# Tales from the Indian Epics/Nala and Damayanti

NALA AND DAMAYANTI
Once upon a time there ruled over Vidarbha a mighty king named Bhima. But although his armies were victorious and his treasury overflowed with riches, he was unhappy; for he had no children. One day however, his unhappiness ceased. For there came to him as a guest a rishi named Damana. As befitted an Aryan king, Bhima treated the rishi with generosity, and both he and his queen poured treasures and gifts ​into Damana's lap. The rishi was pleased and he in turn promised the royal couple that they would be blessed with three sons and a daughter. In due time the rishi's promise came to pass, and Bhima's queen bore him three sons and a daughter. And to honour the rishi the king called one son Dama, another Danta and the third Damana, and the daughter he called Damayanti. The three sons grew up strong and brave and tall, as befitted Aryan princes. But Damayanti grew into a maid so fair and so beautiful that all India could not furnish another to match her.
DAMAYANTI AND THE SWAN
​over it until it saw him alone. Then settling at his feet it told him what it had said to Daraayanti and what the princess's reply had been.
But although the swan vanished from Damayanti's sight her love for Nala grew until she could not rest nor even sit at ease. Her thoughts urged her always to rise and hurry towards Nala's side and she would spring from her couch only to remember that Nala lived ever so many leagues away. Then she would sink back with a sigh only to rise again a few moments later. In a day or two King Bhima noticed that Damayanti had grown thin, that her cheeks were pale, and that her eyes had lost their lustre. At first he feared for his daughter's health. Then he thought to himself, "She is now a grown woman. Let us bestir ourselves about her marriage." And at once he set himself to prepare for Damayanti's Swayamvara. To all the courts of India he sent heralds and in each court the heralds proclaimed, "O Kings and Heroes, King Bhima of Vidarbha will hold the Swayamvara of Damayanti. Then she will choose the bravest and fairest youth in India to be her husband. Come therefore and win, if you may, the hand of the loveliest princess in all the world."
The words of the heralds and the fame of Damayanti's beauty brought every prince in India to King Bhima's court; and there the king received them all courteously while they waited for the day appointed for the Swayamvara. But in their longing to excel and to win the love of the princess, they forgot the worship due by them to the great god Indra. Now it so happened that at this time the sage Narada went to Amravati, Indra's capital. The god received him with fitting honour and then asked him where the princes of India ​had gone and why they neglected his sacrifices. "Lord Indra," said the sage, "King Bhima of Vidarbha has proclaimed the Swayamvara of his daughter Damayanti; and her beauty is such that every hero of India has gone to woo her." "And is she truly beautiful even to immortal eyes?" asked Indra. "Truly she is," answered Narada and he began to describe her charms. As he spoke, Agni the god of fire, Varuna the lord of the seas and Yama the god of death entered the hall where Narada sat with Indra, and while the four Immortals listened to the words of Narada as he portrayed Damayanti's beauty, there grew in their hearts a longing for her such as filled the heart of Nala. And getting ready their heavenly chariots, they too set forth to join the heroes who thronged Vidarbha, hoping that they might win Damayanti's favour. As the chariots sped through the air, the gods saw King Nala walking on the earth below them. Such was his stature and so superb was his bearing, that the hearts of the four gods sank within them. "Immortals though we be," they murmured, "our beauty pales before that of King Nala. If he is our rival we cannot hope that Damayanti will pass him by for one of us." Then they drove their cars to earth and alighted close to where Nala walked. And coming to the king they said, "We come to you as suppliants, King Nala, and we need your aid; promise therefore to act as our messenger." King Nala, not guessing their meaning but taking the gods to be suppliants as they said, lightly gave them his promise. "To whom do you wish," he asked, "that I should take a message, and who are you?"
Indra stepped forward and said, "O King, I am Indra; and these with me are the gods Varuna, Yama and Agni. We wish you to go to Damayanti and tell her that we ​love her and that we bid her choose one of us four as her husband." But Nala said, "Lord Indra, I too love Damayanti, and, loving her, how can I plead another's suit?" "Nishada King," retorted Indra, "you forget that you are an Aryan prince and that you cannot go back on your word once given. You promised us that you would convey our message and now you would break your word." Nala sought in vain to escape from the snare. At last he said, "As you will, Lord Indra. But the palace of King Bhima is guarded night and day. How can I enter it?" "O King," replied Indra, "fear nothing; I shall take you past the guards." "As you will, Lord Indra," said Nala, and as the words left his lips he saw that he stood inside one of the palace rooms. On a couch in front of him rested the beautiful princess and round her stood her waiting maids. Suddenly they became aware of Nala's presence. Springing to her feet the princess cried, "Fair youth, who are you and how did you come here? For the doors of the royal palace are closed night and day and outside them the king's sentinels keep watch, day and night."
"Fair princess," said the king, with a smile that won Damayanti's heart, "I am Nala, King of the Nishadas. But I am come to you as a messenger of the Immortals. The gods Indra and Agni, Varuna and Yama, all love and long for you. Therefore choose one of them for your husband." But Damayanti shook her head sadly and said, "Fair Prince, I loved you before ever I saw you, because of what the golden swan told me of your beauty; and now that I have seen you I can never love another, even though he be an Immortal. Love me in return, O King Nala. For if you do not, I cannot bear to live longer." The king's heart leapt with joy, but he could ​not press his suit, for he had promised the gods that he would be their messenger to Damayanti. "No, fair princess, do not lightly throw away the love of the Immortals; if you wed one of them he will take you with him to his heaven and he will make you immortal like himself. And you will never know either pain or sickness or death." But Damayanti shook her head once more and tears streamed down her lovely cheeks. "I reverence the immortal gods," she said, "but I do not love them as a maid loves a man. Therefore take me to be your queen, O King, for I can wed none but you."
