the romantic story of nala and damayanti was told to comfort the eldest pandav for losing all he had while dicing. it seems that once, while hunting, nala released a golden bird, because it promised to win for him the affections of princess damayanti. pleased with this prospect, nala let the bird go, and watched it fly in the direction of damayanti's palace. there the bird, caught by the princess, praised nala so eloquently that damayanti fell in love with him, and, in order to meet him, announced she was about to hold a bride's choice. on his way to this tournament, nala met four gods, all anxious to marry the beautiful princess, and they, after obtaining his promise to execute their wishes, bade him steal unseen into the palace and bid the princess choose one of them as a spouse.
the broken-hearted nala, forced to sue for the gods, made known their request to damayanti, who declared she didn't intend to marry any one but himself, as she meant to announce publicly at the bride's choice on the morrow.
"yet i see a way of refuge—'tis a blameless way, o king;
whence no sin to thee, o rajah,—may by any chance arise.
thou, o noblest of all mortals—and the gods by indra led,
come and enter in together—where the swayembara meets;
then will i, before the presence—of the guardians of the world,
name thee, lord of men! my husband—nor to thee may blame accrue."
she was, however, sorely embarrassed on arriving there, to find five nalas before her, for each of the gods had assumed the form of the young prince after the latter had reported what damayanti had said. unable to distinguish between the gods and her lover, damayanti prayed so fervently that she was able to discern that four of her suitors gazed at her with unwinking eyes, exuded no perspiration, and cast no shadow, while the fifth betrayed all these infallible signs of mortality. she, therefore, selected the real nala, upon whom the four gods bestowed invaluable gifts, including absolute control over fire and water.
the young couple were perfectly happy for some time, although a wicked demon (kali)—who had arrived too late at the bride's choice—was determined to trouble their bliss. he therefore watched husband and wife in hopes of finding an opportunity to injure them, but it was only in the twelfth year of their marriage that nala omitted the wonted ablutions before saying his prayers. this enabled the demon to enter his heart and inspire him with such a passion for gambling that he soon lost all he possessed.
his wife, seeing her remonstrances vain, finally ordered a charioteer to convey her children to her father's, and they had barely gone when nala came out of the gambling hall, having nothing left but a garment apiece for himself and his wife. so the faithful damayanti followed him out of the city into the forest, the winner having proclaimed that no help should be given to the exiled king or queen. almost starving, nala, hoping to catch some birds which alighted near him, flung over them as a net his only garment. these birds, having been sent by the demon to rob him of his last possession, flew away with the cloth, calling out to him that they were winged dice sent by kali.
over them his single garment—spreading light, he wrapped them round:
up that single garment bearing—to the air they sprang away;
and the birds above him hovering—thus in human accents spake,
naked as they saw him standing—on the earth, and sad, and lone:
"lo, we are the dice, to spoil thee—thus descended, foolish king!
while thou hadst a single garment—all our joy was incomplete."
husband and wife now wander on, until one night nala, arising softly, cut his wife's sole garment in two, and, wrapping himself in part of it, forsook her during her sleep, persuading himself that if left alone she would return to her father and enjoy comfort. the poem gives a touching description of the husband's grief at parting with his sleeping wife, of her frenzy on awakening, and of her pathetic appeals for her husband to return.
then we follow damayanti in her wanderings through the forest in quest of the missing nala, and see how she joins a company of hermits, who predict that her sorrows will not last forever before they vanish, for they are spirits sent to comfort her. next she joins a merchant caravan, which, while camping, is surprised by wild elephants, which trample the people to death and cause a panic. the merchants fancy this calamity has visited them because they showed compassion to damayanti, whom they now deem a demon and wish to tear to pieces. she, however, has fled at the approach of the wild elephants, and again wanders alone through the forest, until she finally comes to a town, where, seeing her wan and distracted appearance, the people follow her hooting.
the queen-mother, looking over the battlements of her palace and seeing this poor waif, takes compassion upon her, and, after giving her refreshments, questions her in regard to her origin. damayanti simply vouchsafes the information that her husband has lost all through dicing, and volunteers to serve the rani, provided she is never expected to eat the food left by others or to wait upon men.
before she had been there very long, however, her father sends brahmans in every direction to try and find his missing daughter and son-in-law, and some of these suspect the rani's maid is the lady they are seeking. when they inform the rani of this fact, she declares, if damayanti is her niece, she can easily be recognized, as she was born with a peculiar mole between her eyebrows. she, therefore, bids her handmaid wash off the ashes which defile her in token of grief, and thus discovers the birth-mole proving her identity.
damayanti now returns to her father and to her children, but doesn't cease to mourn the absence of her spouse. she, too, sends brahmans in all directions, singing "where is the one who, after stealing half of his wife's garment, abandoned her in the jungle?" meantime nala has saved from the fire a serpent, which by biting him has transformed him into a dwarf, bidding him at the same time enter the service of a neighboring rajah as charioteer, and promising that after a certain time the serpent poison will drive the demon kali out of his system. obeying these injunctions, nala becomes the charioteer of a neighboring rajah, and while with him hears a brahman sing the song which damayanti taught him. he answers it by another, excusing the husband for having forsaken his wife, and, when the brahman reports this to damayanti, she rightly concludes her nala is at this rajah's court.
she, therefore, sends back the brahman with a message to the effect that she is about to hold a second bride's choice, and the rajah, anxious to secure her hand, asks his charioteer whether he can convey him to the place in due time? nala undertakes to drive his master five hundred miles in one day, and is so clever a charioteer that he actually performs the feat, even though he stops on the way to verify his master's knowledge of figures by counting the leaves and fruit on the branch of a tree. finding the rajah has accurately guessed them at a glance, nala begs him, in return for his services as charioteer, to teach him the science of numbers, so that when he dices again he can be sure to win.
on arriving at the court of damayanti's father, nala is summoned into the presence of his wife, who, although she does not recognize him in his new form, insists he must be her spouse, for no one else can drive as he does or has the power which he displays over fire and water. at this moment the sway of the demon ends, and nala, restored to his wonted form, rapturously embraces his wife and children.
even as thus the wind was speaking,—flowers fall showering all around:
and the gods sweet music sounded—on the zephyr floating light.
then, thanks to his new skill in dicing, nala recovers all he has lost, and is able to spend the rest of his life in peace and happiness with the faithful damayanti.
