Yudhishthira Gambles and Loses His Vast Wealth to Shakuni
Having already lost the first round, Yudhishthira challenges Shakuni to gamble again, staking the unimaginable riches of the Pandava treasury. One by one, he names his treasures — gold, chariots, armies, and slaves — and each time, Shakuni simply declares victory, stripping the kingdom bare with a word.
Yudhishthira had already lost the first game. The dice had fallen for Shakuni. Now, in the assembly hall of the Kurus, Yudhishthira looked at his opponent and spoke again. “O Shakuni! You have won this gamble from me by using deceit. Let us now grasp the dice and play a thousand times.” He began to name his stake. “I have a hundred laden jars, each filled with a thousand gold coins. That apart, my treasury has inexhaustible gold and much gold. Those are the riches I now stake to gamble with you.”
As soon as the words left his mouth, Shakuni said, “I have won.”
Yudhishthira did not pause. He moved to the next treasure. “My royal chariot is covered with tiger skin and is worth a thousand. It is finely built, beautiful, makes a thunderous noise and is adorned with nets of bells. It gladdens the heart and brought us here. This sacred chariot, supreme among all chariots, roars like the clouds and the ocean.” He described the eight horses that drew it, noble and the color of ospreys, whose hooves no one on earth could escape. “These are my riches that I now gamble with you for.”
Shakuni heard the description and, using deceit, told Yudhishthira, “I have won.”
Yudhishthira continued. “O Soubala! I have one thousand elephants that are in must. They have golden girdles and are hung with golden garlands. They are spotted. They are well trained, with fine tusks and are capable of bearing kings. They can withstand every kind of noise in battle.” He described their giant tusks like shafts, the eight she-elephants that accompanied each bull, their shade like new clouds, their power to batter down enemy cities. “O king! These are my riches that I now gamble with you for.”
Shakuni laughed at Partha. He told Yudhishthira, “I have won.”
The catalog of loss continued, item by magnificent item. Yudhishthira staked one hundred thousand slave girls — young, extremely beautiful, adorned with bracelets, armlets, necklaces of gold coins, anointed with sandalwood paste, dressed in sheer garments, skilled in singing and dancing, who waited upon snatakas (learned Brahmins), advisers, and kings on his command.
Shakuni resorted to deceit and said, “I have won.”
Yudhishthira staked thousands of male slaves — always dressed in fine garments, wise, young, skilled, intelligent, wearing polished earrings, who with plates in their hands fed the guests day and night.
Shakuni said, “I have won.”
Yudhishthira staked as many chariots, equipped with golden vessels, along with their well-trained horses, charioteers, and wonderful warriors, each receiving a thousand coins as monthly salary whether they fought or not.
Shakuni, the evil one, said, “I have won.”
Yudhishthira staked the gandharva horses — spotted, the color of partridges, with golden harnesses. They were not ordinary steeds; they had been happily given by the gandharva king Chitraratha to Gandivadhanva (Arjuna, the bearer of the Gandiva bow).
Shakuni said, “I have won.”
Yudhishthira staked the infrastructure of an empire: ten thousand chariots, carts, and horses yoked to the best draught animals; thousands of soldiers from each varna (social class) who drank milk and fed on rice and grain; sixty thousand broad-chested troops.
Shakuni said, “I have won.”
Finally, Yudhishthira staked the raw material of power itself. “I have four hundred treasure chests made of copper and iron. Each of them has five receptacles filled with beaten gold. O king! These are my riches that I now gamble with you for.”
On hearing these words, Shakuni resorted to deceit and told Yudhishthira, “I have won.”
The process was mechanical, relentless, and silent of any actual dice play. Yudhishthira would name a portion of his vast, hard-won wealth — each description a testament to the prosperity and majesty of the Pandava kingdom — and Shakuni would immediately declare it his. Jar by jar, chariot by chariot, elephant by elephant, slave by slave, army by army, chest by chest, the entire material wealth of Yudhishthira was transferred to his opponent with a word. The hall was stripped bare. All that remained were the four brothers standing behind Yudhishthira, and Yudhishthira himself.