The Indian Dharma

In the previous episode, we had witnessed King Nala in a disguised form, introducing himself to King Rituparna as Bahuka and joining his group of charioteers, as one among them. We should remember that King Nala’s ex-charioteer, Vaarshneya is already employed there, but since King Nala is in a disguised form, Vaarshneya is unable to identify him. As this is on one side of the story, on the other side, we had witnessed Damayanti somehow reaching her father’s place, which is the Vidharba Desha. We had witnessed a messenger from Vidharba Desha coming to meet the king of Chedi Desha, where Damayanti was staying for a few days. Upon identifying Damayanti, the messenger takes her to Vdiharba Desha, wherein her father understands Damayanti’s sad story. As days pass by, Damayanti, along with her father launch a search operation to find out where King Nala is. Speculations are rife that King Nala would be roaming around somewhere in the forest in a disguised form, and because of this, his identity is very difficult for anybody to spot. Had King Nala been in his original form, anybody in this world would have identified him somehow! But since this hasn’t happened, Damayanti suspects that he is in a disguised form. Hence she calls a Brahmin Pandit to go around, asking a few questions to people whomever he comes across. 

So moving on from here, let us witness the questions that Damayanti wants the Brahmin Pandit to ask. First question – Is it “Dharma” to forgo and desert a devoted wife who sacrificed her life and well-being for a husband? Second question – If someone does so, won’t “Paapa Karma” surround him and haunt him till his death? Hence, Damayanti says to the Brahmin Pandit thus, “Oh Pandit! You go around the territory and ask these two questions to whomever you see, and let me know what kind of answers you get!” As the Brahmin Pandit obtains the questions and instructions from Damayanti, he goes to various kingdoms, meets various kings and asks the two important questions of Damayanti. Obtaining their answers thus, the Pandit slowly comes to King Rituparna and asks the same questions. As he is asking these questions, King Rituparna is amongst all his charioteers. Bahuka (King Nala) is also one amongst that group as the pandit asks the questions. As the Pandit is posing the questions from Damayanti, Bahuka is unable to resist himself from giving an answer to it. He somehow feels that these questions are pricking him very badly, because these questions seem quite apt to whatever he has done to Damayanti in the past! Unable to resist his urge to answer thus, Bahuka replies to the Pandit – “Oh Great Pandit! I shall give you an answer to the questions that you’ve asked – It depends on the situation for a husband whether to desert his wife or not. If the situation for the husband is extremely harsh and unfavourable, the husband would have no other option but to leave his wife. However, while leaving, the husband would have complete faith in his wife that she would be able to protect herself through her power of chastity! Hence, to put my answer in perspective, of course, leaving the wife alone during a favourable situation is opportunism and this is “Adharma”. I agree! But, if the situation for the husband is extremely unfavourable, leaving the wife behind is not “Adharma”. In fact, if the husband sticks on to his wife, even though he knows that if he does so, would bring great danger to both of the, this is gross “Adharma”. At a time when the husband has to leave his wife, he has to, and this is “Dharma”! 

As Bahuka gives this answer, the Pandit is surprised! He has not heard such an answer before from anybody whom he had met till now! He carefully notes this answer down, goes back to Damayanti and explains this to her! Upon hearing this, Damayanti’s doubts strengthen further! Can this person be King Nala? If yes, why is he in a disguised form? What has happened to him? Why is he amongst a group of charioteers under another king? Mystery deepens for Damayanti and she decides to explore this further. As Damayanti thinks thus, she goes to her father and talks to him thus, “Oh father! Please make an announcement of a second “Svayamvara” for me immediately!” As Damayanti requests thus, King Bheema is shell-shocked! He immediately quips Damayanti thus, “Oh daughter! What are you saying? You’re already married! How can we go in for a second “Svayamvara”? Isn’t this gross “Adharma”?” As King Bheema asks thus, Damayanti insists him. She says, “Oh father! Please do what I say. I know that it is gross “Adharma”, but I’m saying this for a reason, which you would not be able to understand if I explain. You would see the outcome of it and then understand it by yourself!” 

As Damayanti insists repeatedly thus, King Bheema had no other option but to go with her words. A grand “Svayamvara” is getting arranged, yet again for Damayanti and the invitation for the same is being sent to various kings from various territories. One of the invitations for the “Svayamvara” event is sent to King Rituparna as well. Upon hearing the significance of Damayanti, King Rituparna gets interested and wants to try his luck at the event! Thus, as King Rituparna decides to leave for Vidharba Desha, he goes to his charioteer group to pass on certain instructions, wherein King Nala is also a part! 

So for today, let us understand up to this point, and in the next episode, we shall witness a very important turnaround of events – Does King Rituparna attend the “Svayamvara” of Damayanti? What happens to Bahuka? Does he also accompany King Rituparna? Let us witness all the answers tomorrow! Stay tuned! 🙂 

In the previous episode, we had witnessed an important turning point in King Nala’s suffering, wherein he is being bitten by Snake Kaarkotaka. This transforms King Nala from a handsome-looking person to an ugly and ghastly looking person. Upon questioning, Snake Kaarkotaka explains his strategy to King Nala that with this poison, Kali-Purusha who is residing currently in his body would run away very soon, and with this, King Nala would soon be liberated from all this suffering. Moreover, Snake Kaarkotaka asks King Nala to go to King Rituparna and join his group of charioteers. Thus, Snake Kaarkotaka instructs King Nala to spend a few days like this in a disguised form, and when the time comes, he can regain his original form by wearing two pieces of clothes (“Angi”) that Snake Kaarkotaka gives him. Obeying his instructions thus, King Nala makes his way to the kingdom of King Rituparna. Meanwhile, Damayanti’s suffering is also having no end! She tries to join a group of trades, so as to go along with them wherever they go, to make a fortune for her living. However, she is being chased away by them, due to an attack on them by a herd of elephants. The traders think that this attack happened due to Damayanti’s presence along with them! Chased away thus, Damayanti joins yet another group of Brahmins, who are making their way towards the “Chedi Desha”. 

