Nala –

Damayanti

(A
story from Mahaabhaarat)

[Yudhishtira after loosing his

kingdom in a game of dice had to go to the jungle along with his brothers and
wife Draupadi. There in the forest many sages like Dhaumya, Markandeya etc.
visited them and consoled them by telling stories of righteous kings who had
suffered more troubles. One such story is that of Nala and Damayanti which is
full of beauty and pathos.

When Nala heard of divine beauty of

Damayanti from Sage Naarada he began pining for her. The delicate job of conveying
his love to his beloved Damayanti was done remarkably well by a swan. And thus
Damayanti too began pining for her unknown lover, Nala.

This story has attracted the

attention of writers and poets in Bhaarat and other distant lands. The story
had been translated into Latin by Bopp and in English by Deen Martin.]

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Thousands of years ago, King Nala

ruled over the Kingdom
of Nishada. He was
Handsome and Generous. He was skilled in using arms and horse riding. He was
loved by his subjects.As his father, Virasen, had gone along with his mother to
spend last years of his life, King Nala felt lonely.

Nala’s cousin wicked Pushkar

envied, Nala’s fame and was angry with the people who loved Nala. He told Nala
,he was tired of the people and left the kingdom.

Nala was lonely and wandered from

place to place. One day he saw a beautiful lake with graceful swans swimming in
it. Among them one swan had golden plumes. He slowly crept forward and caught
the golden swan by the leg. The bird cried in pain. The other swans looked
helplessly. Nala told the bird,-“Don’t be afraid. I won’t kill you. I shall
keep you in my palace and give youpearls.� The swan consoled his mates. It told
them, “My dear friends, I have to go with the king to keep a promise, I made in
last birth. I shall return, the moment my work is done.�

King Nala brought the swan to his

palace. One day the swan asked Nala, “Why are you so sad oh king? Nala said, “I
have been unhappy man for many months. Once sage Naarada, spoke to me about
Damayanti, the charming daughter of King Bheema of Kundanpur in Vidharbha. Then
and there I decided to marry her and no one else.�

The Swan said, “Is this all that

troubles you? Make arrangements for wedding and leave the rest to me. I shall
return in a week� So saying the swan flew away into the sky. It came to the
city of Kundanpur.
Entering the royal garden the swan began to chant Nala’s name. Damayanti who
was standing in the terrace of her palace looked up. She heard the name
“Nala!�, “Nala�. She exclaimed, �What a dear swan! If only I could have
it.� As
Damayanti went forward, to catch the swan, it moved further away. At last with a swift
movement she caught it. She
asked the swan, “You have been repeating the name of Nala? Who is he?� The swan
spoke of Nala and praised him highly .Damayanti thought, “King Nala must be
wonderful man. I shall marry him and none other.� The swan returned to Nala and
said, “I have done my job, O king! Damayanti will marry only you. I’ve kept my
promise. Let me go back to my companions now.� Nala was pleased .He said, “I
will miss you, my
friend, but I don’t want to keep away from your friends.� The swan flew to its
land.

Nala was soon invited to Damayanti’s

swayamvara. Princes from far and near gathered in the swayamvara hall. Damayanti
entered the hall with the garland. All princes were restless. Little did they
know that the garland was meant only for Nala. Damayanti garlanded Nala. All
assembled people shouted with joy “Long live King Nala!� “Long live Queen
Damayanti!� When Nala brought
Damayanti to his palace people of Nishaad were very happy. The marriage was
celebrated with great pomp and joy for many days. Young and old people, men and
women danced with joy. Brahmins and poor people were given clothes, food and
other gifts. In due time Nala and Damayanti had two children, one boy and one
girl. Happy times pass quickly! Soon
twelve years were over.
One day a palace guard brought a
man to Nala. Nala asked him who he was and what he wanted. He was Pushkar,
Nala’s cousin, whom he could not recognize. Nala welcomed his cousin. Pushkar
told Nala that he was roaming in forests and now he was bored of forest life.
Nala built him a separate palace and did all to keep his cousin happy. But
Pushkar was a cunning and wicked man. He made plans to drive out Nala and to
make himself the king of the country. He was an expert gambler and skilled
player of game of dice. Pushkar invited
Nala to play dice with him. Many games were played where the loser lost the
wagers. But Nala kept on losing. Pushkar said, “This is the final round of
games. The winner gets the crown and the loser has to spend three years in
forest. Agreed?� Nala said, “Agreed.� The dice were cast for the last time.
Nala lost in this round also. Pushkar shouted with joy, “I have won! Ha! Ha! Ha! I
am the king now!�

Nala have up the kingdom. Damayanti

sent her children to her parents’ place. Damayanti and Nala went to forest.
People of Nishaad were sad. They were angry with wicked Pushkar. Nala and
Damayanti wandered in forest. On some days they could not get food. One day
Nala noticed a flock of golden birds. He wanted catch them for food. He threw
his garment over the birds to trap them. The birds flew away with the garment
which was his only belonging. Damayanti consoled Nala, “Don’t worry my king!
We
can’t fight the powerful fate!� Nala replied, “I am worried about you. Why you
should suffer for my faults? Listen my dear wife! This is the way to your
father’s kingdom.You should…� Damayanti stopped him, “O! No! A wife’s
place is
by the side of her husband in happiness and during difficult times. I cannot
leave you alone here in the forest.�

At night they slept on the bare

ground covered by Damayanti’s saree. Early next morning when Nala woke up,
Damayanti was still sleeping. He tore a piece from the Damayanti’s saree. He
wrapped himself in it and walked away leaving Damayanti back. He thought that
now Damayanti would some how reach Kundanpur, her father’s kingdom. He walked
into the deep forest for a long time. Suddenly he heard cries of ‘help, help!’
Nala rushed in that direction and saw a serpent caught in the blazing forest
fire. Nala bravely ran into the fire and pulled out serpent. It was a serpent
god! It said, “You have saved my life. I shall give you some thing in return.
Keeping your face away from me please walk ten steps.� Nala started walking ten
steps and the serpent bit his leg firmly. Nala cried out in pain, “O, Serpent
god, what have you have done?� Serpent god comforted, “By biting you I have
changed your form with my venom! Now nobody would recognize you! Your name is
Baahuk from today. King Rituparna is the king of Ayodhyaa. He is very good at
game of dice. Go to him if you want to know the secret of the game for
defeating Pushkar. And take this magic dress. When you put on this dress you would
become your old
self.�

Meanwhile Damayanti woke up. She

was shocked when she did not see Nala by her side. She lamented, “Where is my
Nala? Where my Nala has gone? Why has he left me alone in this forest?� Calling
out Nala’s name Damayanti wandered for hours in the forest. She asked animals.
“O, jumping deer, have you seen Nala? O, little sparrow, have you seen my
husband?’ She asked trees and creepers about Nala. Now she became tired. A
deadly python saw Damayanti. It silently moved near to her and caught
Damayanti’s legs in its coils. Damayanti , overcome with fear , cried out for
help. Suddenly a hunter’s arrow hit and killed the huge python. The hunter came
and saw tired Damayanti. He looked at the divine beauty with wonder. He said,
“Who are you? Are you a goddess or a heavenly damsel? Please marry me. I have
saved your life.� Damayanti was taken aback as the hunter was advancing towards
her. She cried aloud, “O, my misfortune! I wish the python had killed me! Stay
where you are o, wicked hunter! If you take one step further you will be
burnt!� The hunter moved towards her but was burnt to ashes by her curse.
Stumbling and falling Damayanti reached a river bank. There she met a group of
traders. She asked them about Nala. But they told they did not know anything
about him. They took pity on her and allowed Damayanti to stay with them for
the night. At night when the traders were asleep a herd of elephants came that
way and destroyed all that they carried. The traders thought Damayanti had
brought ill-luck to them. They beat her and drove her away. Damayanti’ ran for her
life and reached the kingdom of Viprapur. Children teased her and called
her mad. Queen Bhanumati of Viprapur saw Damyanti from her terrace. Seeing her
looks Bhanumati thought that Damayanti was a woman form a noble family She sent
her servant to bring Damayanti. She engaged Damayanti as a maid not knowing who
she really was. Damayanti with her hard work, pleasing manners and soothing
words became queen’s favourite maid in a short time.

