In the previous episode, we had witnessed King Nala and King Rituparna reaching Vidharba Desha after a long journey. King Nala is still in his disguised form as Bahuka and enroute the journey, he learns the art of gambling and its nuances from King Rituparna, who is deemed as an expert in it. As King Nala shuts down this weakness in him, Kali-Purusha has no other option but to run away from him! Thus, as King Nala learns more and more of the gambling game, Kali-Purusha becomes more and more uncomfortable and finally exits his body! As this happens, King Nala is now free of any sort of danger henceforth! However, he still chooses to remain as Bahuka for some more time. Meanwhile, Damayanti has serious doubts about the identity of Bahuka. Can this Bahuka be King Nala? Is he in a disguised form like this? So she sends her children to Bahuka and as they play along with him, Bahuka’s emotions come out as a father of the kids! Strengthening her doubts thus, Damayanti patiently waits till the next day morning for the “Svayamvara” event to take place.
Moving on thus, the “Svayamvara” event commences and as Damayanti comes with the garland in her hand, she spots Bahuka also standing at a distance, and comes straight in front of him. As Damayanti comes by, she asks the same set of questions which she wanted that Brahmin Pandit to ask earlier. Damayanti asks thus, “Oh gentleman! Is it “Dharma” to leave a wife in a pitiable state of affairs alone in the forest during the time of suffering? Is it “Dharma” for a husband to not share his suffering with his beloved wife when she is devoted completely towards him?” As Damayanti asks such questions straightaway in front of Bahuka, he gives the same set of answers which he had given to the Brahmin Pandit earlier. Bahuka replies thus, “Oh Damayanti! It completely depends upon the situation in which the husband is in. This is a very subjective question and you should look at it on both sides. If the husband feels that he would be a burden to the wife because of his suffering, it is “Dharma” that he leaves her, so that the suffering goes away only with the husband and not for the wife!”
As Bahuka gives a sporting reply thus, Damayanti clearly understands now that this Bahuka is none other than King Nala himself! The game is over! As Bahuka gives this straightforward answer, Damayanti sinks down in tears! As Damayanti does so, Bahuka also thinks that he has had enough! He quickly puts on the two pieces of clothes which Snake Kaarkotaka had given him earlier, and with this, he once again regains his original form! King Nala is now standing in front of Damayanti and the couple reunites once again after almost eight long years! Both Damayanti and King Nala are extremely happy to see each other after all the difficulties that both of them had to endure! As King Rituparna sees this, he is surprised as well! Vaarshneya couldn’t believe his eyes! King Rituparna is very happy upon seeing King Nala reuniting with Damayanti and says thus, “Oh King Nala! Till this moment, I never knew that you were in this disguised form. I mistook you completely as Bahuka and as a charioteer! Now that I’ve identified your true form, I hereby pay my respects to you and Damayanti together! You are a divine couple and you’ve undergone a lot in your lives till today. Hence, I’m blessing both of you for a great life ahead from now onwards, without any problems!”
As King Nala and Damayanti reunite thus, King Bheema is also extremely happy. He now understands that this “Second Svayamvara” fiasco was none other than a ploy created by his intelligent daughter, Damayanti to identify King Nala in front of everyone! Thus, the entire reunion event gets over, and it is now time for King Nala to regain all his lost wealth and kingdom. Hence, he once again calls Pushkara for a game of gambling. Now that Kali-Purusha is no more a hindrance for King Nala to roll the dice, and since King Nala now knows the nuances of the game – Thanks to King Rituparna’s timely intervention to teach him, King Nala now easily wins over Pushkara and with this, he regains his entire kingdom, his wealth, etc. There is no stopping King Nala now! Thus, as Pushkara tries to flee away from the kingdom, King Nala stops him. He says to Pushkara thus, “Oh Pushkara! Where are you going? I’m not that stone-hearted to make you run away and experience all the suffering that I had to undergo! Please don’t worry. You can stay here along with all of us, and I shall treat you as my own brother. From now on, you would also jointly rule the kingdom along with me. I shall give you all the powers and respect that you deserve. You are an excellent administrator and we need your services!”
As Pushkara hears this from King Nala, he is in tears! Pushkara replies to King Nala thus, “Oh great King! First of all, my deepest and sincere apologies for all the sufferings that I had given to you and to your wife! I was the sole reason for all whatever you had to undergo till date! This is the difference between a king and a great king (Chakravarthy) – A king would chase away a loser from the kingdom, whereas a Chakravarthy would respect and revere even a loser and give him protection! Today, you’ve proved to the world that you’re not just a king, but a great “Chakravarthy”! From today onwards, I shall be a true assistant to you and would help you in all ways to administer our kingdom efficiently!” Saying thus, Pushkara and King Nala become excellent companions and the duo rule the Nishaada Desha with all the aspects of “Dharma” being followed!
So for today, let us understand up to this point, and let us also join hands along with Pushkara to congratulate King Nala and Damayanti for their auspicious reunion! Narrating this story thus, Sage Briahdarsha is going to drive home an important point to Yudishtra! We shall wait till the next episode to witness this narrative. Stay tuned! 🙂
The Indian Dharma 