Chapter 69
“Sudeva said, ‘There is a virtuous and illustrious ruler of theVidarbhas, Bhima by name. This blessed lady is his daughter, and widelyknown by the name of Damayanti. And there is a king ruling the Nishadhas,named Nala, the son of Virasena. This blessed lady is the wife of thatwise and righteous monarch. Defeated at dice by his brother, anddespoiled of his kingdom, that king, accompanied by Damayanti, went awaywithout the knowledge of any one. We have been wandering over the wholeearth in search of Damayanti. And that girl is at last found in the houseof thy son. No woman existeth that is her rival in beauty. Between theeye-brows of this ever-youthful damsel, there is an excellent mole frombirth, resembling a lotus. Noticed by us (before) it seems to havedisappeared, covered, (as her forehead is) with (a coat of) dust evenlike the moon hid in clouds. Placed there by the Creator himself as anindication of prosperity and wealth, that mole is visible faintly, likethe cloud-covered lunar crescent of the first day of the lightedfortnight. And covered as her body is with dust, her beauty hath notdisappeared. Though careless of her person, it is still manifest, andshineth like gold. And this girl–goddess-like–capable of beingidentified by this form of hers and that mole, hath been discovered by meas one discovereth a fire that is covered, by its heat!’
“O king, hearing these words of Sudeva, Sunanda washed the dust thatcovered the mole between Damayanti’s eye-brows. And thereupon it becamevisible like the moon in the sky, just emerged from the clouds. Andseeing that mole, O Bharata, Sunanda and the queen-mother began to weep,and embracing Damayanti stood silent for a while. And the queen-mother,shedding tears as she spoke, said in gentle accents, ‘By this thy mole, Ifind that thou art the daughter of my sister. O beauteous girl, thymother and I are both daughters of the high-souled Sudaman, the ruler ofthe Dasarnas. She was bestowed upon king Bhima, and I on Viravahu. Iwitnessed thy birth at our father’s palace in the country of theDasarnas. O beautiful one, my house is to thee even as thy father’s. Andthis wealth, O Damayanti, is thine as much as mine.’ As this, O king,Damayanti bowing down to her mother’s sister with a glad heart, spakeunto her these words, ‘Unrecognised, I have still lived happily withthee, every want of mine satisfied and myself cared for by thee. Andhappy as my stay hath been, it would, without doubt, be happier still.But, mother, I have long been an exile. It behoveth thee, therefore, togrant me permission (to depart). My son and daughter, sent to my father’spalace, are living there. Deprived of their father, and of their motheralso, how are they passing their days stricken with sorrow. If thouwishest to do what is agreeable to me, do thou without loss of time,order a vehicle, for I wish to go to the Vidarbhas.’ At this, O king, thesister to (Damayanti’s) mother, with a glad heart, said, ‘So be it’. Andthe queen-mother with her son’s permission, O chief of the Bharatas, sentDamayanti in handsome litter carried by men, protected by a large escortand provided with food and drink and garments of the first quality. Andsoon enough she reached the country of the Vidarbhas. And all herrelatives, rejoicing (in her arrival) received her with respect. Andseeing her relatives, her children, both her parents, and all her maids,to be well, the illustrious Damayanti, O king, worshipped the gods andBrahmanas according to the superior method. And the king rejoiced atbeholding his daughter gave unto Sudeva a thousand kine and much wealthand a village. And, O king, having spent that night at her father’smansion and recovered from fatigue, Damayanti addressed her mother,saying, ‘O mother, if thou wishest me to live, I tell thee truly, do thouendeavour to bring Nala, that hero among men.’ Thus addressed byDamayanti, the venerable queen became filled with sorrow. And bathed intears, she was unable to give any answer. And beholding her in thatplight, all the inmates of the inner apartments broke out intoexclamation of ‘Oh!’ And ‘Alas’! and began to cry bitterly. And then thequeen addressed the mighty monarch Bhima, saying, ‘Thy daughter Damayantimourneth on account of her husband. Nay, banishing away all bashfulness,she hath herself, O king, declared her mind to me. Let thy men strive tofind out (Nala) the righteous.’ Thus informed by her the king sent theBrahmanas under him in all directions, saying, ‘Exert ye to discoverNala.’ And those Brahmanas, commanded by the ruler of the Vidarbhas (toseek Nala) appeared before Damayanti and told her of the journey theywere about to undertake. And Bhima’s daughter spake unto them saying, ‘Doye cry in every realm and in every assembly, ‘O beloved gambler, wherehast thou gone cutting off half of my garment, and deserting the dear anddevoted wife asleep in the forest? And that girl, as commanded by theestayeth expecting thee, clad in half a piece of cloth and burning withgrief! O king, O hero, relent towards, and answer, her who incessantlyweepeth for that grief. This and more ye will say, so that he may beinclined to pity me. Assisted by the wind, fire consumeth the forest.(Further, ye will say that) the wife is always to be protected andmaintained by the husband. Why then, good as thou art and acquainted withevery duty, hast thou neglected both the duties? Possessed of fame andwisdom, and lineage, and kindness, why hast thou be unkind? I fear, thisis owing to the loss of my good luck! Therefore, O tiger among men, havepity on me. O bull among men! I have heard it from thee that kindness isthe highest virtue. Speaking so, if anybody answereth you, that personshould by all means, be known, and ye should learn who he is, and wherehe dwelleth. And ye foremost of regenerate ones, do ye bring me the wordsof him who hearing this your speech will chance to answer. Ye should alsoact with such care that no one may know the words ye utter to be at mycommand, nor that ye will come back to me. And ye should also learnwhether that answers is wealthy, or poor, or destitute of power, in factall about him.’
“Thus instructed by Damayanti, O king, the Brahmanas set out in alldirections in search of Nala overtaken with such disaster. And theBrahmanas, O king, searched for him in cities and kingdoms and villages,and retreats of ascetics, and places inhabited by cow-herds. And, Omonarch, wherever they went they recited the speeches that Damayanti haddirected them to do.”
