Shloka 16
दमयन्त्याः अरण्यविहारः — Damayantī’s Passage through the Wilderness
उड़ते हुए उन पक्षियोंने राजा नलको दीनभावसे नीचे मुँह किये धरतीपर नग्न खड़ा देख उनसे कहा-- ।। वयमक्षा: सुदुर्बुद्धे तव वासो जिहीर्षव: । आगता न हि न: प्रीति: सवाससि गते त्वयि,'“ओ खोटी बुद्धिवाले नरेश! हम (पक्षी नहीं,) पासे हैं और तुम्हारा वस्त्र अपहरण करनेकी इच्छासे ही यहाँ आये थे। तुम वस्त्र पहने हुए ही वहाँसे चले आये थे, इससे हमें प्रसन्नता नहीं हुई थी”
bṛhadaśva uvāca |
vayam akṣāḥ sudurbuddhe tava vāso jihīrṣavaḥ |
āgatā na hi naḥ prītiḥ savāsasi gate tvayi ||
Bṛhadaśva said: “O foolish king! We are not birds at all—we are the dice, come here with the intent to seize your garments. When you departed still clothed, it did not please us.”
बृहृदश्च उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse dramatizes how addiction to gambling can strip a person of dignity and security: the ‘dice’ are personified as predatory forces that pursue Nala even after earlier losses. Ethically, it warns that surrendering judgment (buddhi) to vice invites escalating ruin and humiliation.
Nala stands naked and downcast after his misfortunes. Birds that had flown off with his clothes reveal themselves as the very dice, declaring they came specifically to take his garments and were displeased when he initially left still clothed.