Vaishampayana said: -
1-2. Having entered the Sabha, the sons of Pritha with Yudhishthira at their head met all the kings that were present there. Worshipping all those that deserved to be worshipped and saluting others as each deserved according to his age, they took their seats on pure seats covered with costly carpets.
3. When they were seated, and when the kings took their seats also, the son of Subala, Shakuni, thus spoke to Yudhishthira.
Shakuni said: -
4. O king, the Assembly is foil. All was waiting for you. O Yudhishthira, let now the dice be cast and the rules of play be fixed.
Yudhishthira said: -
5. O king, deceitful gambling is a sin. there is no Kshatriya prowess (to be found) in it. There is certainly no morality in it; why then are you praising gambling?
6. O Shakuni, the wise men do not praise the pride that gamesters feel in deceitful play. Do not like a cruel man defeat us by deceitful means.
Shakuni said: -
7-8. That high minded player, who knows the secrets of winning and losing, who is skilled in baffling the deceitful arts of those with whom he plays, and who is united with the various operations which gambling consists of, knows truly the play and suffers all in course of it. O son of Pritha, it is the staking of dice that may be lost and won, and which may injure us. And it is for this reason gambling is considered to be a fault. Therefore, O king, let us begin the play. Fear not, let the stakes be fixed. Do not make any further delay.
Yudhishthira said: -
10. That best of Rishis, the son of Asita, Devala, who always instructs us about all those acts that may lead(men) to heaven, hell or to the other regions, has said this it is sinful to play deceitfully with a gamester. The best sport is to obtain victory in a righteous battle. Gambling is not a sport.
11. Those that are respectable do not use the Mleccha language, nor do they adopt deceitfolness in their behaviours. The act of honest men is to carry on a war without crookedness of cunning.
12. O Shakuni, by playing disparately do not deceitfully win from us that wealth with which according to our ability we try to benefit the Brahmanas. Even enemies should not be vanquished by desperate stakes in a deceitful play.
13. I do not desire to have happiness or wealth by means of cunning. The conduct of one that is a gamester, even if his playing be without deceitfulness, should still never be praised.
14. O Yudhishthira, it is with the desire of vanquishing, which is (of course) not a very honest motive, that a high-born man approaches another (like him); so does a learned man an ignorant one;
15. O Yudhishthira, so also a man skilled in dice approaches one who is not so from the desire of vanquishing (his opponent). One who is conversant with the truths of science approaches another that is not from the desire of victory, which is scarcely an honest motive.
16. O Yudhishthira, so also a man skilled in weapons approaches one who is not so; so does a strong man a weak one. This is the practice in every contest. The victory is(always)the motive.
17. If, therefore, in approaching me to play, you consider that I am actuated by dishonest motives, and if you are afraid then desist from the play.
Yudhishthira said: -
18. O king, challenged, I do not withdraw; this is my established vow. (I know) fate is (all) powerful. We are all under the sway of Fate.
19. In this assembly with whom am I to play? Who is there who can stake equally with me? Let the play begin (with him).
Duryodhana said: -
20. O king, I shall supply gems and jewels and wealth, and my uncle, Shakuni, will play the dice on my behalf.
Yudhishthira said: -
21. Gambling by one on another’s behalf seems to me to be contrary to rule. O learned man, you too will admit this. If however, you still desire it, let the play begin.
Thus ends the fifty ninth chapter, the colloquy between Yudhishthira and Shakuni, in the Dyuta of the Sabha Parva.