The king's joy grew until he could hardly control it. But he answered, "No, princess, I am come as the messenger of the gods and I promised to help them to win your love. How then can I take your love for myself?"
Of a sudden Damayanti's face was wreathed in smiles. "Nay, if that is all, fair prince," she said, "I can free you from the snare in which the Immortals have taken you. Let them come to the Swayamvara. And do you too come, my lord King; then, as the choice in a Swayamvara rests with the maid herself, I shall choose you to be my husband. Nor will the gods be able to blame you. For you have kept your promise truly."
The king bowed to the fair girl and turning went out of the palace. As he went, the bolted doors opened before him and the guards did not see him pass. Then crossing the royal pleasure grounds, he returned to where he had left Indra and the other gods. "O King," said Indra, "did you see Damayanti and give her our message?" "Yes Lord Indra," answered the king. "Whom among us has she chosen?" asked Indra. "Lord Indra," ​said Nala, "I gave her your message and I bade her choose one among you and I promised her that he whom she chose would make her immortal like himself. Yet she rejected you all and vowed that she would have no husband but me. And she bade us all attend her Swayamvara. There she will choose me herself and no blame will rest on me. These were her words, Lord Indra. Do as you think fit."
When the moon was full, King Bhima held the Swayamvara; and the arena was crowded with all the gallant princes and nobles who had hastened from all parts of India in the hope of bearing away Damayanti. But when the lovely princess entered it and took her seat, her beautiful deep eyes sought only the face of Nala. When she saw him her eyes lit up, but darkened a moment later with doubt. For standing beside the prince were four other princes exactly like him, so that it was impossible for her to say which of them was truly her beloved. For the gods, angry at her contempt of them, had, in order to punish her, assumed each the form of Nala, so that she might not choose him, but might in her confusion choose one of them as her husband. At last Damayanti in her grief prayed to the four gods and said, "Lords Indra and Agni and Yama and Varuna, pity me, for I am but a mortal maid. I have given my love to Nala and I can never love any but him. Of what value then can I be to you?" And she prayed so earnestly that the four gods pitied her and said to themselves, "Truly the maid loves Nala and in her heart there is no room for another. Let her then choose him and have her will." Her prayer finished, Damayanti looked again at the five Nalas in front of her and she saw that the feet of four of them did not rest on the ground and that no sign of dust ​or heat was to be seen on their bodies. But the feet of the fifth rested on the ground and on his clothes lay the dust of the arena and his brow was burnt with the rays of the sun. Then she knew that the four were Immortals and that the fifth was her mortal lover the King of the Nishadas. With a smile she flung the garland with which she was to choose her suitor round the true Nala's neck and the assembled heroes knew that she had chosen her husband. All acclaimed her choice, for he was the handsomest of all those who had sought to win her. And Nala thanked Damayanti for having preferred him to an immortal husband and vowed that he would be hers alone while life lasted. And Damayanti thanked him and made him a like promise. Then both prayed to the four Immortals for their pardon and protection, and all four gods blessed the pair and gave them marriage gifts.
After the Swayamvara was over, King Bhima called together his Brahmans and they joined the youth and maid in marriage. A few days later King Nala took leave of King Bhima and in his chariot bore Damayanti away to the country of the Nishadas. There he gave her as a dwelling a beautiful palace surrounded by woods and pleasure grounds, so that in all India there was no happier queen than Damayanti. Nor was there anywhere a king so glad or so fortunate as Nala.
Now it so happened that as Indra and Agni and Varuna and Yama were returning from the Swayamvara they met the god Kali and with him was his companion Dwapara. "Lord Kali," said Indra, "tell me, I pray you, where you are going with Dwapara as your companion." "Lord Indra," said Kali, "the fame of the beauty of Damayanti, princess of Vidarbha, has reached my ears and has filled me with longing for her. And, hearing ​that she is to choose her husband in a Swayamvara, I am going to Vidarbha to win her." "Lord Kali," laughed Indra, "I fear you will be late. The Swayamvara is over. For we were present at it, hoping also to win her as the bride of one of us. But she scorned us and chose King Nala as her husband." Then Kali grew angry and with gleaming eyes he cried, "Shall she who has scorned Immortals and chosen a mortal not suffer for her crime?" "No, Lord Kali," said Indra, "we pitied her and gave her leave to choose Nala, and indeed none could blame her. For he is the loveliest youth in all the land of the Aryas." With these words Indra and the three gods with him went on, leaving Kali and Dwapara silent. But the fury of Kali burnt fiercely within him and a few moments later he said, "O Dwapara, I cannot suffer that Nala enjoy the beauty of Damayanti. I shall enter into him and possess him. And I shall drive him forth from his kingdom, and from the arms of his bride. Thus all men shall know that it is evil to slight the Immortals."
Then Kali turned from Vidarbha and went to the country of the Nishadas. But so pure was Nala's life and so strict were his observances that Kali, watching day and night, saw no chance to enter into him and possess him. Thus for twelve years Nala and Damayanti lived together without a break in their joy. And Damayanti bore her lord a son whom she called Indrasena and a daughter whom she also called Indrasena. But in the thirteenth year their happiness perished. For King Nala, hearing grave news of state, hastened to consult his ministers, and in his haste he forgot, before doing homage to the Immortals, to wash his feet. Thus impure he entered the presence of the pure. Instantly Kali saw that his time had come, and entering the body of King Nala, he possessed him.
