Shloka 44

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

Devanagari script

अनक्षज्ञस्य हि सतो निकृत्या पापनिश्चयै: । भार्या च मे सभां नीता प्राणेभ्योडपि गरीयसी,“मैं जूएका मर्मज्ञ नहीं हूँ। फिर भी पापपूर्ण विचार रखनेवाले उन दुष्टोंके द्वारा मेरी प्राणोंसे भी अधिक गौरवशालिनी पत्नी द्रौपदी केश पकड़कर भरी सभामें लायी गयी

Transliteration

anakṣajñasya hi sato nikṛtyā pāpaniścayaiḥ | bhāryā ca me sabhāṃ nītā prāṇebhyo 'pi garīyasī ||

Translation

“Aku bukan ahli dalam seluk-beluk permainan dadu; namun dengan tipu daya, orang-orang yang berketetapan dosa itu menyeret istriku—yang lebih berharga bagiku daripada nyawaku—ke balairung sidang.”

Word by Word

अनक्षज्ञस्यof (me) who is not a knower of dice

हिindeed/for

सतःof (me) being/though I am

निकृत्याby deceit/treachery

पापनिश्चयैःby those of sinful resolve

भार्याwife

चand

मेmy/of me

सभाम्assembly hall

नीताwas led/brought

प्राणेभ्यःthan (my) lives

अपिeven/also

गरीयसीmore precious/weightier

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

bhāryā (Draupadī, implied by context)

sabhā (royal assembly hall)

akṣa (dice, as the gambling game)

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?

The verse highlights how deceit and sinful intent can exploit the vulnerable, and it frames the public humiliation of a virtuous woman as a grave ethical collapse in the royal court—an emblem of adharma overriding justice and restraint.

What is happening in the narrative?

The speaker laments that, although he was not skilled in gambling, opponents acting with fraud and wicked determination forcibly brought his wife—more precious than his life—into the assembly hall, intensifying the injustice of the dice-hall events.