Chapter 13

“Vasudeva said, O lord of earth, if I had been present at Dwaraka, then,O king, this evil would not have befallen thee! And, O irrepressible one,coming unto the gambling-match, even if uninvited by the son of Amvika(Dhritarashtra), or Duryodhana, or by the other Kauravas, I would haveprevented the game from taking place, by showing its many evils,summoning to my aid Bhishma and Drona and Kripa, and Vahlika! O exaltedone, for thy sake I would have told the son of Vichitravirya–O foremostof monarchs, let thy sons have nothing to do with dice!–I would haveshown the many evils (of dice) through which thou hast fallen into suchdistress and the son of Virasena was formerly deprived of his kingdom! Oking, unthought of evils, befall a man from dice! I would have describedhow a man once engaged in the game continueth to play (from desire ofvictory). Women, dice, hunting and drinking to which people becomeaddicted in consequence of temptation, have been regarded as the fourevils that deprive a man of prosperity. And those versed in the Sastrasare of opinion that evils attend upon all these. They also that areaddicted to dice know all its evils. O thou of mighty arms, appearingbefore the son of Amvika, I would have pointed out that through dice menin a day lose their possessions, and fall into distress, and are deprivedof their untasted wealth, and exchange harsh words! O perpetuator of theKuru race, I would have pointed out these and other attendant evils! Ifhe had accepted my words thus addressed, the welfare of the Kurus as alsovirtue itself would both have been secured! And, O foremost of kings, ifhe had rejected my gentle counsels offered as medicine, then, O best ofthe Bharata race, I would have compelled him by force! And, if those whowait at his court, professing to be his friends but in reality his foes,had supported him, then I would have slain them all, along with thosegamblers, there present! O Kauravya, it is owing to my absence from theAnartta country at that time that thou hast fallen into such distressbegot of dice! O thou best of Kurus, O son of Pandu, on arriving atDwarka I learnt from Yuyudhana all about thy calamity! And, O foremost ofkings, directly I heard it with a heart sore agitated by grief, have Ispeedily come here wishing to see thee, O king! Alas! O bull of theBharata race, ye have all fallen into dire distress! I see thee with thybrothers plunged in misfortune!”