II
Now that Kali had entered into and possessed Nala, the king had no longer any will of his own and became the mere slave of the wicked god. Forced by Kali he went to the palace of his brother Pushkara and engaged with him in a game of dice. But such skill in gaming as Nala had became useless now that he was but the creature of Kali. And through his careless play and the fall of the dice, which at Kali's command fell always in Pushkara's favour, the king never ceased to lose his stakes to his brother. At last the news of the king's senseless gaming spread through the city. His subjects, who loved Nala devotedly, came with the king's ministers to his palace. And they begged Queen Damayanti to ask the king to see them. For they wished to implore him to abandon his dicing. But when Damayanti went to the hall where Nala gambled with his brother, the king, possessed of Kali, would not speak with her nor even cast his eyes in her direction. So the queen went back to the subjects and the ministers and told them that the king would not receive them. They returned sorrowfully to their own homes. But the king day after day continued to lose stake after stake to his brother Pushkara.
At last the king had lost his statues of silver and gold and his chariots and horses and all his jewelled robes of state. So the queen sent her nurse Vrihadesena to call the ministers once again to the palace. And when they had assembled at the outer gate, she again went to the hall where Nala and Pushkara gambled. "Lord King," said the queen, "the ministers crave an ​interview of you. What answer shall I give them?" But the king, possessed by Kali, answered never a word. Then Damayanti, ashamed again to see the ministers, went to her own room and there sent for her charioteer Varshanaya. When he had come she said, "O Varshanaya, the king has always treated you with kindness and honour. Now do you in return shew kindness to me. Harness a chariot and a team of swift horses, and take my son Indrasena and my daughter Indrasena to the palace of my father Bhima, King of Vidarbha. For King Nala has lost his reason, and his gaming will surely bring ruin on himself and all his house." Varshanaya obeyed the queen's commands and bore away the young prince and princess to their grandfather's palace. But day after day Nala lost stake after stake to his brother Pushkara. At last Nala, who had lost all the wealth of his treasury, staked first his army and then his kingdom and lost them both. Then Pushkara said with a sneer, "My lord king, you have but one possession left to dice with. Stake Queen Damayanti and perhaps you may yet win back what you have lost to me." But King Nala would not stake the lovely queen, who for his sake had slighted the Immortals. Rising from his seat he took off his rich robes and flung them at Pushkara's feet. Then with only a single piece of cloth to cover him he walked out of the city. Damayanti saw what he did from the palace window. She too cast aside her royal robes and, clad only in a single piece of cloth, she walked out of the palace gates and followed the king. Pushkara, fearing that the subjects would take Nala's part and restore him to his lost throne, proclaimed that he would put to death anyone, no matter what his rank, who showed any pity to the fallen king. The subjects, ​terrified at the threat, refused to give Nala food. So he and Damayanti lay outside the city eating only such herbs and roots as Nala could gather. One day, as he gathered them, he saw at his feet a flock of birds. In size they seemed wild geese but their wings were of pure gold. The king tore the cloth off his loins, hoping to catch them. But directly the cloth fell on their backs they rose into the sky, taking it with them. And as they flew, one of them said mockingly, "My lord the King, we are the dice which robbed you of your wealth and your kingdom. And we could not be happy until we had taken from you the single cloth which you still possessed. Now that you are stripped we are at rest."
The king went back to Damayanti and said in his grief, "O Queen, it is useless any longer to stay with one who is the victim of ill fortune. The dice in the guise of birds have spoiled me of my loin cloth, my sole possession. Do you, therefore, go back to Vidarbha and live with King Bhima and leave me to suffer alone." But the queen smiled bravely at him. "Nay, O King," she said, "it is because you have fallen on evil days that I cannot leave you. For, in times of trouble, there is no such remedy as a wife's love. So come with me to Vidarbha. And my father will pay you such honour that you will soon cease to grieve over the loss of your kingdom."
But King Nala answered sadly "Nay, Damayanti, I cannot go to Vidarbha with you. Your father King Bhima would, I know, receive me with all honour. And in old days I loved to go to his kingdom and lodge in his palaces. But now that I am a beggar the sight of his court and its splendour would only remind me of my own lost glory." Damayanti tried in various ways ​to soothe him and to turn his thoughts from his troubles. And thus talking together they reached a wayside inn. There hungry and thirsty they flung themselves down on the ground. And the queen, worn out with fatigue and sorrow, fell into a deep slumber. But King Nala's mind was so troubled that sleep would not come to him. For a time he tossed about restlessly. Then the wicked god Kali, who possessed him, tempted him to rise and go out, leaving his wife alone in the wayside inn. "To take her with me," said the hapless king, "is but to take her to her death. If I leave her she will make her way to Vidarbha where King Bhima will lavish on her all she needs." Then suddenly he remembered his nakedness and taking a sword which hung on one of the walls of the inn, he stole back to Damayanti's side and with the sword cut off one half of Damayanti's single cloth and wrapped it round his own loins. Leaving the queen still sleeping he left the inn and went out into the night. But possessed though he was by Kali, his love for Damayanti hardly allowed him to leave her. He turned again and again and went back to the inn to gaze upon her beloved features. But at last Kali triumphed and Nala's love for Damayanti grew less and less. He looked at her for the last time and then like a man bereft of his mind he ran away as fast as he could, until he found himself in the heart of a great forest.