Moving on thus, Damayanti travels along with these people and reaches the Chedi Desha. Impressed by her beautiful looks, the queen of Chedi Desha comes forward and greets Damayanti. She understands that Damayanti is not an ordinary woman by any means. She enquires with Damayanti, but she doesn’t disclose her full story to the queen. Understanding that Damayanti is under a huge problem, the queen requests her to stay in the kingdom itself for some days. However, Damayanti puts a clause to her if she has to reside here – Damayanti says thus, “Oh queen! It is so nice of you to allow me to stay here with you. But I would not bow down to anyone. I wouldn’t wash someone’s feet. I wouldn’t become another person’s servant. Moreover, please do not try to marry me off to someone. I wouldn’t like to go as someone’s wife! If you agree to these conditions, I shall reside here!” Upon hearing from Damayanti, the queen also accepts her as her own daughter and Damayanti is also happy. Thus, life for Damayanti is moving on in this way. 

At this point in time, one fine day, somebody from the Vidharba Desha pays a visit to the king of Chedi Desha. We should remember that Vidharba Desha is Damayanti’s father’s kingdom. As this person catches a glimpse of Damayanti in the Chedi Desha kingdom, he has a doubt whether this woman is Damayanti or not! Her looks are extremely familiar and her body language and habits also suggest the same. With this doubt in mind, this messenger from Vidharba Desha goes to Damayanti and enquires who she really is. As Damayanti realizes that this person is from her father’s kingdom, she pours out all her emotions and cries to him! Damayanti discloses the fact that she has lost her husband and is roaming around, in search of him! Meanwhile, as the queen’s daughter sees Damayanti in tears, she doesn’t understand why this is so! Of course, the queen’s daughter isn’t in the vicinity of Damayanti, but figures out that something is wrong with her. She immediately passes on the message to her mother, that Damayanti is not feeling good. 

Hearing this from her daughter, the queen rushes to see Damayanti and enquires what happened to her. As the queen enquires thus, Damayanti finally reveals her true identity that she is none other than King Nala’s wife, and that, she has lost her husband to the wrath of Kali-Purusha and she is trying to find out his whereabouts. As the queen hears Damayanti’s heart-wrenching story, she consoles Damayanti and replies thus, “Oh my daughter! Till this point, I did not know that you are Damayanti! I’ve heard about you a lot in the past, and I had always envied your character and your chastity! I couldn’t believe that you’re one amongst us now! We are extremely fortunate to have you in our kingdom and from today, you would be treated as a royal princess! You would have no dearth of any kind of help and facilities! I shall ensure that you will rejoin your husband very soon!” As the queen says thus, Damayanti replies back, “Oh queen! I’m extremely happy with your words! I deeply acknowledge your respect and kindness towards me! However, I’ve got a point to make – Till now, I’ve suffered enough and more. I do not have the heart to suffer any further. I shall go with this messenger to my father’s place for sometime. Maybe I shall come back to you at a later stage if I require any help! Thank you very much for your kindness and your hospitality at the right time!” Saying thus, Damayanti starts her journey along with the messenger of Vidharba Desha and reaches her father’s home finally! 

As this is happening with Damayanti, we’ve already witnessed King Nala going and joining King Rituparna’s group. He also doesn’t disclose who he really is, and he introduces himself to King Rituparna as Baahuka. However, we have to understand one thing here – We’ve seen earlier that Vaarshenya, who was King Nala’s charioteer earlier, is also working amidst the same group of King Rituparna. But because of King Nala’s disguised form, Vaarshneya is not able to identify King Nala! Thus, days progress in this way, and meanwhile, Damayanti is completely upset and heart-broken on the other end. Hence, she calls a Brahmin pandit to seek some advice. She requests him to go in search of King Nala, to find out where he is! Damayanti has a doubt whether King Nala’s form might have changed. Because, if King Nala would have retained his original form, anybody in this world would have identified him! Thus, as the Brahmin Pandit is about to start his search, Damayanti wants him to ask a few questions to the people whom he comes across! So for today, let us understand up to this point and in the next episode, we shall witness what are the questions that Damayanti wants to pose! Stay tuned for an interesting and an absorbing accord! 🙂 

In the previous episode, we had witnessed a heart-wrenching accord on how King Nala had no other option but to desert his beloved wife, Damayanti amidst the forest where both of them were wandering around. We’ve already seen that King Nala had been exiled from the kingdom because of losing all his wealth and “Raajya” to King Pushkara as a result of the gambling game. Post that, King Nala also lost his single piece of cloth to Kali-Purusha’s wrath and with this, Damayanti protected him with her saree, by wrapping it around him. However, as that night progressed, King Nala decides that he would only be more burdening to Damayanti if he stays any further with her. Kali-Purusha is going to trouble Damayanti more and more if King Nala is going to be with her. With this thought firm in his mind, and with a heavy heart, King Nala deserts Damayanti in the middle of the night as she is in deep sleep. Next morning, Damayanti understands that her husband has moved away from her, and she goes searching for him, crying loud for help! As she wanders all alone by herself, a python catches her and tries to squeeze her to death, only for a hunter to come forward and save her. However, the hunter’s intentions towards Damayanti are bad, which results in Damayanti burning him down to death! 

Meanwhile, King Nala on the other side, spots a huge forest fire and within that fire, Snake Kaarkotaka has got stuck! Snake Karkotaka requests King Nala to protect him and for it, he promises King Nala that he would do something good for him in return. Accordingly, King Nala saves Snake Kaarkotaka from the raging forest fire, and as King Nala is bringing Snake Kaarkotaka out of the fire, the snake requests King Nala to count numbers from one to ten. King Nala obeys, and as the tenth number (“Dasha”) comes out of King Nala’s mouth – It should be understood here by readers that the word “Dasha” in Sanskrit has two meanings – One is “Ten” and the other is “To bite”. Thus, as King Nala utters the word “Dasha”, Snake Kaarkotaka bites him! As the snake’s bite is highly poisonous in nature, the poison is rushing its way fast into King Nala’s body. As the poison takes over thus, King Nala becomes extremely bad-looking and disgusting! Thus, the poison completely changes King Nala’s external appearance! Stunned by this, King Nala asks Snake Kaarkotaka thus, “Oh Kaarkotaka! You told me that you would do something good for me if I save you from the fire. But now, you’ve bitten me very badly and look at how I’ve been transformed into such a ghastly look! Is this the way you show your gratitude to someone who has saved your life?” 

