Shloka 32

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

Devanagari script

स तथाक्षेषु कुशलो निश्चितो गतचेतन: । चरिष्यसि महाराज वनेषु वसती: पुनः

Transliteration

sa tathākṣeṣu kuśalo niścito gatacetanaḥ | cariṣyasi mahārāja vaneṣu vasatīḥ punaḥ

Translation

ವೈಶಂಪಾಯನನು ಹೇಳಿದರು—ಹೀಗೆ, ಪಾಶಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ನಿಪುಣನಾಗಿದ್ದರೂ ಈಗ ನಿನ್ನ ಸಂಕಲ್ಪ ಸ್ಥಿರವಾಗಿದೆ; ಆ ವ್ಯಸನ ನಿನ್ನ ಮನಸ್ಸನ್ನು ಇನ್ನು ಕದಲಿಸುವುದಿಲ್ಲ. ಆದ್ದರಿಂದ, ಮಹಾರಾಜ, ನೀನು ಮತ್ತೆ ಅರಣ್ಯಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ವಾಸಿಸಿ ವನವಾಸವನ್ನು ಅನುಭವಿಸುವೆ।

Word by Word

सःhe

तथाthus/so

अक्षेषुin dice (game)/with dice

कुशलःskilled

निश्चितःdetermined/ascertained

गतचेतनःone whose consciousness is gone; senseless

चरिष्यसिyou will roam/live

महाराजO great king

वनेषुin forests

वसतीःdwellings/abodes

पुनःagain

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

mahārāja (the king, contextually Yudhiṣṭhira)

akṣa (dice)

vana (forest)

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?

Even when one has talent in a harmful pursuit (here, gambling), dharma requires steadiness of mind and acceptance of consequences; true strength is shown in resolve and self-restraint rather than in skill at vice.

What is happening in the narrative?

The narrator Vaiśampāyana describes the king’s state after the dice episode: despite being adept at dice, he is now firm and mentally detached, and he is destined to return to forest-dwelling—signaling the continuation of exile in the Vana Parva storyline.