Next morning Damayanti awoke refreshed by her sleep. She looked round for Nala but her eyes sought him in vain. Then she saw that her single garment had been cut in half, so she guessed that the king must have cut it and gone out into the forest leaving her alone. For a time she was overwhelmed with grief. ​But her grief was more for the king than for herself. For she asked herself how the king, whose mind was darkened, would live without her. At last she mastered her sorrow, and guessing rightly that the king had fled to the distant forest sadly made her way there in the hope of finding him. Blind to all else, she thought only of her husband the king and, paying no attention to the thorns that cut her garment and tore her flesh, she forced her way through the bushes that grew in her path and the creepers that hung from the trees. At last unawares she came to a spot where a mighty serpent had its lair. It saw her coming and, as she passed near, its great head seized her arm and in an instant its huge coils had wound themselves round her body. But even then at the point of death her thoughts were for her husband and she cried aloud for help, not that she might live herself, but that she might be freed and thus be able to seek him out and serve him as his faithful wife. Happily a hunter who lived in the forest heard her cries and coming near saw the unhappy queen in the coils of the snake. He drew his knife and with a single blow cut the monster's head from off its body. Then he freed the fainting queen and leading her to a spring close by bathed her wound and gave her water to drink. And when her strength returned he bade her tell her story. She did so, but as he listened, he fell in love with her and sought to drag her captive to his hut. Then the proud blood of Aryan kings boiled in the queen's veins and from heaven she called down on the hunter a fearful curse. "If it be true," she cried, "that I have never given a thought to any man save only my husband, King Nala, may the gods strike this wretch dead at my feet." The Immortals heard her prayer and ​as she spoke a great flame shot down from heaven and enveloped the hunter. Damayanti, blinded by the flame, turned her eyes away. When she looked again she saw a heap of ashes where the man had stood.
Leaving the spot, and more than ever oppressed by grief, the queen went deeper still into the forest. When evening fell, she saw approaching her a tiger looking for its prey. "I shall go to this tiger," she murmured to herself, "and I shall ask him whether he has seen King Nala. Perhaps he may tell me; and even if he tears me to pieces, death is better than life without my beloved." Fearlessly Damayanti went close to the ravening brute and said, "O forest Lord! I am Damayanti, Queen of the Nishadas, and I seek my husband King Nala. If you have seen him tell me how I can find him. But if not, tear me to pieces, for I am sick of life." The tiger looked at Damayanti as if he would spring on her and devour her. Then, wondering at her, he turned aside and left her to seek his prey elsewhere. Damayanti sadly renewed her search until she came to a great mountain that reared its crest high into the heavens. "O Lord of Mountains," she cried, "I am a king's daughter and the wife of a king and the mother of a king to be. I am clad in a single soiled garment, yet my ancestors led forth hosts to conquer the earth. Tell me whether you have seen anywhere my husband Nala the true King of the Nishadas." But the mountain answered never a word and the wind sighed drearily through the trees overhead and Queen Damayanti turned away to renew her quest.
For three whole nights and days she wandered, her feet leading her to the North. At last she saw stretched in front of her gardens full of beautiful flowers and ​orchards laden with beautiful fruit. And by rivulets that flashed in the golden sunlight, there rose huts made of leaves and branches. And deer roamed fearlessly through the orchards and drank in the running stream, and monkeys chased each other along the heavy boughs that shaded the huts. Then Queen Damayanti knew that she had come to the hermitage of sages weary of the world. As she drew near, an aged man, clad only in bark, came out to meet her. "Fair Lady," he said, "whoever you are, be welcome to our hermitage and tell us if there is anything that we can do for you, for we will surely do it." "Venerable Sir," answered the queen, "listen to my story." And she told the ascetic the tale of her life, how she was the daughter of Bhima, King of Vidarbha, how in a Swayamwara she had chosen as her husband Nala King of the Nishadas, and how after losing his throne at dice to his brother Pushkara he had fled away and left her. "And now," continued Damayanti, "I seek my husband until death overcomes me. But I pray that I may see him soon. For I am faint with hunger and weary with travel. And in a few days my strength will fail me and I shall die in the forest."
As the queen spoke, other sages came from their huts and listened to her moving words. And when she had finished, tears stood in their eyes, for they pitied her deeply. Then the sage who had welcomed her went to one side and seated himself under a tree and passed into a trance. The queen looking at him could not tell whether he had died or was still living. But in a short time he opened his eyes and returned Damayanti's glance. "O Queen," he said, "by my magic power I have seen the things to be. And I tell you truly that your grief shall pass away and that you shall once ​more be joined to your noble husband Nala King of the Nishadas." Damayanti rose and was about to thank the sage from the bottom of her heart. When lo! before her eyes, the gardens smiling with blossoms and the orchards laden with fruit, the laughing stream and the huts shaded by leafy trees vanished. And she stood once more alone in the heart of the forest. The queen rubbed her eyes, for she could scarcely believe them. "Where are those kind old men?" she asked herself. "And the beautiful rivulet and the flowers and the fruit trees?" Then she began to despair, but of a sudden, when she recalled the words of the anchorite, her courage once more returned, and once more she journeyed to the North searching for her husband.
As she walked she saw in front of her a giant Asoka tree and she remembered that as a child her nurse had told her that Asoka trees could, if they would, relieve mortals of their grief. "O Asoka tree," she cried, "I am Damayanti Queen of the Nishadas. Have you by any chance seen my husband King Nala? He, who once went forth to battle clad from head to foot in mail, wears nothing now but a single rag to cover his loins. If you have seen him tell me; if not, take away from me the pain of my sorrow. For as a child I learnt that you could ease men of their grief." But although she waited long for an answer, the great tree gave none. Then to honour the Asoka tree she walked three times round its mighty trunk and with eye-lashes wet with tears she sadly resumed her quest.
At first the gloom of the forest deepened, but afterwards the trees grew farther apart and at last she came to the banks of a wide river on whose waters swam wild duck and geese and swans from beyond ​the northern mountains. She walked up stream a little way, till she saw that a company of merchants had camped by the river. She hastened to join them, but seeing her worn with grief and toil and clad in a single rag, the merchants thought that she was an evil spirit of the woods and many of them ran away from her in terror. The leader of the merchants, however, spoke to her kindly and said, "Fair lady, who are you? Are you a mortal woman or are you, as we think, a spirit from the forest come to do us harm?" "No," said Damayanti sadly smiling, "I am no evil spirit but the daughter of a king. I seek my husband Nala King of the Nishadas. Tell me, fair sir, whether by any chance you have seen him," "O Queen," said the leader of the merchants, "I have met neither King Nala nor any other man in this forest; for only wild elephants and lions and other beasts of prey live here." "Pray tell me then, fair sir," asked Damayanti, "where you and the merchants with you are going. For perhaps if I go with you I may find my husband." The leader of the merchants answered, "O Queen, we are taking with us merchandise to sell for gain in the lands of Suvahu, King of the Chedis. And if you come with us we shall gladly take you."