As King Nala asks thus, Snake Kaarkotaka replies back, “Oh King Nala! Please do not worry! I’ve bitten you on a purpose. This bite is going to give you all the change in your life. Kali-Purusha is making you dance to his tunes by sitting inside your body. Now this poison is going to sting him very badly and within a short period of time, he is going to run away from your body, unable to bear the wrath of my poison. Moreover, I’m giving you two pieces of clothes. If you feel that you should regain your original form at any point in time, you shall wear these clothes on your body, and you would regain your original form! Oh King Nala! Please take this in the positive sense. I understand that you’re in extreme pain, but this pain is for your good only!” As Snake Kaarkotaka explains in detail thus, King Nala understands the ploy clearly. He thanks Snake Kaarkotaka for his timely help and moves on from there. As King Nala makes the move, he asks Snake Kaarkotaka for guidance as to where he should go now. Snake Kaarkotaka replies thus, “Oh King Nala! You do one thing! Go straight to King Rituparna, and be his charioteer. The moment you go there, he will definitely give you the job! Meanwhile, you’re extremely good at “Ashwa-Rahasya” (The art of riding horses) aren’t you? Go and teach this to King Rituparna. In return, learn the art of gambling, numbers, mathematics, etc. from him, wherein his strength lies. Thus, let this meeting transform into an exchange of knowledge and skills between both of you!” Paying heed to Snake Kaarkotaka’s advice and guidance, King Nala makes his way towards King Rituparna’s kingdom and joins hands with King Rituparna thereafter. This is on one side. 

Now, moving on to what happens to Damayanti – As she burns down the hunter, Damayanti continues walking further, all by herself! As she crosses over a distance, she spots a group of traders going from one place to the other as a caravan. Upon seeing this caravan, Damayanti decides to join their group and go to whichever place they are going to. However, as the caravan is proceeding further, a huge herd of elephants attack the caravan, of which, half of the traders lose their life to the elephants’ stampede! The other half of the group, including Damayanti, somehow escape the wrath of the elephants. As the elephant herd moves away, the remaining traders thought that all the deaths happened only because of this Damayanti joining them and hence, they chase Damayanti away from their group! Unable to bare the insult and humiliation, Damayanti again starts walking alone, all by herself, and this time, she meets a group of Brahmins who are going towards the “Chedi-Desha”. Damayanti decides to join this group and to somehow reach Chedi-Desha, so that she can try and earn her fortune there! 

So for today, let us understand up to this point, and in the next episode, we shall continue this discussion further, to see how all the problems for the Nala-Damayanti couple come to an end! Stay tuned for an interesting accord! 🙂 

In the previous episode, we had witnessed King Nala becoming a popper overnight, thanks to the gambling game that he played along with King Pushkara. We’ve witnessed Kali Purusha unleashing his wrath upon King Nala by entering into the dice that King Nala was throwing. Every time the dice was rolled, it always went in favour of King Pushkara. However, just like how Yudishtra continued playing the gamble even though he was losing heavily, King Nala too continued playing the game, even though he knew that something was playing against him. Even as Damayanti advised King Nala to stop the game, he was in no mood to relent. He kept on playing, in a bid to regain everything that he had lost to King Pushkara. However, that recovery never happened, and finally, King Nala was chased out of his kingdom. Meanwhile, Damayanti sent off their two children to her father’s place at Vidharba Desha, knowing that things are going to only go uphill from here on for King Nala. Thus, as King Nala lost the game, King Pushkara chased him out of the kingdom, as he took complete possession of the same. 

Now, as King Nala and Damayanti are roaming in the forest, alone with each other, they aren’t able to get enough food for sustaining their regular lives too. At this point, as King Nala aims for a bird that was flying through with his dhoti, the bird pulls away that dhoti too from him and flies away! As the bird does so, it reveals the entire “modus operandi” of Kali Purusha and how he is solely responsible for the mess that King Nala and Damayanti are at the moment! Realizing her folly of mistaking her husband’s intention thus, Damayanti apologizes to King Nala and since he is completely naked without even a single piece of cloth, Damayanti tears apart a piece of her saree and wraps him up. Thus, the couple slept like this for the whole night, under a tree. 

As this happens, during the course of the night, King Nala looks at Damayanti with tears in his eyes. He thinks thus, “Oh no! It is only because of me, this beautiful woman had to undergo enormous amounts of suffering till today. I’m not no use to Damayanti. In fact, I’m only a burden for her. If I stay with her further, she would be in great danger. Hence, I think it is better that I leave her here itself and go away to some other place. Perhaps when she wakes up, she would obviously search for me, but later on, maybe she might go back to her father’s place and thereafter lead a happy life. Perhaps, she can marry Kali Purusha as he wished, and hence, both of us would be relieved from these sufferings that we’re undergoing currently!” Thinking thus, with a heavy heart of leaving his beloved wife behind, King Nala takes a sharp object from the ground, tears the saree piece that was connecting both of them together, and silently walks away from that place! 

As King Nala does this, he doesn’t have the heart to leave his wife all alone like that! Hence he came back to her – Only to see her in sound sleep! Upon seeing her, King Nala starts crying once again! He thinks within himself thus, “Oh no! This Damayanti is enduring so much suffering, only because she loves me so much. Will it be right to desert her like this and leave? Is it “Dharma” to do this? I don’t think I should! I should be with her till the end, no matter what happens!” Thinking thus, King Nala stands by her, unable to leave the place. However, on the other hand, King Nala thinks that if he is with her anymore, Damayanti’s suffering will only increase manifold. Kali-Purusha is not going to leave her alone, and is going to unleash his wrath even more on her! Why should poor Damayanti suffer because of him? Thus, both these thoughts are oscillating in his mind and King Nala is utterly confused! However, after a few minutes, King Nala decides that the first thought process is the right one, and decides to close his eyes and leave that place before Damayanti wakes up! 

