Shloka 30
Keśinī’s Inquiry to Bāhuka and the Emotional Signs of Concealed Identity (केशिन्याः बाहुकपरीक्षा)
तस्याक्षहृददयज्ञस्य शरीरान्नि:सृत: कलि: । कर्कोटकविषं तीक्ष्णं मुखात् सततमुद्धमन्,द्यूत-विद्याका रहस्य जाननेके अनन्तर नलके शरीरसे कलियुग निकला। तब कर्कोटक नागके तीखे विषको अपने मुखसे बार-बार उगल रहा था। उस समय कष्टमें पड़े हुए कलियुगकी वह शापाग्नि भी दूर हो गयी। राजा नलको उसने दीर्घकालतक कष्ट दिया था और उसीके कारण वे किंकर्तव्यविमूढ हो रहे थे
bṛhadaśva uvāca | tasyākṣahṛdayajñasya śarīrān niḥsṛtaḥ kaliḥ | karkoṭakaviṣaṃ tīkṣṇaṃ mukhāt satatam uddhaman |
Wika ni Bṛhadaśva: Nang maunawaan ni Nala ang lihim ng “puso” ng kaalaman sa dice, lumabas si Kali mula sa katawan niya. Sa paglitaw, paulit-ulit niyang ibinubuga mula sa bibig ang matalim na lason ng ahas na si Karkoṭaka. Sa sandaling iyon, napawi rin ang naglalagablab na bisa ng sumpang kumakapit sa naghihirap na Kali. Matagal niyang pinahirapan si Haring Nala, at dahil sa kanya’y nalito si Nala kung ano ang nararapat gawin.
बृहदश्च उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames gambling as a destructive, quasi-ritual obsession (‘dice as the heart of the sacrifice’) that invites moral confusion and suffering. Liberation from such affliction is depicted as a purging: the toxic influence (Kali) is expelled, suggesting that vice can be removed, but only after its painful consequences have been endured and countered.
In Bṛhadaśva’s narration of Nala’s story, the personified Kali—who had possessed and tormented Nala through the vice of gambling—emerges from the body, repeatedly spewing Karkoṭaka’s sharp poison. This indicates the breaking of the affliction/curse and explains why Nala, long driven into helpless bewilderment, can begin to recover his agency.