The merchants and the queen journeyed several days together until they came to a large lake. Its surface was bright with lotus blossoms and its shores were gay with flowering shrubs. So the merchants halted and camped close to its waters. The same night, a herd of elephants came there to drink, and as the camp barred their way they rushed through it, trampling under foot and goring with their tusks all who came in their way. Many of the merchants perished and some of those who ​escaped abused Damayanti as an evil spirit and the cause of their ill fortune. The queen, fearing for her life, left them and fled into the forest. There she met some Brahmans, for the merchants had come near to the city of Suvahu, King of the Chedis. The Brahmans led her to the gates of the city, and she entered it. But her hair was loose, her single garment hardly held together, and her face was worn with grief and hardship. And as she walked through the streets, the children, thinking her a mad woman, ran after her and mocked her.
At last she reached the royal palace where, through the doors, she saw the king's mother surrounded by a number of her attendants. Timidly Damayanti asked an aged nurse who stood by to take her into the presence of the queen mother. The nurse led her inside the palace and on the way asked her who she was. Damayanti said, "I am a serving maid, although of a high caste. I had a devoted husband, but he lost his fortune at dice. Then like a madman he left me and fled into the woods, and for many days I have been following him but have failed to find him." The nurse repeated what Damayanti had said to the king's mother and the latter was touched with her condition and her great beauty. "Stay with me," she said, "my men will search the woods, and sooner or later will find your lord and bring him back to you." Damayanti was weary with walking and she gladly accepted the kind offer. "I will willingly stay with you! O mother of heroes," she said. "But you must protect me, so that other men may not woo me. For I love my husband only." The queen approved her words and sent for her daughter-in-law, Sunanda, Queen of the Chedis. When the queen came, her mother said to her, "Sunanda, my daughter, ​take this lady as your companion. She is of the same age as yourself and she will help you to pass your time when the king is with his ministers or is travelling through his kingdom." Sunanda looked at Damayanti and loved her instantly. Then taking her by the hand she led her joyfully into her own chamber.
III
After King Nala had forsaken his queen, he wandered at random through the forest until he saw a great fire in front of him. He would have hastened from the spot; but as he turned to go, he heard a voice that called, "Come hither! Come hither!" Thinking that the voice came from a man who had been surrounded by the flames, he forced his way through them until he reached an open space, where lay a monstrous snake. Seeing Nala, the snake said to him with a human voice, "My lord King, I am Karkotaka, the king of the snake people. Once I tricked the great sage Narada, and he cursed me, saying 'Lie here, motionless, until King Nala takes you away. Then only will you be freed from my curse.' So lift me up, I pray you, or I shall perish in the flames." The king bent down to lift the snake, fearing that he could never raise its mighty mass. But when his hands touched the snake, it became at once hardly bigger than his thumb. So raising it with ease, he carried it back with him through the flames until both were beyond their reach. Then he placed the snake on the ground. "Nishada King," said the snake, "walk away from me, counting your steps as you go." Nala did so. And as he walked away the snake followed him.
When the king had counted the tenth step the ​snake reared its head and struck at Nala, biting him in the heel. As it bit him it assumed once more the form in which Nala had first seen it. Nala turned towards the snake in anger. But it said in a soothing voice, "Do not fear, Nishada King, you will suffer no harm from my bite. But an enemy has possessed you and my poison will torture him until it forces him to leave your body and to torment you no more. My advice to you now is that you should go to Ayodhya, the city of King Rituparna, and teach him your skill in horses and in driving chariots, and learn from him in return his skill as a dicer. For in dicing he has no equal in all the land of the Aryas. King Rituparna will befriend you, and through his help you will recover your wife and your son and your daughter. So do not be downcast with grief. And when you wish to look like your former self, put on these two pieces of cloth and let your thoughts rest on me." With these words the snake king gave Nala two pieces of rich cloth. Then, moving away swiftly through the ferns and grass, he vanished from the sight of his companion. But King Nala took the snake king's advice and bent his steps towards Ayodhya, reaching it on the tenth day. Then he asked to see King Rituparna and in due time King Rituparna gave him audience. Nala bowed humbly before King Rituparna. "O King," he said, "I am called Vahuka and I am most skilful in judging and in managing horses and especially in driving chariots. I am also a skilled accountant, and I have no equal as a cook. Take me, therefore, I pray you, into the royal service."
Now King Rituparna desired a skilful charioteer above all things, so he was pleased at Nala's words. "O Vahuka!" he cried, "I take you into my service, ​for nothing delights me so much as swift driving. You shall be the chief of my stable-men and I shall pay you ten thousand pieces of silver yearly." So King Nala disguised as a charioteer entered the service of King Rituparna. But his thoughts always turned to the queen whom he had forsaken. And each night as he lay down he said aloud a verse in which he expressed his sorrow.
In the meantime the news had reached Bhima, king of Vidarbha, that King Nala had lost his kingdom and with his wife Damayanti had fled away from the country of the Nishadas. King Bhima called together the most learned Brahmans in Vidarbha and he addressed them saying, "Go forth and seek my daughter Damayanti and her husband King Nala. And to him who brings me news of them I will give a thousand kine, a hundred fields and a village as large as a city." So the Brahmans left Vidarbha and scattered in all directions, each hoping to find Damayanti and King Nala and to win for himself the reward offered by King Bhima.