Thus, with a heavy heart, King Nala glances at his wife for one last time, and quickly hurries off from that place! As the dawn arises, Damayanti wakes up from her sleep, only to find out that she is all alone in that dense forest! Where is King Nala? Where did he go overnight, leaving her alone? Unable to identify him, Damayanti searches all around the place, and eventually she realizes that she has been deserted all alone by her husband! Understanding this and coming to terms thus, Damayanti cries out with disbelief and extreme grief! She could not control herself and pours out all her emotions! As she does so, she goes on, searching for her husband! As Damayanti started walking without food and water, on the way, she got stuck up amidst a huge python! Unable to free herself from the clutches of that python, Damayanti shouts for help! Hearing her cries, a hunter comes from somewhere and with his sharp arrows, he kills the python and frees her. 

As Damayanti goes near the hunter to thank him for his timely help, the hunter starts to fall in love with her. He gets attracted physically towards Damayanti, upon seeing her with a half dress! As the hunter tried to come closer, Damayanti quickly understands his wrong intention, and with the significance of her chastity, she burns him down! Thus, Damayanti’s chastity protects her from the hunter. This is one side of the story. Meanwhile, now King Nala is also roaming in some other corner of the forest, isn’t he? As he is roaming around, he spots a huge forest fire, and a loud cry is emulating from within that place where the fire is burning. Upon hearing the desperate cry, King Nala goes inside to check who is crying for help. He sees a snake getting engulfed by the fire! This snake is none other than Snake Kaarkotaka. Thus, as Kaarkotaka cries for help, King Nala saves him from the fire, and in return, Kaarkotaka proposes that he would do something good for King Nala. 

So for today, let us understand up to this point, and let us join hands with both King Nala and Damayanti to await for a better future for both of them! So what is Snake Kaarkotaka going to do for King Nala? Let us wait and witness in the next episode! Stay tuned! 🙂 

In the previous episode, we had witnessed Kali-Purusha preparing himself to unleash his wrath upon King Nala and Damayanti, as he is seeking revenge towards King Nala for marrying Damayanti. We’ve witnessed that Kali-Purusha was just a bit too late for the “Svayamvara”, wherein King Nala married Damayanti, and upon Indra’s instigation in a sarcastic manner, Kali-Purusha gets extremely angry. He somehow wants to punish King Nala for marrying Damayanti, whom Kali-Purusha wanted to desperately marry. Thus, Kali-Purusha was waiting at the doors of King Nala, to somehow enter inside him and wreak havoc. As fate would have it, one fine evening when King Nala is performing his “Nitya-Anushtaanm”, he doesn’t wash his feet properly. Using this opportunity, Kali Purusha enters King Nala’s body through the unwashed portion of his feet! Now the havoc begins! So let us witness how King Nala gets into a mess and what happens further. 

The next morning, King Pushkara from a neighbouring state comes to meet King Nala. King Pushkara wants to play a game of gambling with King Nala. Thus, as the plan is being made, Kali-Purusha once again sees a golden opportunity here! He decides that as the game progresses, he would enter into the gambling dice and wreak havoc! This is exactly what happened in the case of Yudishtra as well. Readers should once again recollect that Sage Brihadarsha is explaining this entire story of King Nala to Yudishtra, to highlight the point that there is a past history in a similar way wherein a king had already suffered because of this. Coming back to King Nala’s context thus, King Pushkara makes the request of calling King Nala for a game of gambling, which King Nala could not reject. Thus, King Nala accepts the invite for the gambling game. Next morning, the stage is all set for the game to begin, and as the game commences, the dice is being rolled! King Pushkara is winning every round and King Nala is strangely on the losing side! Kali-Purusha starts unleashing his fury and vengeance through the dice and King Nala is on a complete losing spree! 

As the game progresses further, even though King Nala ends up on the losing side every time, his interest and addiction towards the game only increases further and further! He bets more and more of his property, gold, money, treasury, etc. and ultimately ends up losing everything one after the other! As the game progresses further, Damayanti also tries to stop her husband from going ahead with it! King Nala has one son and one daughter – Indrasena and Indrasenaa. Even their words went into deaf ears! As hopes are reducing, Damayanti calls for the charioteer by name Vaarshneya. Damayanti instructs him thus, “Oh Vaarshneya! Please take my two children and drop them at my father’s place. If they are here, chances are high that my husband would stake them and play! I cannot tolerate my children being lost to someone else!” As Damayanti instructs thus, Vaarshneya does the needful and he never returns back. What is his job here anymore? Everything is lost, isn’t it? Hence, Vaarshneya deserts King Nala and joins somewhere else for a job! There was a king by name Rituparna, of Ayodhya. Thus, Vaarshneya goes to King Rituparna, seeking a job and King Rituparna too offers him a job as his charioteer. This is one side of the story! 

Now coming back to King Nala, he has lost everything including his kingdom as well! Now King Pushkara chases King Nala out and he is draped only with one dhoti and one piece of cloth on his top. Damayanti is also left with just one saree for her to wear. All her wealth and jewels have been lost to King Pushkara. Thus, both King Nala and Damayanti are roaming around in the forest, as they are exiled from their kingdom by King Pushkara. As both of them are wandering around thus, there is a stage wherein they did not even get proper food to eat. At that moment, King Nala spots a bird flying over him. He decides that probably this bird can be captured, killed and can be consumed as food for the time being. However, now the question is how does King Nala capture the bird? He doesn’t have his bow and arrows too! Thus, after a thought, he removes his dhoti and tries to capture the bird within it. However, unfortunately for King Nala, the bird doesn’t get stuck into the dhoti, and instead, takes away the dhoti along with it and flies away! 

