Shloka 6

पुन: प्रवर्ततां द्यूतमिति मे निश्चिता मति: । एकपाणेन भद्रं ते प्राणयोश्व॒ पणावहे,तदनन्तर वीरसेनपुत्र नलने पुष्करके पास जाकर कहा--“अब हम दोनों फिरसे जूआ खेलें। मैंने बहुत धन प्राप्त किया है। दमयन्ती तथा अन्य जो कुछ भी मेरे पास है, यह सब मेरी ओरसे दाँवपर लगाया जायगा और पुष्कर! तुम्हारी ओरसे सारा राज्य ही दाँवपर रखा जायगा। इस एक पणके साथ हम दोनोंमें फिर जूएका खेल प्रारम्भ हो, यह मेरा निश्चित विचार है। तुम्हारा भला हो, यदि ऐसा न कर सको तो हम दोनों अपने प्राणोंकी बाजी लगावें

punaḥ pravartatāṃ dyūtam iti me niścitā matiḥ | ekapāṇena bhadraṃ te prāṇayoś ca paṇāvahe ||

Bṛhadaśva said: “Let the game of dice be set in motion again—this is my settled resolve. With a single stake, may it be well with you: let us wager even our very lives.”

पुनःagain
पुनः:
TypeIndeclinable
Rootपुनः
प्रवर्तताम्let it proceed / let it begin
प्रवर्तताम्:
TypeVerb
Rootप्र√वृत्
FormImperative (loṭ), 3rd, singular, Ātmanepada
द्यूतम्the gambling game / dice-play
द्यूतम्:
Karta
TypeNoun
Rootद्यूत
Formneuter, nominative/accusative, singular
इतिthus (quotative)
इति:
TypeIndeclinable
Rootइति
मेmy / of me
मे:
TypePronoun
Rootअस्मद्
Formgenitive, singular
निश्चिताdetermined, resolved
निश्चिता:
TypeAdjective
Rootनिश्चिता (नि√चित्-क्त)
Formfeminine, nominative, singular
मतिःthought, intention
मतिः:
Karta
TypeNoun
Rootमति
Formfeminine, nominative, singular
एकwith one
एक:
TypeAdjective
Rootएक
Formmasculine/neuter, instrumental, singular
पाणिनाwith (one) hand
पाणिना:
Karana
TypeNoun
Rootपाणि
Formmasculine, instrumental, singular
भद्रम्good fortune / welfare
भद्रम्:
TypeNoun
Rootभद्र
Formneuter, nominative/accusative, singular
तेto you / your
ते:
Sampradana
TypePronoun
Rootयुष्मद्
Formdative/genitive, singular
प्राणयोःof (our) two lives
प्राणयोः:
TypeNoun
Rootप्राण
Formmasculine, genitive/locative, dual
and
:
TypeIndeclinable
Root
पणावहेlet us stake / let us wager
पणावहे:
TypeVerb
Rootपण् (पणयति/पणते) / पणम् + √वह् (periphrastic usage)
FormImperative (loṭ) / exhortative, 1st, dual, Ātmanepada
तत्that
तत्:
TypePronoun
Rootतद्
Formneuter, nominative/accusative, singular
अनन्तरम्after that / immediately thereafter
अनन्तरम्:
TypeIndeclinable
Rootअनन्तर

बृहदश्चव उवाच

B
Bṛhadaśva
D
dice game (dyūta)
L
lives (prāṇa)

Educational Q&A

The verse highlights the peril of gambling: once the mind is fixed on play, the stakes escalate from wealth to life itself. Ethically, it warns how obsession and rivalry can override prudence and dharma, turning a game into self-destruction.

In Bṛhadaśva’s narration of the Nala episode, the speaker voices a firm resolve to restart the dice game and proposes a single decisive stake—so extreme that it includes wagering their very lives—showing the intensifying compulsion and confrontation around dyūta.