In course of time the Brahmans returned, all but one, to the court of King Bhima, having sought King Nala in vain. But chance guided the footsteps of a Brahman named Sudeva to the chief city of the Chedis. He entered it and going to the royal palace saw Queen Sunanda through one of the windows. Damayanti was seated by her side, and although she looked tired and worn, Sudeva knew her to be the daughter of King Bhima. As one of the holy Brahman caste the guards permitted him to enter the palace. Gradually drawing near Damayanti he spoke to her in a whisper. "O daughter of Vidarbha," he said, "your father King Bhima is well and your mother and children also are well. But they ​grieve for you deeply. And hundreds of Brahmans are travelling over all India to find out your hiding place." Damayanti in reply asked him eagerly for news of her parents and her children. And when she heard of them, her sorrow mastered her and she burst into tears.
Queen Sunanda seeing her weep rose hastily and told the king's mother. Then the queen mother ordered Sudeva to her presence. "Tell me, O Brahman," she said, "who this lady is and how you came to know her." "O mother of heroes," answered the Brahman, "she is Damayanti daughter of Bhima, king of Vidarbha, and wife of Nala, king of the Nishadas. But her husband lost his kingdom to his brother at dice, and taking Damayanti with him fled from his country. I am one of several hundred Brahmans sent by King Bhima to search for Damayanti, and lo! I have found her in your palace. She has a tiny mole between her eyebrows, and if you send for her you will see it and know that she is Damayanti." The queen mother sent for Damayanti, and finding the mole between her eyebrows^embraced her. "Dear girl," she said, "you are my sister's daughter. Your mother and I were the daughters of Sudaman, king of the Dasharnas. Your mother was wedded to King Bhima and I to King Virabahu. But when you were born I was present and I remember well the tiny mole between your eyebrows. For you have had it from the day of your birth. Therefore let this palace be your home for ever."
But a fierce desire in Damayanti's heart was kindled to see her children once again. Bowing low before the queen mother she said, "I could never indeed have a happier home than this. But my heart aches to see my children. Therefore give me a chariot, so that I may go back again to my father's city." "So be it," said the ​queen mother sadly, and she ordered a chariot for Queen Damayanti. And Damayanti, escorted by a strong band of horsemen, returned with Sudeva to Vidarbha. Then King Bhima greeted her joyfully, and he bestowed on Sudeva a thousand kine, a hundred fields, and a village as large as a city. And over and above this, the promised reward, the king gave him a great treasure of gold.
When Queen Damayanti had seen her parents and her children her heart still ached, for she missed her gallant husband King Nala. At last she said to her mother, "My mother, bring King Nala to me or I shall die!" Urged by his queen, King Bhima again sent out several hundred Brahmans in all directions. When the Brahmans were about to start, Damayanti sent for them and said, "Holy Sirs, repeat these words wherever you go and to whomever you meet, 'O King, O Gambler, O Beloved, your devoted wife, whom you forsook asleep in the forest, still loves you and still awaits you.' Should any one answer you, tell me of him, but do not let him know that it was I who sent you." The Brahmans promised to fulfil Damayanti's command and scattering in all directions they began to search for King Nala. At last a Brahman, Parnada by name, came back to King Bhima's city and sought out Damayanti. "O Queen," he said, "after many days of travel I came to the city of Ayodhya which is ruled by King Rituparna. And after gaining an audience with the king I said in his presence and his court the words which you told me. But neither the king nor any of those with him answered me or grasped the meaning of my words. But after my audience, the king's charioteer, Vahuka by name, came close to me and said to me in a broken voice, 'Fair Sir, a wife, even though forsaken by her husband, should ​forgive him, especially if his mind is clouded by calamity.' Hearing these words I left the city of Ayodhya and with all speed returned to tell you."
Damayanti, on hearing Parnada's story, knew that Vahuka must be her husband King Nala, so she hastened to her mother the queen and said, "O my mother, I beg you to send Sudeva to the court of King Rituparna to see if King Nala is there. But do not let my father King Bhima know that I have sent him." The queen consented, and sent for Sudeva; and Damayanti said to him. "Go as swiftly as you can to Ayodhya the city of King Rituparna and say to the king, 'My lord King, hasten to Vidarbha. For Damayanti, daughter of King Bhima is once more about to hold a Swayamwara. And all the Aryan heroes are thronging to it. For her husband King Nala has fled away and no one knows whether he is alive or dead.'"
Sudeva bowed and departed. Soon he reached the city of Ayodhya and there gave Damayanti's message to King Rituparna. The king at once decided to go to Vidarbha, for the fame of Damayanti's beauty had spread over all the earth. Immediately he bade Vahuka harness the fastest horses in his stables that he might hurry with all speed to the Swayamwara of Queen Damayanti. King Nala's heart was heavy when he heard of Damayanti's Swayamwara. "The fault is mine," he said to himself: "I forfeited her love by forsaking her. But if I go to Vidarbha she will perhaps remember me again. And if not, still I shall once more feast my eyes on her beauty." But aloud he said, "If you wish it, O King, I will drive you to Vidarbha in a single day." So saying, he went to the royal stables and chose horses from Sind, slight, strong and enduring ​and each with ten curls on its forehead.
When King Rituparna entered the chariot the horses fell and the king said, "O Vahuka, these lean horses will never draw our chariot to Vidarbha." But King Nala patted and stroked the horses until they stood once more on their feet. Then with a touch of his whip he made them gallop. And such was their speed that soon Rituparna thought that he was travelling through the sky. And the king was so delighted that he asked Nala whether he would teach him how to drive a chariot, if in return he taught Nala his own skill in calculation. King Nala readily agreed. He knew that Rituparna was unrivalled in the art of dicing and in calculation. For as they drove alone through the woods Rituparna would often tell Nala how many leaves each tree had. And when King Nala had got down and counted the leaves, he had always found Rituparna's figure to be right. So, as King Nala drove King Rituparna from Ayodhya to Vidarbha, Rituparna expounded to him the whole art of dicing and King Nala in turn showed Rituparna the various devices by which he trained horses to do his bidding.