As the bird flies away thus, it talks from the sky: “Oh Nala! You might be thinking that I’m just a bird! You’re mistaken by that thought! I’m none other than Kali-Purusha! It was me who rendered you without a kingdom. It was me who entered into the dice and made you lose all your wealth and treasury. It is me now who has snatched your dhoti also! I’m doing all this to teach you a lesson – How dare you touch a woman whom I was about to marry? I was desperate to marry Damayanti and you cheated upon me, didn’t you? Now you shall experience all sorts of suffering as a token of punishment for what you did to me! This is just the beginning! There is much more to come!” As King Nala hears thus, he is stunned beyond words! Damayanti too realizes what has happened! Till now, she was thinking that the fault was on her husband, but now she understands that it was all the job of this wretched Kali-Purusha! Thus, both of them cry to each other and now more than anything else, King Nala has even lost his piece of clothing! He is standing nude in front of Damayanti! Now how will both of them wander and sleep? Thus, Damayanti tears a piece of cloth from her saree, wraps her husband with it and hugs him along with her with all her love and affection. With this, both of them fall asleep for the night. 

Such is the suffering that both of them have to undergo! As Kali-Purusha has proclaimed, this is just the beginning! So for today, let us understand up to this point, and let us join hands with the Nala-Damayanti couple to express our concern for the unlucky ones! We shall continue this discussion forward in the next episode, and witness how the couple suffered henceforth as well! Stay tuned! 

In the previous episode, we had witnessed the grand King Nala – Damayanti marriage being held at the Vidharba Desha as King Bheema gives away his daughter Damayanti to King Nala happily. The marriage takes place, not before Indra and Co. play their game to test the couple’s love and commitment for each other. As Damayanti arrives at the Svayamvara event with the garland in her hand, and as she is walking along the path where hundreds of kings had assembled, instead of spotting one King Nala, she saw five of them! Upon seeing five identical King Nalas standing next to each other, Damayanti is shell-shocked! She comes to know that this is a trick being played by Indra and Co. Realizing this, Damayanti prays to the Devas that if her love and commitment is firm towards King Nala only, and if at all a marriage takes place in her life, it should only be with King Nala, and nobody else! As Damayanti stands firm in her resolution, Indra and the others relent and show the real King Nala standing amidst them! Thus, Damayanti is happy and subsequently the marriage takes place between Damayanti and King Nala in a grand fashion. 

Moving on thus, after the marriage ceremonies are over, Indra and Co. leave for the “Svarga Lokha”, as all the other kings also leave for their respective kingdoms. As Indra is on his way, he sees Kali-Purusha coming along swiftly towards the Vidharba Desha. Along with Kali-Purusha, Dwaapara-Purusha is also coming along. Seeing both of them going fast towards the Vidharba Desha, Indra asks them out of curiosity thus, “Oh Kali-Purusha! Where are you going so fast? I see a lot of hurry in you! What is happening?” As Indra asks thus, Kali-Purusha replies thus, “Oh Indra! Don’t you know? Damayanti’s “Svayamvara” is arranged! So both of us are going to participate in it! We do not have time to stop and talk with you now. I’m the one who is going to marry Damayanti!” As Indra hears this answer from Kali-Purusha, he laughs out loud! Indra replies thus, “Oh Kali-Purusha! You’re too little too late! Damayanti’s “Svayamvara” event is over, and King Nala has already married her! Even the food has been served excellently well and with a lot of grandeur! Now if you go there, you won’t even get proper food to eat, as everything would have been over!” 

As Indra says thus, he mocks Kali-Purusha in an extremely sarcastic way, which angers him! Kali-Purusha decides to teach Damayanti and King Nala a befitting lesson! He fumes in anger thus, “Oh is it? How dare this King Nala touch the woman whom I’m going to marry? Afterall who is he? He is just an ordinary human being, isn’t he? Now I shall unleash my wrath upon King Nala and make him suffer like hell! I’ll make him run away from his kingdom and Damayanti. By doing so, I’ll approach Damayanti and marry her!” With this savage resolution, Kali-Purusha makes his way into King Nala’s Nishaadha Desha where both Damayanti and King Nala are happily residing with each other! Kali-Purusha gets into a corner of the palace and he wants to somehow get into the body of King Nala in an invisible form and unleash his agenda! Kali Purusha waits, waits and waits, but he is unable to enter King Nala! This is because, King Nala’s “Aachaara” (Austerities) are perfect and without any loopholes or blemish! He is doing his “Sandhyavandanam” regularly! He’s performing his “Nitya-Karma” and “Naimitthika Karma” with utmost perfection! By doing so, King Nala is invisibly building a fortress around himself, in such a way that Kali Purusha is unable to make an entry! 

Thus, from this accord, we can understand how our “Nitya Karma” and “Naimitthika Karma” protect us from invisible enemies like this Kali-Purusha! As days and months are progressing, Kali-Purusha patiently waits for King Nala to make a mistake and for his perfection level to dip a bit. Kali-Purusha is waiting to use that as an opportunity to enter into King Nala’s body! As fate would have it, one fine evening, King Nala is performing his “Aachamanam” (Part of our “Nitya Karma”) without washing his feet properly! This is Kali-Purusha’s best chance! Seeing this, Kali-Purusha thinks within himself thus, “Oh wow! This is the best opportunity for me! It’s like a do-or-die situation! If I do not enter King Nala at this point, perhaps, I will never be able to enter him in the future!” Thinking thus, Kali-Purusha quickly makes his way into King Nala’s body! So for today, let us understand up to this point, and we shall witness what Kali-Purusha is going to unleash upon King Nala and Damayanti, in the next episode! Stay tuned for an absorbing accord tomorrow! 🙂 

