Akshahṛdaya: The Secret Science of Dice

Akshahṛdaya means “the heart of dice”. It is a secret vidyā (branch of knowledge) about dice and counting. It plays a key part in how the story of Nala and Damayantī (the Nala-Damayantī Upākhyāna) in the Mahābhārata is resolved.

This knowledge belonged to Ṛtuparṇa, king of Ayodhyā, who showed a related skill by counting the leaves and fruits of a tree at a single glance. Ṛtuparṇa taught it to Nala, who was living in disguise as Bāhuka, during their one-day chariot drive to Vidarbha. In return, Nala gave him the Aśvahṛdaya, the secret knowledge of horses. As soon as the Akshahṛdaya entered Nala’s mind, Kali, who had lived in Nala’s body since the dice game, was driven out. With this knowledge Nala challenged Pushkara to a new game and won back his whole kingdom in one sitting.

What This Knowledge Is

The Akshahṛdaya is described as a kind of mathematical sense for chance: a mastery of the rules behind dice that lets its holder understand and predict results almost perfectly. The Mahābhārata shows this through the story of the tree. As they passed a large tree, Ṛtuparṇa at once said exactly how many leaves and fruits it had. Nala checked by counting the leaves on two fallen branches through the night, and the numbers matched. This skill of counting a great many things in one moment is the same skill that is used with dice: knowing the state and possibilities of many units at once (Vana Parva, Chapter 71).

The Exchange for the Aśvahṛdaya

When Ṛtuparṇa showed his tree-counting skill, Nala asked to learn the Akshahṛdaya. Ṛtuparṇa agreed, on the condition that Nala teach him the Aśvahṛdaya in return. The exchange was made by speech during the chariot journey, passed from mind to mind in the way of Vedic upadeśa (spoken teaching). The moment Nala received the Akshahṛdaya, Kali could stay no longer. He left Nala’s body through his mouth and went into a śamī tree beside the road (Vana Parva, Chapters 71–72).

How Kali Was Driven Out

The link between the Akshahṛdaya and Kali’s departure is important. Kali had entered Nala for one purpose: to ruin him through dice. Once Nala had perfect understanding of dice and could not be beaten at the game, Kali had nothing left to hold on to, so he left. This shows a principle: mastering the very thing through which one was ruined is itself the healing and the freedom (Vana Parva, Chapter 72).

Bṛhadaśva’s Gift to Yudhishṭhira

The whole story of Nala and Damayantī is told inside a larger frame. When Yudhishṭhira was grieving over his own losses at dice, the ṛshi Bṛhadaśva told him this story to comfort him and to show him someone in a similar position. At the end of the story, Bṛhadaśva gave Yudhishṭhira the Akshahṛdaya itself, the same knowledge that had saved Nala, so that Yudhishṭhira would never again be helpless at dice (Vana Parva, Chapter 79).

Sources

• Mahābhārata, Vana Parva, Chapters 71–72
• Mahābhārata, Vana Parva, Chapter 76
• Mahābhārata, Vana Parva, Chapter 79