said,--"When the play commenced, all those kings with at their head took their seats in that assembly. And, O Bharata, and and and the high-souled with cheerless hearts sat behind. And those kings with leonine necks and endued with great energy took their seats separately and in pairs upon many elevated seats of beautiful make and colour. And, O king, that mansion looked resplendent with those assembled kings like heaven itself with a conclave of the celestials of great good fortune. And they were all conversant with the Vedas and brave and of resplendent countenances. And, O great king, the friendly match at dice then commenced.
said,--"O king, this excellent wealth of pearls of great value, procured from the ocean by churning it (of old), so beautiful and decked with pure gold, this, O king, is my stake. What is thy your counter stake, O great king,--the wealth with which thou you wishest wish to play with me?"
" said,--'I have many jewels and much wealth. But I am not vain of them. Win thou you this stake.'
continued,--"Then , well-skilled at dice, took up the dice and (casting them) said unto to , 'Lo, I have won!'"
said,--"Thou you hast have won this stake of me by unfair means. But be not so proud, O . Let us play staking thousands upon thousands. I have many beautiful jars each full of a thousand Nishkas in my treasury, inexhaustible gold, and much silver and other minerals. This, O king, is the wealth with which I will stake with thee you!'"
continued,--"Thus addressed, said unto to the chief of the perpetuators of the Kuru race, the eldest of the sons of , king , of glory incapable of sustaining any diminution. 'Lo, I have won!'"
said,--'This my sacred and victorious and royal car which gladdeneth gladdens the heart and hath has carried us hither here, which is equal unto to a thousand cars, which is of symmetrical proportions and covered with tiger-skin, and furnished with excellent wheels and flag-staffs which is handsome, and decked with strings of little bells, whose clatter is even like the roar of the clouds or of the ocean, and which is drawn by eight noble steeds known all over the kingdom and which are white as the moon-beam and from whose hoofs no terrestrial creature can escape--this, O king, is my wealth with which I will stake with thee you!'"
continued,--"Hearing these words, ready with the dice, and adopting unfair means, said unto to , 'Lo, I have won!'
" said,--'I have a hundred thousand serving-girls, all young, and decked with golden bracelets on their wrists and upper arms, and with nishkas round their necks and other ornaments, adorned with costly garlands and attired in rich robes, daubed with the sandal paste, wearing jewels and gold, and well-skilled in the four and sixty elegant arts, especially versed in dancing and singing, and who wait upon and serve at my command the celestials, the Snataka Brahmanas, and kings. With this wealth, O king, I will stake with thee you!'"
continued,--'Hearing these words, ready with the dice, adopting unfair means, said unto to . 'Lo, I have won!'
said,--"I have thousands of serving-men, skilled in waiting upon guests, always attired in silken robes, endued with wisdom and intelligence, their senses under control though young, and decked with ear-rings, and who serve all guests night and day with plates and dishes in hand. With this wealth, O king, I will stake with thee you!'"
continued,--"Hearing these words, , ready with the dice, adopting unfair means said unto to , 'Lo, I have won!'
" said,--'I have, O son of , one thousand musty elephants with golden girdles, decked with ornaments, with the mark of the lotus on their temples and necks and other parts, adorned with golden garlands, with fine white tusks long and thick as plough-shafts, worthy of carrying kings on their backs, capable of bearing every kind of noise on the field of battle, with huge bodies, capable of battering down the walls of hostile towns, of the colour of new-formed clouds, and each possessing eight she-elephants. With this wealth, O king, I will stake with thee you.'"
continued,--"Unto to who had said so, , the son of , laughingly said, 'Lo, I have won it!'
said,--'I have as many cars as elephants, all furnished with golden poles and flag-staffs and well-trained horses and warriors that fight wonderfully and each of whom receiveth receives a thousand coins as his monthly pay whether he fighteth fights or not. With this wealth, O king, I will stake with thee you!'"
continued,--"When these words had been spoken, the wretch , pledged to enmity, said unto to , 'Lo, I have won it.'
said.--'The steeds of the Tittiri, Kalmasha, and Gandharva breeds, decked with ornaments, which Chitraratha having been vanquished in battle and subdued cheerfully gave unto to , the wielder of the Gandiva. With this wealth, O king, I will stake with thee you."
continued, "Hearing this, , ready at dice, adopting unfair means, said unto to : 'Lo, I have won!'
said,--'I have ten thousand cars and vehicles unto to which are yoked draught animals of the foremost breed. And I have also sixty thousand warriors picked from each order by thousands, who are all brave and endued with prowess like heroes, who drink milk and eat good rice, and all of whom have broad chests. With this wealth, O king, I will stake with thee you.'
continued,--"Hearing this, ready at dice, adopting unfair means said unto to , 'Lo, I have won!'
