Shloka 47

Nala’s Embassy to Damayantī and the Gods’ Proposal (नलस्य दूतत्वं देवप्रस्तावश्च)

Devanagari script

आततंतानां सुहृदां वाचो द्यूतप्रभूति शंसताम्‌ । अहं हदि श्रिता: स्मृत्वा सर्वरात्रीविचिन्तयन्‌,“मैं अत्यन्त दुःखी हो बड़ी कठिनाईसे वनमें निवास करता हूँ। जिस सभामें जूआ खेलनेका आयोजन किया गया था, वहाँ प्रतिपक्षी पुरुषोंके मुखसे मुझे अत्यन्त कठोर बातें सुननी पड़ी हैं। इसके सिवा द्यूत आदि कार्योंका उल्लेख करते हुए मेरे दुःखातुर सुहृदोंने जो संतापसूचक बातें कही हैं, वे सब मेरे हृदयमें स्थित हैं। मैं उन सब बातोंको याद करके सारी रात चिन्तामें निमग्न रहता हूँ

Transliteration

ātatantānāṃ suhṛdāṃ vāco dyūtaprabhūti śaṃsatām | ahaṃ hṛdi śritāḥ smṛtvā sarvarātrī-vicintayan ||

Translation

Vaiśaṃpāyana sprach: „Wenn ich der Worte meiner Wohlgesinnten gedenke—Worte, in Schmerz gesprochen, die das Unheil schilderten, das mit dem Würfelspiel begann—bewahre ich sie in meinem Herzen. Indem ich sie immer wieder erinnere, verbringe ich die ganze Nacht in ängstlicher Grübelei.“

Word by Word

आततंतानाम्of the distressed/afflicted

सुहृदाम्of friends, well-wishers

वाचःwords, utterances

द्यूत-प्रभूतिoriginating from gambling (i.e., about gambling etc.)

शंसताम्of those recounting/mentioning

अहम्I

हदिin (my) heart

श्रिताःresting/abiding (there)

स्मृत्वाhaving remembered

सर्व-रात्रि-विचिन्तयन्brooding all night

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśaṃpāyana

dyūta (dice-game/gambling episode)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Harmful actions—here, the chain of events beginning with gambling—continue to bear fruit as inner torment: the mind replays painful counsel and reproach, showing how adharma produces lasting psychological and ethical consequences.

What is happening in the narrative?

The narrator reports a speaker’s inner state: remembering the grief-filled words of friends who speak about the disaster that started with the dice-game, he cannot rest and spends the night in anxious contemplation.