In the previous episode, we had witnessed King Nala being intercepted by Indra and Co. as all of them are making their way to the Vidharba Desha to participate in the “Svayamvara” event for Damayanti. Stopping him on the way thus, Indra requests King Nala to go as a messenger to Damayanti and convey the news that the Devas are very interested in marrying her. Even as King Nala objected, Indra is in no mood to relent from his stance. He sticks to his resolution and instructs King Nala to obey his order! Without having an option thus, King Nala goes to Damayanti’s place and requests her to consider Indra’s proposal, instead of she being in love with him! As Damayanti hears this, she is shell-shocked and she sticks to her firm stance that if at all there is a marriage that is going to happen in her life, it would be only with King Nala and nobody else! Even though King Nala tries to convince her to change her stance, Damayanti stands firm! Instead, she gives an idea to King Nala to ask all the Devas to come and participate in the Svayamvara event, and in front of all of them, she would choose King Nala! If such a thing is done, nobody could object! Thus, the plan is made and King Nala goes back to Indra with whatever Damayanti said to him. 

Moving on thus, Indra and Co. proceed along with King Nala to the Vidharba Desha. The “Svayamvara” event is about to start and all the kings assemble in the big hall! Damayanti comes out with the garland in her hand. She looks dazzling in her attire and all the kings are being taken aback by her exceptional beauty! Each king is waiting eagerly for Damayanti to approach him and put the garland around his neck. This includes Indra and Co. too. As Damayanti enters the Svayamvara hall, her eyes directly start searching for King Nala! She is looking around the hall to find out where he is seated. She passes through king after king, but she is unable to find King Nala. However, after a certain distance, she is able to spot King Nala! Readers should remember the plan of Damayanti here – In front of the Devas and the entire gathering, Damayanti would choose King Nala to be her husband, which cannot be questioned by anyone! However, to her utter disbelief, she saw not just one King Nala, but five of them! Now what is this game being played? How can King Nala take the form of five people? Is he also one of the Devas? Or, is Damayanti being tricked here, so that a confusion is created in her mind? Thus, as Damayanti sees five King Nalas sitting in front of her, she doesn’t know how to react! The ultimate reality here is that, all the Devas, including Indra, took the form of King Nala and are sitting beside him! 

At this point, Damayanti knows only one way to come out of this tricky situation – She folds her hands and offers her prayers to Indra and Co. thus, “Oh Devas! If it is true that I love King Nala to the best of my heart, if it is true that I’m in love with only one person in this world and nobody else, if it is true that I’m a chaste woman and not otherwise, please show me who the real King Nala is! Please do not let my chastity hang in shame!” As Damayanti prays ardently and sincerely thus, Indra understood his folly. He understands how deeply Damayanti is in love with King Nala, and decides that neither he nor his other Devatas should interfere in this. Thus, since they are Devatas, Indra and Co. clearly reveal their differentiation by their feet not touching the ground! King Nala (The original one) being a normal human being, has his foot on his ground, and with this, Damayanti identifies him! Immediately as she does so, she is in tears of joy and thus, puts the garland around King Nala’s neck! 

As Damayanti puts the garland around King Nala’s neck, the entire Vidharba Desha is extremely happy! Indra and the other Devas are also happy for both of them and provide their divine “Anugraha” to the couple. With this, the King Nala-Damayanti marriage happens with a lot of grandeur in the Vidharba Desha and the happy couple decides to live together forever henceforth. As the marriage gets over, Indra and the others leave the marriage hall, and as Indra does so, something strange happens! Kali Purusa arrives there from nowhere! So for today, let us also join hands with the people of Vidharba Desha to celebrate the marriage between King Nala and Damayanti. We shall witness in the next episode as to why Kali Purusha is coming here, and what he is going to do! Stay tuned for an interesting and absorbing accord! 🙂 

In the previous episode, we had witnessed the commencement of an important accord given by Sage Brihadarsha to Yudishtra, with regards to an example of a king who suffered because he had lose the gambling game, just like Yudishtra. Sage Brihadarsha is trying to drive home the important point through this example that Yudishtra’s suffering is nothing in comparison to what King Nala had suffered. By this, he narrates the story of King Nala, the king of Nishadha Desha, and we had witnessed yesterday how he fell in love with Damayanti of the Vidarbha Desha, without even seeing each other. There came a stage that both of them were fixed to each other that if at all a marriage happens for both of them, it would definitely be with each other only. At this time, Damayanti’s father, King Bheema is arranging for a grand “Svayamvara” event as part of his daughter’s marriage. As the “Svayamvara” is announced, countless numbers of kings from various territories make their way to the Vidarbha Desha to participate in it. King Nala is also informed of it, and he too makes his way to the Vidharba Desha. At this time, Sage Naarada hurries to the “Svarga Lokha” and meets Indra. He informs Indra of the “Svayamvara” of Damayanti and with this, Indra too gets interested! 

As Sage Naarada pokes Indra thus, Indra replies back to him, “Oh Sage Naarada! Is Damayanti that significant that all the kings are even ready to sacrifice the Svarga Lokha and go there? If that is the case, I’m also going there to try my luck! Let me see who this Damayanti is!” Hearing this, all the other Devas like Yama, Varuna, etc. also want to try their luck on Damayanti as all of them start their journey towards the Vidarba Desha. As they proceed further, they see King Nala making his way to the same place! Upon seeing King Nala, the Devas become jealous of him. Indra talks to his other colleagues thus, “Oh Devas! By the way this Nala is proceeding forward, I think he would be the lucky chap to win the Svayamvara event! If this happens, we would be cheated very badly! Hence, let us somehow stop this Nala from proceeding further!” As the other Devas also agree with what Indra says, all of them make a plan together and approach King Nala. Indra greets King Nala and in turn, Nala also pays his respect to him. Indra says to King Nala thus, “Oh Nala! We would like to have a favour from you! All of us are extremely interested in marrying Damayanti and we want you to go to her as a messenger to express our love towards her and our interest to marry her! Will you do this for all of us? If you do so, we would bless you with enormous amounts of wealth, name and fame!” 