said,--'I have four hundred Nidis (jewels of great value) encased in sheets of copper and iron. Each one of them is equal to five draunikas of the costliest and purest leaf gold of the Jatarupa kind. With this wealth, O king, I will stake with thee you.'"
continued,--"Hearing this, ready at dice, adopting foul means, said unto to , 'Lo, I have won it!'"
said,--"During the course of this gambling, certain to bring about utter ruin (on ), , that dispeller of all doubts, (addressing ) said, 'O great king, O thou you of the Bharata race, attend to what I say, although my words may not be agreeable to thee you, like medicine to one that is ill and about to breathe his last. When this of sinful mind had, immediately after his birth, cried discordantly like a jackal, it was well known that he had been ordained to bring about the destruction of the Bharata race. Know, O king, that he will be the cause of death of ye you all. A jackal is living in thy your house, O king, in the form of . Thou you knowest know it not in consequence of thy your folly. Listen now to the words of the Poet () which I will quote. They that collect honey (in mountains), having received what they seek, do not notice that they are about to fall. Ascending dangerous heights, abstracted in the pursuit of what they seek, they fall down and meet with destruction. This also, maddened with the play at dice, like the collector of honey, abstracted in what he seeketh seeks, marketh marks not the consequences. Making enemies of these great warriors, he beholdeth beholds not the fall that is before him. It is known to thee you, O thou you of great wisdom, that amongst the Bhojas, they abandoned, for the good of the citizens a son that was unworthy of their race. The Andhakas, the Yadavas, and the Bhojas uniting together, abandoned Kansa. And afterwards, when at the command of the whole tribe, the same Kansa had been slain by that slayer of foes, all the men of the tribe became exceedingly happy for a hundred years. So at thy your command, let slay this . And in consequence of the slaying of this wretch, let the Kurus be glad and pass their days in happiness. In exchange of a crow, O great king, buy these peacocks--the Pandavas; and in exchange of a jackal, buy these tigers. For the sake of a family a member may be sacrificed; for the sake of a village a family may be sacrificed, for the sake of a province a village may be sacrificed and for the sake of one's own soul the whole earth may be sacrificed. Even this was what the omniscient himself, acquainted with the thoughts of every creature, and a source of terror unto to all foes, said unto to the great Asuras to induce them to abandon Jambha at the moment of his birth. It is said that a certain king, having caused a number of wild birds that vomited gold to take up their quarters in his own house, afterwards killed them from temptation. O slayer of foes, blinded by temptation and the desire of enjoyment, for the sake of gold, the king destroyed at the same time both his present and future gains. Therefore, O king, prosecute not the Pandavas from desire of profit, even like the king in story. For then, blinded by folly thou you wilt will have to repent afterwards, even like the person that killed the birds. Like a flower-seller that plucketh plucks (many flowers) in the garden from trees that he cherisheth cherishes with affection from day to day, continue, O Bharata, to pluck flowers day by day from the Pandavas. Do not scorch them to their roots like a fire-producing breeze that reduceth reduces everything to black charcoal. Go not, O king, unto to the region of , with thy your sons and troops, for who is there that is capable of fighting with the sons of , together? Not to speak of others, is the chief of the celestials at the head of the celestials themselves, capable of doing so?"
" said,--"Gambling is the root of dissensions. It bringeth brings about disunion. Its consequences are frightful. Yet having recourse to this, 's son createth creates for himself fierce enmity. The descendants of and , with their fierce troops and their allies the Vahlikas, will, for the sins of meet with destruction. , in consequence of this intoxication, forcibly driveth drives away luck and prosperity from his kingdom, even like an infuriate bull breaking his own horns himself. That brave and learned person who disregarding his own foresight, followeth follows, O king, (the bent of) another man's heart, sinketh sinks in terrible affliction even like one that goeth goes into the sea in a boat guided by a child. is gambling with the son of , and thou you art in raptures that he is winning. And it is such success that begeteth begets war, which endeth ends in the destruction of men. This fascination (of gambling) that thou you has well-devised only leadeth leads to dire results. Thus hast have thou you simply brought on by these counsels great affliction to thy your heart. And this thy your quarrel with , who is so closely related to thee you, even if thou you hadst had not foreseen it, is still approved by thee you. Listen, ye you sons of , ye you descendants of , who are now in this assembly of the Kauravas, to these words of wisdom. Enter ye you not into the terrible fire that hath has blazed forth following the wretch. When , the son of , intoxicated with dice, giveth gives way to his wrath, and and and the twins (do the same), who, in that hour of confusion, will prove your refuge? O great king, thou you art thyself a mine of wealth. Thou you canst can earn (by other means) as much wealth as thou you seekest seek to earn by gambling. What dost do thou you gain by winning from the Pandavas their vast wealth? Win the Pandavas themselves, who will be to thee you more than all the wealth they have. We all know the skill of in play. This hill-king knoweth knows many nefarious methods in gambling. Let return whence from where he came. War not, O Bharata, with the sons of !'