Rigveda 10.34: A dice player's monologue or a hymn to dice for two voices?

This Friday's festive lecture will be held by Benedicte Nielsen Whitehead – it starts at 16:15, but please come from 16:00, and say hello. Afterwards, there will be refreshments.

Stone relief depicting the dice match between Yudhiṣṭhira and Śakuni in Mahābhārata (Vīrabhadra Temple in Lepakshi, India).

Abstract

RV 10.34 is a hymn that is more than 3,000 years old. In recent times, it has been translated, interpreted and commented on by several major authorities.

Some of these authorities take a surprisingly loose approach to the actual text. A more literal translation and interpretation opens up the possibility of seeing a whole new structure in the hymn and provides a fine insight into what really mattered to a man in the second half of the second millennium BCE.

The man in question is a compulsive gambler. He is obsessed with playing with the dried fruits of the vibhidaka tree, which enchant him with their magic. And the women in his life are not happy.