Upon hearing Indra’s words, King Nala is perplexed! He did not know what to reply to them initially. Composing himself within a few seconds, King Nala replies calmly thus, “Oh Indra & Co.! All of you know that I’m also proceeding towards the Vidharba Desha with the interest of marrying Damayanti, just like how all the other kings are doing as well!” As King Nala replies thus, Indra gets angry! He replies back in a harsh tone to Nala thus, “Oh Nala! Who are you afterall? You’re an ordinary human being! We’re Devas! Now I give you the instruction – Go to Damayanti and express our love to her, as our messenger!” As Indra instructs thus, King Nala did not have another option, but to accept it. Hence he makes up his mind to sacrifice his love for Damayanti! He thus goes as a messenger of Indra and reaches Vidharba Desha and straightaway proceeds to Damayanti’s Antahpura. 

As Damayanti sees a handsome and a young person approaching her, she quickly understands that this person is none other than King Nala himself, whom she has been dreaming of all these days and months! As Damayanti starts talking to him, King Nala stops her! He says thus, “Oh Damayanti! I know what you’re going to talk to me about! However, I’m no longer interested in you. This is because the Devas, including Indra, Varuna, Kubera, etc. are in deep love with you and they want to somehow marry you in the Svayamvara event. I came here to convey this news to you!” As Damayanti hears this from King Nala, she is shell-shocked! She replies back to Nala with so much pain in her heart thus, “Oh King Nala! This is comical and ironic! Whatever you’re saying is so funny for me! After so many months of living together with you virtually, how do you have the heart to come and tell me that someone else is in love with me? Oh King Nala! Please take it from me today – I’ve already decided that you would be my husband for my entire life! There is no place for another person in my heart – Even if it is Indra or Varuna or whoever! This can never happen and I shall not let it happen as well!” 

As Damayanti says thus, King Nala is in tears and replies back, “Oh Damayanti! I’m afterall an ordinary human being! Why do you want to have so much interest on me? The Devas are celestial beings. If you marry them, your life would be extremely prosperous, isn’t it? Why don’t you leave me and go with them?” As King Nala expresses his grief thus, Damayanti replies slowly to him, “Oh King Nala! I understand your point, and I also know that you’ve been cornered by Indra, which is making you say all this! Do one thing – You go back and participate in tomorrow’s Svayamvara. Let Indra and Co. also come along. In front of everybody, I would choose you as my husband! End of the day, the choice is mine, isn’ t it? If I choose someone in front of everyone, nobody can object to it, isn’t it? Hence, let them also come. I shall use my freedom of selection in front of everybody and select you! In that way, nobody will be able to question you nor me!” As Damayanti firmly replies thus, King Nala agrees to her proposal somewhat, but with a heavy heart! As he goes back, he meets Indra once again and narrates everything that happened to him! Indra too agreed and all of them decide to proceed to the Vidharba Desha for the Svayamvara event! 

So for today, let us understand up to this point, and in the next episode, we shall witness what happened during the Svayamvara event. Is Damayanti going to execute her plan to perfection, or, is Indra going to play spoilsport there? An interesting accord awaits us tomorrow! Stay tuned! 🙂 

In the previous episode, we had witnessed Arjuna obtaining a “curse”, but an indirect “Anugraha” that he would have to spend one full year in the “Manushya-Lokha” amongst women, with a disguised identity, wherein he would be dancing and singing along with them. Of course, for a “Kshatrya Prince” like Arjuna, this would be a huge insult and derogatory to live such a life, but Indra reminds Arjuna about his one-year “Agnyaatavasa” wherein he and his brothers have to spend a disguised life without being identified by Duryodhana and Co. Indra assures Arjuna that all whatever music and dance that he is learning currently in the “Svarga Lokha” would be of immense help during that one-year time period. As this happens, Sage Lomasha too arrives and as per Indra’s instruction, Sage Lomasha goes down and conveys to Yudishtra and Co. that Arjuna is safe and secure in the “Svarga Lokha” with Indra and that, he would return soon to unite with all of them! As Yudishtra hears this, he is extremely happy for his brother and all of them are eagerly awaiting Arjuna’s return. 

Moving on thus, as Sage Lomasha leaves Yudishtra’s place, Sage Brihadarsha comes to see Yudishtra. Sage Brihadarsha is one of the greatest sages the world has ever seen and his “Tapo Balam” is extremely strong. Learning that Yudishtra and Co. are around, Sage Brihadarsha makes his way to meet Yudishtra and talk with him. As Yudishtra pays his respects to the great sage, both of them sit together and start talking with each other. As the conversation goes on, Sage Brihadarsha narrates an important story to Yudishtra. Sage Brihadarsha explains thus, “Oh Yudishtra! Please do not think that you’re suffering a lot because of the loss that you obtained in the gambling game. There are people who had suffered even more than you! I shall narrate one such example wherein a king lost all his wealth and kingdom to the gambling game and he had to suffer enormously for the subsequent seven years or so!” 

As Sage Brihadarsha says thus, Yudishtra is also interested greatly. He replies thus, “Oh great Sage! Who is that king who suffered more than what I do? I’m very eager to know the story behind it. Please narrate it to me!” As Yudishtra says thus, Sage Brihadarsha commences the story of King Nala and how he lost all his wealth to the gamble. Sage Brihadarsha says thus, “Oh Yudishtra! Once upon a time, there was a great king by name Nala. He was the king of the Nishada Desha. There was another king by name Bheema of the Vidharba Desha. This King Bheema had a daughter by name Damayanti. As Damayanti grew up, she and King Nala fell in love with each other. Some people from the Nishada Desha went to the Vidharba Desha and explained about the handsome features of King Nala to Damayanti. In the same way, people from the Vidharba Desha came to the Nishaada Desha and explained to King Nala, the beauty of Damayanti. Thus, even without seeing each other, both King Nala and Damayanti fall in love with each other! The white swan birds from either sides went as messengers to each other to convey each other’s love!” 

