Shloka 29

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

Devanagari script

अधिगम्य च सर्वान्‌ नो वनवासमिमं ततः । प्रत्राजयिष्यति पुनर्निकृत्याधमपूरुष:,“मैं ऐसा कोई देश या स्थान नहीं देखता, जहाँ अत्यन्त दुष्टचित्त, दुरात्मा दुर्योधन अपने गुप्तचरोंद्वारा हमलोगोंका पता न लगा ले। वह नीच नराधम हम सब लोगोंका गुप्त निवास जान लेनेपर पुनः अपनी कपटपूर्ण नीतिद्वारा हमें इस वनवासमें ही डाल देगा

Transliteration

adhigamya ca sarvān no vanavāsam imaṁ tataḥ | pratrājayiṣyati punar nikṛtyādhamapūruṣaḥ ||

Translation

Vaiśampāyana said: “After discovering everything about our present forest-exile, that vile and deceitful wretch will again contrive—by treachery—to drive us back into this very banishment.” The line underscores the moral danger of adharma: when power is joined to espionage and fraud, it seeks not justice but repeated oppression.

Word by Word

• [{'term': 'adhigamya', 'definition': 'having found out, having ascertained, having discovered'}, {'term': 'sarvān', 'definition': 'all (details / everything)'}, {'term': 'naḥ', 'definition': 'of us, our'}, {'term': 'vanavāsa', 'definition': 'dwelling in the forest

• exile in the forest'}, {'term': 'imam', 'definition': 'this (present one)'}, {'term': 'tataḥ', 'definition': 'then, thereafter

• from that (knowledge)'}, {'term': 'pratrājayiṣyati', 'definition': 'will cause to be driven away/banished

• will expel again (causative future sense)'}, {'term': 'punar', 'definition': 'again'}, {'term': 'nikṛtyā', 'definition': 'by deceit, by fraud, by treachery'}, {'term': 'adhama-pūruṣaḥ', 'definition': 'the lowest of men

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśampāyana
• the Pāṇḍavas (implied by naḥ / 'us')
• forest exile (vanavāsa)
• Duryodhana (from the accompanying context)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Adharma expressed through deceit and manipulation does not stop at a single injustice; once it gains information and advantage, it tends to repeat oppression. The verse warns that treachery (nikṛti) weaponizes knowledge to prolong others’ suffering.

What is happening in the narrative?

The speaker (as narrated by Vaiśampāyana) conveys the fear that the enemy—described as a base, deceitful man—will discover the Pāṇḍavas’ situation in the forest and, using fraudulent strategy, will again force them into continued exile.