One day a minister from Kundanpur

came to Viprapur. He at once recognized Damayanti and asked her how she came to
be there He told Damayanti that her father was searching everywhere for her. With
the permission of King and Queen of Viprapur the minister took Damayanti to
Kundanpur. Damayanti’s children had grown up. She watched them at play. But she
missed Nala. She became sad thinking of Nala. She thought it was no use to live
without Nala. Some days she refused to eat. Her father, King Bhima promised her
that he would find out Nala soon.

The king sent out his minister in

search of Nala.The minister during his search came to Ayodhya.The minister was
given riddle by Damayanti so that he should ask the riddle in the court of
every king he visits and report back the answers to Damayanti.At the Kinmg of
Rituparna’s court the minister said, “A king ran away. In dust the jewel lay. Why
he ran away the jewel could not say.� King Rituparna appreciated the riddle and
waited for the answer.But everyone in the court wondered at the strange words
of the minister. Suddenly Baahuk who was none other than Nala, came forward to
answer the riddle. He said, “Can a King without a crown keep a jewel for his
own?� Everyone agreed that the answer was excellent one..The minister returned
to Kundanpur and narrated the events to Damayanti. But the minister told, the
person who answered the riddle was an ugly man and not Nala. But Damayanti was
certain it was Nala because only Nala could answer her strange riddle.
Damayanti and her minister made a plan to bring Nala to Kundanpur. As per the
plan the minister went back to Ayodhyaa and said to king Rituparna, “My lord,
Damayanti has agreed to remarry. Tomorrow is the Swayamvara.� Nala in the guise
of Baahuk heard this and wondered if it could be true. King Rituparna said to Baahuk,
“The swayamvara is fixed for tomorrow and the invitation comes today! How can
we make the distance in one day?� Baahuk assured the king, “Don’t worry my
lord! I shall take you there as fast as the wind so that you will not miss the
swayamvara.�

They both set out for Kundanpur.

Surely enough, the horses seemed to fly in the air. Nala was expert in horse
riding and a great charioteer. King Rituparna was deeply impressed at Baahuk’s
skill in handling horses. The king said, “Baahuk, will you please teach me
secret of horse driving? I shall teach you my tricks in the game of dice.� By
the time they reached Kundanpur they had already exchanged the secrets. Now
king Rituparna knew the secret of handling horses and Baahuk had become master
of game of dice.

At kundanpur they found no

festivities of any swayamvara. King Rituparna asked the minister about it. The
minister replied that as it was the second marriage for Damayanti there were no
festivities. King Rituparna and Baahuk were lodged comfortably in the palace.
From his room Baahuk saw his two children were playing in the palace garden.
Emotions of love surged in him. He ran down to his children and hugged them.
Damayanti was closely observing Baahuk from her terrace. She became sure that
Baahuk was Nala only. She also ran down from her terrace to meet Baahuk. She
said, “I am sure you are Nala! How can I thank you for coming here?� Nala
replied, “But were you not going to marry again, Damayanti?� She said, “No, no.
How can I do that? You are my husband for life. Idea of swayamvara was a trick
to get you her. Who else but Nala could travel such long distance in one day?�
Baahuk put on the magic dress given to him by the serpent god. He became Nala
again. Seeing Nala safe and sound palace was filled with happiness. King
Rituparna was also happy. All appreciated wisdom of Damayanti. People of Kundan
pur went crazy with joy at the reunion of King Nala and Queen Damayanti. There
were festivities in the kingdom as if it was a remarriage. After a few days
Nala and Damayanti retuned to the Kingdom
of Nishaad, with their
children. Nala had already completed three years away from home as per the
condition of the game.

Nala invited his cousin for the

game of dice. Pushkar agreed on condition that the winner would become the king
and the loser would go to the forest for ever. They settled down to play. Now
it was Pushkar’s turn to lose. Nala won the game and was crowned again as the
king. But he was noble enough not to send Pushkar to forest. He allowed him to
stay in his kingdom. People of Nishaad were happy to have noble Nala as their
king and goddess like Damayanti as their queen again. The kingdom of Nishaad
became a prosperous and happy land.