Duryodhana and his allies plot to recall the Pandavas for a second dice game
When Duhshasana reports that Dhritarashtra has let the Pandavas leave with their wealth, Duryodhana sees it as a catastrophic loss. He conspires with Karna and Shakuni, then persuades his father to recall the Pandavas for one last, decisive dice game—a gamble designed to send them into exile for thirteen years.
The news struck Duryodhana’s camp like a physical blow. Duhshasana had found out that the intelligent Dhritarashtra had granted the Pandavas permission to leave. And they were not leaving empty-handed. They were taking their gems, riches, and treasures—everything that had been won from them in the first dice game.
Duhshasana went swiftly to his brother. Before Duryodhana and his gathered advisers, the prince spoke miserable words: “O great chariot-warriors! That old man has made us lose everything that we had obtained with great difficulty. He has given those objects to our enemies.”
The reaction was immediate. The proud Duryodhana, Karna, and Soubala Shakuni got together and plotted. Their target was not the Pandavas directly, but the king’s wavering mind. They went to Dhritarashtra, Vichitravirya’s son, and spoke conciliatory, strategic words.
Duryodhana framed their request as the only sane policy. “O king! Have you not heard what Brihaspati, the learned priest of the gods, told Shakra about policy? ‘Enemies must be killed through every means possible, before they cause harm through war or force.’” Letting the Pandavas go with their wealth, he argued, was arming them for the war that was sure to come. “We should offer homage to all the kings through riches obtained from the Pandavas. If we fight with them thereafter, what reversal can befall us?”
He painted a vivid picture of the threat they had nurtured. “If one places angry and venomous snakes that bring destruction on one’s back and neck, how can one get rid of them?” The Pandavas, he said, were already those snakes, coiled and ready to strike. He listed their preparations: Arjuna, armored, grasping the Gandiva bow, breathing heavily; Bhima, club raised, chariot yoked; Nakula with his sword and shield; Sahadeva and Yudhishthira making their intentions clear. “We have caused them offence and they will not pardon us. Who among them will forgive Droupadi’s oppression?”
His solution was a single, final gamble. “O bull among the Bharatas! Be fortunate. We must again gamble with the Pandavas so as to send them to the forest. In this way, we will be able to bring them under our sway.” He laid out the brutal terms they would propose: the loser would be attired in deerskin and enter the great forest for twelve years, followed by a thirteenth year living in disguise in an inhabited place. If recognized, the cycle would begin again. “Either they or we will live here. Therefore, let the gamble begin.”
He presented it as their most important task. Shakuni, skilled in all the secrets of dice, would ensure their victory. With the Pandavas exiled, they could secure the kingdom, build alliances, and gather an invincible army. “If they survive the vow after thirteen years,” Duryodhana concluded with cold confidence, “we will be able to defeat them. Let this find pleasure with you.”
Dhritarashtra’s reply was brief, decisive, and catastrophic. “Then immediately bring them back, even if they have gone a long distance away. Let the Pandavas return and gamble with the dice again.”