Now all the time that King Nala had been at Ayodhya the poison of Karkotaka the snake king had been tormenting the evil god Kali, and at last Kali could bear the torments no longer. While King Nala was learning King Rituparna's skill in dicing, the god Kali left his body and with folded hands stood humbly before him. Then King Nala, freed from his possession, knew how Kali had brought about his ruin and turned in anger on the god, meaning to curse him. But the god, fleeing from King Nala, hid himself in a Vibhitika tree. And King Nala, no longer seeing him, continued to drive Rituparna's chariot ​to Ayodhya. When the chariot had gone, the evil god Kali slunk out of the Vibhitika tree and went shamefacedly to his own kingdom. But the Vibhitika tree which he had possessed withered away and rotted to the ground.
IV
The same evening—such was the mettle of King Rituparna's steeds and the skill of King Nala as a driver—the chariot thundered through the gates of King Bhima's city. So furious was the speed and so loud the roar of the chariot wheels as they crushed over the paving-stones, that Damayanti, listening in her chamber, felt sure that the driver was none other than her beloved husband. So, too, did the animals in the royal parks. And the peacocks cried with delight and the elephants trumpeted and the horses whinnied. For Nala had always loved animals, and all animals loved him and knew the sound of his chariot wheels as he drove through the city. The chariot bore King Rituparna to the gates of the royal palace. But as he went he was filled with amazement. For he saw no signs of the coming Swayamwara of the Lady Damayanti. No tents whitened the plain to afford shelter to the heroes who would try to win her. Nor was any arena to be seen outside the city walls.
When he reached the gates of the palace King Bhima greeted him saying, "My Lord the King, you are most welcome. But do not take it amiss if I ask you to tell me what business has led you to my kingdom." Rituparna was still more astonished for now he felt sure that no Swayamwara would be held. But he was ashamed to own his error. So he answered with a courteous smile, "My Lord King Bhima, I have only come ​to Vidarbha to pay you my homage." Then King Bhima in turn was amazed. For the land of King Rituparna was far from Vidarbha and he knew that he would not have come so far merely to pay his homage. But he also hid his wonder and again bade his guest welcome and gave him a palace to dwell in, hoping that in time he would unravel Rituparna's secret.
Then Nala unyoked the horses from the chariot and led them past the window where Damayanti sat watching. But he was so changed by grief and travel and his charioteer's dress that Damayanti was not sure that he was her husband. She called her serving maid Keshini. "O Keshini," she said, "go to the stables and speak with Vahuka the charioteer, and ask him who he is. For I think that he is my husband King Nala. But he is so changed that I cannot recognize him. So make enquiries of him and also give him the message which formerly I gave to Parnada." Keshini went down into the courtyard and approached Vahuka the charioteer. "Good Sir," said Keshini, "tell me what brought you here. For Queen Damayanti, daughter of King Bhima, wishes to know Rituparna's errand." "Fair serving maid," answered Nala, "a Brahman came to the court and told King Rituparna that Queen Damayanti would hold a second Swayamwara. So he drove here furiously, hoping to win her hand." "But," said the serving maid, "tell me, good charioteer, whose son you are and what post you hold under King Rituparna." King Nala answered, "I am, as you see, the king's charioteer but I also cook for him." "Pardon me yet another question," said Keshini. "Have you as charioteer to King Rituparna learnt by any chance where Queen ​Damayanti's husband King Nala has fled." "No," said King Nala, "I have not. Nala himself alone knows where Nala is hiding." Then Keshini, seeing that his eyes fell before hers, whispered softly the words which the Brahman, Parnada, had said in the audience chamber of King Rituparna. "O King, O Gambler, O Beloved, your devoted wife whom you forsook asleep in the forest still loves you and still awaits you." And King Nala whispered back, "A wife, even though forsaken by her husband, should forgive him, especially if his mind is clouded by calamity." When he had spoken thus King Nala burst into tears. And Keshini, slipping away from him, hastened back to her mistress and told her what had happened.
Then Damayanti, still uncertain whether Vahuka was her husband, bade Keshini watch him closely and learn whether he shewed any signs of royal origin; and for several days Keshini watched Vahuka closely. Then going to Damayanti she said, "Vahuka must indeed be a king, for he masters even the elements themselves. If he comes to a door too small for him to pass through erect, he does not stoop. But the door, to do him honour, grows higher. If he wants water, he merely looks at his water vessels and they instantly fill with water. If he wants fire he holds up grass in the sun's rays and instantly it is ablaze. Once I saw him take flowers in his hand and crush them. But the flowers instead of fading grew more beautiful and had a richer perfume than before." But Damayanti was not yet satisfied. "O Keshini," she said, "go to the kitchen and bring me some of the food which Vahuka has cooked for King Rituparna"; and Keshini did so. And Damayanti, for whom Nala had often cooked ​dishes in the past, recognized the mode of cooking as King Nala's.
Then she knew that Vahuka must in spite of his disguise be none other than King Nala. But she imposed yet another test on him. "O Keshini," she said, "take my son Indrasena and his sister to Vahuka and see whether he recognizes them." Keshini did as she was ordered, and King Nala on seeing them burst into tears. "Fair serving maid," he said, "the prince and princess resemble my own children so closely that I could not keep from weeping." Keshini told his words and conduct to Queen Damayanti. And she, now certain that Vahuka was her beloved, resolved to meet him. She went to her mother the queen of Vidarbha and said, "King Rituparna's charioteer is none other than my husband Nala. I wish to meet him. Therefore ask my father King Bhima's permission for my husband to meet me in the palace or for me to go to him in the stables, where he looks after King Rituparna's horses." The queen asked leave of King Bhima and the latter agreed that King Nala might enter Damayanti's apartments.
