Mahabharata 3.52.29 — Vana Parva, Adhyaya 52, Shloka 29

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

Devanagari script

अधिगम्य च सर्वान्‌ नो वनवासमिमं ततः । प्रत्राजयिष्यति पुनर्निकृत्याधमपूरुष:

Transliteration

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

Translation

Vaiśampāyana disse: “Depois de descobrir tudo a nosso respeito e sobre este exílio na floresta, aquele homem vil e enganador voltará a tramar—por traição—como nos expulsar e nos lançar de novo neste mesmo banimento.”

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.