As the game of dice progressed between Yudhiṣṭhira and Śakuni, several valuable possessions of Yudhiṣṭhira were staked by him. The cunning Śakuni won them all by unfair means. They included precious pearls, gold, silver, decorated chariots, maids and men who served the king, elephants and among many such possessions - the fine horses that that were gifted to Arjuna by Gandharva king Chitraratha.

Yudhiṣṭhira staked all of his finest horses and warriors who were very skilled at war. They were each paid a monthly pay of 1,000 gold coins. Yudhiṣṭhira lost them too.

Vidura, the lone voice in the dumbfounded assembly witnessing the unfair game of dice, recalled the bad omens that accompanied Duryodhana's birth and said he was so besotted with the game that he was playing without any awareness of the deadly consequences that it might bring, This was compared to those of honey gatherers who climb to great heights seeking the goal, quite forgetting the consequences of a fall from such heights.

When the game of dice took a serious and distressing turn, where Yudhiṣṭhira has lost much of his valuable possessions, Vidura gave his wise counsel. He advised Dhṛtarāṣṭra to command Arjuna to slay Duryodhana - for the sake of the Kuru clan's welfare. Here he quoted Śukrācārya who said to the asurās that 'For the sake of a family, an individual family member may be sacrificed; for the sake of a village a family may be sacrificed, for the sake of a province a village may be sacrificed and for the sake of one’s own soul the whole earth may be sacrificed'.

As per śāstram, Brāhmaṇas, generally, could not be made slaves.

He continued to play because the foremost reason was Kshatriya Dharmam, the obedience to invitation to play, especially when it came from elders. It would have been disrespectful to walk away. Added to this was his 'tapas' that he won't say 'no' to anyone, based on Vyasa's prediction. Other contributory reason was his weakness to play the game which Śakuni exploited and drew him into the game.

Vidura was first ordered by Duryodhana to go and bring Draupadī to the assembly and then she was to be assigned cleaning duties along with other women who were serving the palace. At this, Vidura lamented at the folly of Duryodhana and said that Duryodhana will be without doubt, the cause of destruction of the Kurus.

They were bound by their duty and loyalty towards the Kuru dynasty and were not able to rise above them. This distressing episode reveals that Dharma is subtle and complex to interpret. The situation was one of Dharma Saṅkaṭā, a dilemma. While Bhīṣma remained silent as Yudhiṣṭhira was continuing to play, Yudhiṣṭhira was continuing as he did not receive any instructions from elders to stop the play.

Bhagavān Krishna who was deeply moved by compassion towards Draupadī's plight stood up from His throne at Dwāraka. He arrived by foot and remained invisible. He covered Draupadī with hundreds of fine garments of varied colours to protect her honour.

Prahlāda wanted to find an answer to the question posed by his son Virochana and Sudhanvān regarding their superiority over each other. He approached sage Kaśyapa and in his answer the sage stated that In an assembly where a truly censurable act is not censured, half the sin of that act goes to the head of that assembly, a quarter each to the person acting censurably and those others that are silent spectators in that gathering.