Janamejaya Asks Vaishampayana About the Gambling Match
King Janamejaya, hearing how this event caused misery to his ancestors, asks the sage Vaishampayana to narrate the fateful gambling match in detail: who was present, who approved, and who did not.
King Janamejaya listened to the story of Duryodhana’s burning heart. He then asked the sage Vaishampayana the question that would draw out the next, terrible chapter.
“How did that eventful gambling match among the brothers take place,” Janamejaya asked, “which caused so much misery to my grandfathers, the Pandavas?” He wanted specifics. “O you who are immersed in the brahman, who were the kings who were present in that sabha (assembly hall)? Who among them approved of the match and who did not?” The king wished to hear all this in detail. His reason was grave: “Because this was the cause of the destruction of the world.”
Having been thus addressed by the king, Vyasa’s powerful student, knowledgeable in all the Vedas, agreed. He would recount everything as it had happened.