Damayanti matted her hair and covered her head with dust and clay to meet him. When King Nala entered she addressed him thus, "O Vahuka, what do you think of a man who could forsake his wife in the forest, when she had done him no evil, but had borne him children? Yet that was what King Nala did; he who had held my hand before the fire and in the presence of the Immortals. Tell me, O Vahuka, what do you think of King Nala's conduct?" King Nala's eyes filled with tears of sorrow and shame. "My queen, I am guiltless. It was not I but the evil god Kali who lost me my kingdom. ​It was not I, but he, who forsook you in the woods. He possessed me and, while he did so, I was his slave. But Karkotaka the snake king bit him and so tormented him with his poison that he left me. But you, my Queen, what have you done? You have proclaimed by your messengers that you will hold a second Swayamwara and marry a second husband. For this reason King Rituparna bade me drive him in his chariot to Vidarbha".
Damayanti grew frightened, for Nala spoke to her with frowning brows and in angry tones. "O King my husband," she said, "how could you think that I would really choose a second husband while you were alive—you whom I had preferred to an Immortal? It was nothing but a device to bring you to Vidarbha, for the Brahman, Parnada, had told me that you were in Rituparna's service. So do not be angry with me. For touching your feet I swear to you that never even in thought have I been anything but true to you." But Nala's face did not grow softer. Then Damayanti cried aloud, "O all-seeing Wind that surrounds the earth, take away my life if I have sinned against my Lord! O Sun that daily crosses the sky, take away my life, if I have sinned against my Lord! O Moon that enters the hearts of all living things, take away my life, if I have sinned against my Lord!" And from the heavens the wind god answered, "King Nala, it is the truth that she speaks; she has done no evil against you. When she proclaimed at King Rituparna's court that she would hold a Swayamwara, she only wished to see you again. Do not doubt her conduct, but be united with her once more." And as the wind god spoke, the other gods showered down flowers upon the pair.
NALA AND DAMAYANTI
​parting words of Karkotaka the snake king, "When you wish to look like your former self, put on these two pieces of cloth and let your thoughts rest on me." So he put on the two pieces of cloth, for he had brought them with him, and he let his thoughts rest on the snake king Karkotaka. Instantly the weariness of age and of travel fell off him like a worn-out garment. And Damayanti saw by her side the beautiful youth who had won her hand and her heart in the Swayamwara years before. She burst into tears. And King Nala embraced her tenderly and then embraced his son Indrasena and his daughter Indrasena. Damayanti's mother found them locked in each others' arms and hastened gladly to tell King Bhima. But King Bhima said wisely, "Let Damayanti and Nala be together to-day. To-morrow I shall receive him in court with Damayanti at his side."
That day King Nala and Damayanti spent in great happiness telling each other all that had happened to them since their separation. And next day King Nala paid his homage to King Bhima. And the citizens, overjoyed at the return of Damayanti's lord, decked the streets with flags and flowers and garlands. But King Rituparna marvelled more than ever. For not only was no Swayamwara held, but his charioteer Vahuka had proved to be King Nala. So he asked for an audience of his former servant and begged his forgiveness for having treated him in a way unbefitting to a king. Nala reassured him. "King Rituparna," he said, "had you done me any wrong I should gladly pardon you. But I cannot forgive you when you have committed no error." Not long afterwards King Rituparna appointed another man charioteer in Vahuka's place and after bidding farewell to King Bhima and ​to King Nala drove back with his guards to his city of Ayodhya.
But King Nala longed to return to his kingdom, the country of the Nishadas. For he had learnt the whole art of dicing from King Rituparna. And he knew that if he gambled again with Pushkara he would certainly recover all he had lost from him. So he took leave of King Bhima, and with a small escort started again for the country of the Nishadas. On reaching the chief city, he sent word to his brother Pushkara that he had earned vast wealth and wished again to dice with him. On hearing the message Pushkara received King Nala and asked him what he would stake on the throw of the dice. "Let your stake" answered King Nala, "be your kingdom and your life. My stake shall be my wealth and my peerless queen, Damayanti. And if you do not care for such high stakes, take your bow and arrows and let us fight each other in the open plain outside the city." Pushkara, who felt sure that he would win as before, said with a laugh, "You are indeed fortunate, my brother, to have won such wealth. And I will gladly gamble with you. For I have always loved Damayanti and now am sure that she will be mine." King Nala could hardly control his rage. He answered hotly, "Before boasting, Pushkara, of your love for Damayanti you had better wait for the fall of the dice!"
Then the two brothers began once more to dice. And Nala by means of the knowledge he had learnt from King Rituparna soon defeated Pushkara, who thus lost in a few moments not only the kingdom which he had won, but his life. And King Nala said to him with a laugh, "Now that you are a slave, Pushkara, do you still hope to win Damayanti's ​love?" Then he paused and his heart melted towards his brother. "Pushkara," he said softly, "it was not you but Kali who worked my ruin. I shall not punish you for another's fault. You are a free man and I shall give you as before a younger brother's portion." And Pushkara's heart was touched at his brother's generosity. "O King," he said, "you have restored me my life and my honour. May your fame be immortal. And may your life last ten thousand years."
The two brothers spent a happy month together in the royal palace. Then King Nala, dismissing Pushkara, bade him go to the lands which were his as a younger brother. And now that Nala was once again on the throne he sent for Damayanti and her father King Bhima. And when they heard the news they were overjoyed and journeyed with a large army to the country of the Nishadas. There King Nala and his subjects gave the queen a right royal welcome. And King Nala, grown wiser through his adversity, ruled over his kingdom with such wisdom that no other kingdom in India was governed like it. And when at the close of a long life King Nala died, he was regarded by all as the chief of the kings in all the lands of the Aryas.