Simhasanadvatrimshika 27.p4

27.p4

rājñā bhaṇitam: ko bhavān? teno 'ktam: ahaṃ dyūtakāraḥ. rājno 'ktam: tvaṃ dyūtakrīḍāṃ jānāsi kim? teno 'ktam: dyūtaviṣaye 'ham eva vicakṣaṇaḥ. anyac ca: sārīkrīḍāṃ jānāmi. paraṃ daivam eva balavat. uktaṃ ca:

The king said: "Who are you, sir?" He replied: "I am a gambler." The king said: "Do you understand the game of dice?" He said: "In the matter of dice I am decidedly proficient, and I also know sārī-krīḍā [a game related to chess], but fate alone controls. And it is said: 6. When I see how elephants, serpents, and birds are caught, how the sun and the moon are subject to eclipse, and how wise men are paupers, my thought is: 'Ah, how powerful is fate!' And so: 7. Fair form has no effect, nor noble origin, nor good character, nor even knowledge, nor divine service paid with however great zeal. The merited good fortune which a man accumulates thru the penance he has performed, bears fruit for him in time, like trees."