Sage Brihadarsha continues thus, “Oh Yudishtra! As these things were happening, nothing was known to King Bheema. In other words, King Bheema never knew that his daughter was already in love with another king. Unknowingly thus, since his daughter has attained the marriage age, he arranged for a grand “Svayamvara”. As the arrangements are intact, it is a grandeur event wherein all the kings from different territories are readily seated and are awaiting their luck to marry Damayanti. King Nala is also on the way for this event, as the news was conveyed to him. As King Nala is on his way, meanwhile, Sage Naarada hurries to the Indra Lokha and talks to Indra thus, “Oh Indra! There is an important event that is taking place in the Manushya Lokha! Do you know about it?” As Sage Naarada asks thus, Indra replies back, “Oh Sage Naarada! I’m also wondering why of late, nobody is coming towards the “Svarga Lokha”! What is happening in the “Manushya Lokha?” As Indra asks thus, Sage Naarada gives a smart reply thus, “Oh Indra! Why are you so aloof? You don’t even know what is happening around you? I didn’t think you would be such a great fool! Damayanti’s Svayamvara is happening in such a grand fashion! All the kings are going to be part of it! Why don’t you also go and try your luck? Now, don’t tell me that you do not know who Damayanti is!” 

This poking reply from Sage Naarada irks Indra a bit. His ego is hurt! So for today, let us understand up to this point. Is Indra going to take part in Damayanti’s Svayamvara? Or, does he have other plans? Let us wait and witness in the next episode! Stay tuned! 🙂 

In the previous episode, we had witnessed an important event that takes place between Arjuna and Urvasi at the Indra Lokha. As Arjuna is busy learning his everyday lessons of music and dance, he spots Urvasi dancing blissfully. He gets so impressed with her dance and movements associated with it, which Indra mistakes to be love for Urvasi. Accordingly, Indra requests Chitrasena to talk to Urvasi that Arjuna is in love with her. Urvasi too becomes interested in Arjuna and she comes to him to propose her love to him. However, Arjuna’s intentions are otherwise. Till this point, Arjuna has respected Urvasi as his own mother, and there is no chance for him to think of her otherwise. As Arjuna expresses himself thus, Urvasi gets angry! How can a male not fall for her beauty? How can a male reject her love proposal like this? Fuming thus, Urvasi inflicts a curse on Arjuna that for a year’s time he would be amongst women, by forsaking his personal dignity and he would live a life dancing and singing with women all around him! We’ve witnessed till this point in yesterday’s episode and we shall witness what happened after Urvasi inflicts such a curse! 

Moving on thus, as Urvasi curses him, Arjuna is scared and concerned! He is in tears! “Is it for this reason that I was called all the way to the “Svarga Lokha”? I would have been very happy being in the “Manushya Lokha” with my brothers and Draupati. Now it looks like I’ve committed a grave mistake by going behind this Indra! I never knew that he is a dangerous person to deal with! Now what do I do? How will I go and explain this to Yudishtra, who calculates each and every move of his towards “Dharma”? How will Yudishtra react if I go and tell him that I obtained a curse from Urvasi?” As Arjuna is thinking thus, Indra senses that something is wrong with him. He immediately approaches Arjuna and asks him what happened! As Arjuna explains the whole story, Indra replies thus, “Oh Arjuna! Please do not worry! You’ve to perform the “Agnyaatavaasam” after this twelve-year period isn’t it? You’ve to be in a disguised form without being noticed by anybody, isn’t it? Urvasi’s curse will help you do that! In fact, Urvasi has provided her divine “Anugraha” to you, and this is not a curse. Please do not mistake her. The dance, music, etc. that you’re learning here at this moment, would help you during that one-year Agnyaatavaasam period, along with this curse of Urvasi! Hence, you do not need to worry!” 

As this happens, Sage Lomasha comes to the Svarga Lokha to pay a visit to Indra. As both of them meet, Indra requests a favour from Sage Lomasha. Indra says thus, “Oh Sage Lomasha! As you might be knowing, Arjuna is with us for a while. Yudishtra and the others would not know that Arjuna is here. Hence, I request you to inform Yudishtra and Co. that Arjuna is safe and secure here without any problem. They must be a worried lot by now. It has been a while since Arjuna has come here, and since he hasn’t returned back to their hamlet, Yudishtra would be concerned. Hence, please go and inform Yudishtra that Arjuna would be residing here for some more time as he has certain tasks to be accomplished!” As Indra explains thus, Sage Lomasha accepts the request and he quickly goes down to meet Yudishtra. As expected, Yudishtra is extremely worried and concerned about Arjuna’s whereabouts! However, as Sage Lomasha comes and explains what had happened, Yudishtra is extremely happy. He is satisfied that Arjuna’s sincerity and his path of “Dharma” has been recognised by none other than Bhagawan Shiva Himself, and subsequently by Indra and Co. He expresses his gratitude to Sage Lomasha for this wonderful piece of information and thanks him for visiting!

Meanwhile, as this is taking place, Vidura is also trying his best to talk to King Dhridiraashtra and convince him to recall the Paandava brothers to Hastinapura and give away the Indraprastha kingdom to Yudishtra. However, because of Duryodhana’s constant intervention again and again, Vidura’s repeated attempts end in failure. As this is happening at Hastinapura, Yudishtra and Co. are spending a good time in the forest, wherein Yudishtra and Arjuna are learning some important aspects of “Dharma”, and are obtaining all the “firepower” from the Devatas and Bhagawan Shiva. Of course, the constant guidance and mentoring of Bhagawan Krishna is continuing unabated, and He is personally monitoring the well-being of Yudishtra and Co. on a constant basis! 

With this, we come to the end of this “Adhyaaya” and the next one talks about the “Nala-Upaakyaanam”. This story might be very familiar to many of us and even Sage Vyaasa has kept it quite short here. I shall also explain this important story in brief as we move on further! So for today, let us understand up to this point and in the next episode, we shall witness the “Nala-Upaakyaanam”! Stay tuned for an interesting accord! 🙂