The verse and its meaning · Vedas · Vedas — The Gambler's Lament

A Blameless Wife Driven Off

Rig Veda 10.34.2

न मा मिमेथ न जिहीळ एषा शिवा सखिभ्य उत मह्यमासीत्। अक्षस्याहमेकपरस्य हेतोरनुव्रतामप जायामरोधम्

Meaning · English

She never scolded me or grew angry; she was kind to my friends and to me. For a die that counts one too many, I drove off my loyal wife.

The gambler sets down the facts against himself. His wife did nothing to deserve what came. She never nagged him, never flared up, and she even made his gambling friends welcome. She followed his ways and stayed loyal. What drove her off was a single throw. The phrase about the die is hard: Sāyaṇa reads it as a die where one point decides everything; others hear a throw that missed by one. Either way, the cause was tiny and the loss was whole.

Picture a man reaching across a table for a coin that has rolled away. His sleeve catches a full glass, and it shatters on the floor. The coin is small; he will have it in his hand a moment later. The glass is gone for good. He lunged for a trifle and broke what held the water.

अर्थ · हिन्दी

In this book

• Before: The Pull of the Dice · Rig Veda 10.34.1
• Next: Old Horse Nobody Wants · Rig Veda 10.34.3
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