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

Asking for a Truce

Rig Veda 10.34.14

मित्रं कृणुध्वं खलु मृळता नो मा नो घोरेण चरताभि धृष्णु। नि वो नु मन्युर्विशतामरातिरन्यो बभ्रूणां प्रसितौ न्वस्तु

Meaning · English

Be our friends; be kind to us. Do not come at us with fierce force. Let your anger settle; let another be caught in the brown ones' snare.

The gambler now speaks to the dice themselves, as one would plead with a stronger power. He asks them to be friends and to be gentle. The fierce force he names is something terrible to face, and the dice have been coming at him with it. He asks their anger and hostility to settle. Sāyaṇa takes this to mean settle on the gambler's enemies; others read it simply as coming to rest. The last line is his plainest admission. He does not ask for the game to end, only that the trap close on someone else.

A wire snare set on a forest path stays set after one animal tears free. The animal limps away, but the loop still hangs there, waiting for the next one to come down the trail. The gambler asks to be let go. He does not ask for the dice to be thrown away, so the trap stays open for another player.

अर्थ · हिन्दी

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• Before: Plough Instead of Play · Rig Veda 10.34.13
• All of Vedas · Ask Krishna about it

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