake.
Now you drive the wedge.
Who by us with sound mind but a foolish person could perform this deed?’19-20.
Shakuni said,
‘Your refusal to lose is beyond belief.That you keep losing and betting does not make me a thief.
O’ best of the Bharatas!
Your time of day has passed.
I pay respect to your memorable past.Here’s a tip.Â
When in a pit, quit digging.
Just as a man’s eyes do not see in a dream.
So too a degenerate gambler can lose their shirt without feeling a stiff breeze.’21.
Yudhishthira said,
‘In battle, he is a boat that can cross a fathomless ocean.
Phalguni is the apple of faultless devotion.
The dauntless Arjuna is my stake.’22.
Shakuni was ready to pounce with the dice.
‘Look. I win.’23.
Shakuni said,
‘I’ve won the bowman in prime health.ÂPandava Savyasachi the conqueror.
O’ King! Is Bhima your remaining wealth?’24-25.
Yudhishthira said,
‘Bhima is our leader in the fight.
Bhima is like the vajra that wrecks the danavas.He has the thickness of a lion.
He has a thickset brow.
He wields the thickest club.
The wicked sick one called Bhimasena is my stake.’
26.
Shakuni was situated with the dice in his hand.
Shakuni said, ‘Look I win.’27.
Shakuni said,
‘Wow! What a score. What a haul.
We won your brothers and armies with herds of elephants and all!
Kaunteya, is there more?’28.
Yudhishthira said,
‘Only I am left.
My last rights are my bet.’29.
Situated with dice in hand.
Shakuni said, ‘Look. I win.’30-32.
Shakuni said,
‘A man who loses himself on a bet has a taint of sin.
Rather than quit and admit you can’t win.You’re so spoiled you’ve become a crocodile king.
Valor, gone. Fame, soiled.
Your brothers in arms lost one by one.
Ah, what about the queen?
Play Krishnaa Panchali and be reborn clean.’33-39.
Yudhishthira said,
‘No. Not Krishnaa. Never.Our Rohini with blue curly hair.Â
Sarasvati leaf. Sarasvati’s perfume.
Sarasvati’s beautiful balanced form.Draupadi has every quality.
Artha, Dharma, Kama and Siddhas stare.Her lotus mouth speaks fact.
Her knowledge of the Vedas keeps the path.Her intellect spells act.
Her long hair hangs to her waist.
Her skin is the color of the fig.
Alas, Panchali is my last stake.’
40-42.
As Dharamaraja’s words sunk in.
The Sabha’s old heads felt shrunken.
Trembling hands held sunken heads.
Drona, Bhishma, Kripa and others felt rotten.
Vidura was grief stricken.
Kshatta flitted from gape mouthed meditation to hissing through teeth like a serpent.
Some protest calls went up like, ‘Nyet! Nyet!’43.
King Dhritrashtra’s body hair stood at attention.
‘Have we won yet? Have we won yet?’, he asked again and again like an anxious kid on vacation.44.
There was not a dry eye in the Sabha after Yudhishthira made this ghastly bet of Draupadi.
Some wept in pity.
Some wept in glee.ÂKarna was happy.Â
Duhshasana laughed giddily.Â
45.
Saubala cast his last thrust with lust.
‘I won! I won! Eat my dust!’
Shakuni screeched on repeat.
Notes
[1] Kaunteya is another name for Yudhishthira.
[2] The Vedas are scripture. Devas are divine beings. Shakuni is considered so skilled in gambling that he could gamble with the gods. Yudhishthira, by contrast, has very little skill. There is some debate as to whether Shakuni used unfair means on top of his superior skills to best Yudhishthira. Some lore has it that the dice were loaded or otherwise subject to a charm. The text makes no mention of it. Fwiw, my read of the text is that Shakuni shot every angle he could, even the blatant ones that a novice like Yudhishthira could not catch, as part of the skill in the game. The same Sanskrit is repeated on every verse of roll. Situated… established in shady means… ready to roll.
[3] Saubala is another name for Shakuni.Â
[4] Crores are a large measure of quantity. Crores of coins.
[6] The Sindhu or Indus River.
[8] Brahman are priests. Kshatriya means warrior. Vaishyas are mercantile. Shudra are servants or labor.
[21] Phalguni is Arjuna.
[23] Savyasachi is Arjuna. Meaning ambidextrous because Arjuna could fire his bow from the right or left equally well.
[24] Vajra is the lightning bolt, or Indra's weapon. Danavas are demons. Indra slays many demons with his vajra.
[30] Draupadi is the queen. The story of how Draupadi married the Pandavas is told in Svayamvara. The As It Rhymes translation of Svayamvara is
https://crackpot.substack.com/t/svayamvara
[32] Reborn clean - as in winning himself back would erase the sin of losing himself in a bet in this life and the next.Â
[33] Krishnaa is a name for Draupadi. It means dark skinned.
[34] Sarasvati is the Goddess of art, or music, and knowledge. She may be married to Brahma.
[36] Kama is the God of love. Dharma is the God of moral duty. Artha is the God of wealth. Alternatively these along with Moksha (liberation and self-actualization) are the four activities of life.
Siddhas are evolved spiritual beings.Â
[39] Panchali is Draupadi.Â
[40] Dharmaraja is a name for Yudhishthira.
[41] Kshatta is a name for Vidura.
[43] Dhritarashtra is Duryodhana and Duhshasana’s father. He is the blind king.
Translation Collage
