The Book 8, Chapter 3, Verse 41 of Kautilya's Arthashastra, mention Duryodhana as a skilled gambler. The verses 38 to 41 and translations are given below.
कामजस्तु मृगया द्यूतं स्त्रियः पानमिति चतुर्वर्गः ||
तस्य मृगयाद्यूतयॊर्मृगया गरीयसी इति पिशुनः ||
स्तॆनामित्रव्यालदावप्रस्खलनभयदिन्मॊहाः क्षुत्पिपासॆ च प्राणाबाधस्तस्याम् ||
द्यूतॆ तु जितमॆवाक्षविदुषा यथा जयत्सॆनदुर्यॊधनाभ्यामिति ||
The fourfold vices due to desire are hunting, gambling, women and drinking.
Piśuna says that of hunting and gambling, hunting is a worse vice: for falling into the hand of robbers, enemies and elephants, getting into wild fire, fear, inability to distinguish between the cardinal points, hunger, thirst and loss of life are evils consequent upon hunting; whereas in gambling, the expert gambler wins a victory like Jayatsena and Duryodhana.
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Please note the wording अक्षविदुषा = by one skilled in dice
So, this reference to Duryodhana in Kautilya's Arthashastra reveals the following.
- Even by the time of Kautilya or Chanakya (400 BCE), the story of Mahabharata was in circulation either in written form or through oral tradition
- Sage Vyasa might have projected in his Jaya Samhita, the original version of Mahabharata, Duryodhana himself was an expert gambler.
- As the epic was expanded over centuries, the narrative might have been refined to shield the main antagonist, Duryodhana, from being highlighted as an expert in an un-kshatriya-like vice.
- In the original version, Shakuni might have departed to Gandhara region, after attending to Rajasuya Yagna. His continuous presence in Hastinapura might have been later date insertion.
