Punarmilana: The Story of Nala - Part 3

Nala and Damayanti reunite

The conclusion of the Nala-Damayanti story brings hope after despair. Damayanti, having reached her father's kingdom, orchestrates a clever plan to find Nala. She sends brahmins across the land with a coded message that only Nala would understand. Meanwhile, Nala serves as a charioteer named Bahuka under King Rituparna, his transformed body hiding his true identity. When one brahmin reaches him with Damayanti's message, Nala's emotional response reveals everything. Through an ingenious scheme involving a false swayamvara, Rituparna races to Vidarbha, and there Nala finally reunites with his faithful wife. Learning the secret of dice from Rituparna, Nala challenges Pushkara once more, wins back everything, and restores his kingdom. This tale of love's triumph over fate became one of ancient India's most beloved stories.

Punarmilana: The Story of Nala - Part 3

Brihadaswa continued his tale to Yudhishthira, now reaching the most hopeful part of the Nala-Damayanti story. After their tragic separation in the forest, both Nala and Damayanti had endured unimaginable hardships. But fate, which had conspired against them, was about to turn.

Damayanti's Return Home

After Nala abandoned her in the forest, Damayanti wandered alone through dangerous wilderness. She survived encounters with wild animals and traveled with merchant caravans, always searching for news of her husband. Eventually, she reached the kingdom of Chedi, where Queen Mother Viraseni recognized her noble bearing.

When messengers from Vidarbha arrived searching for the lost princess, Damayanti was finally reunited with her family. King Bhima wept seeing his daughter's condition - the once radiant princess now gaunt and worn from hardship. Her children, whom Nala had sent ahead before his disappearance, ran to embrace their mother.

But Damayanti found no peace in her father's palace. Her heart remained with Nala, wherever he might be.

The Clever Search

Damayanti devised a brilliant plan. She convinced her father to send learned brahmins across every kingdom with a specific message - a set of questions that only Nala could answer meaningfully.

The brahmins were instructed to recite: "Where have you gone, O gambler, abandoning your sleeping wife in the forest? She waits still, wearing half the garment you left her, thinking of you constantly. Will you not answer your devoted wife?"

Whoever responded to this message with deep emotion, they were told, should be noted and reported back to Damayanti.

Bahuka the Charioteer

Meanwhile, Nala had undergone a strange transformation. When he had covered himself with the enchanted garment of the serpent king Karkotaka, his appearance changed completely. His handsome form became twisted and unrecognizable. The serpent had promised this disguise would protect Nala until the time was right, and had given him the knowledge to eventually free himself from Kali's possession.

In this transformed state, Nala took the name Bahuka and became a charioteer in the service of King Rituparna of Ayodhya. Rituparna was renowned throughout the land for his extraordinary skill in mathematics and dice - he could look at a tree and instantly calculate the exact number of leaves and fruits.

Nala's skill with horses amazed everyone at Rituparna's court. He could make the horses fly across the ground as if they had wings. But he spoke little and kept to himself, cooking meals for the king with a skill that reminded some of divine cuisine.

The Message Finds Its Mark

One of Damayanti's brahmins, named Parnada, eventually reached Ayodhya. In the royal stables, he recited the message where Bahuka could hear.

The effect was immediate. Bahuka's hands trembled. Tears streamed down his disfigured face. He replied in a voice choked with emotion: "A noble woman remains faithful even when her husband abandons her, knowing his mind was seized by forces beyond his control. She should not harbor anger against one who was robbed of his senses. That husband, afflicted by misfortune, wanders still, tormented day and night by grief."

Parnada immediately returned to Vidarbha with this news.

The False Swayamvara

Damayanti now knew Nala was alive but disguised. She needed to bring him to Vidarbha. With her father's blessing, she announced a second swayamvara - this time claiming she believed Nala was dead and would choose a new husband the very next day.

Word spread rapidly. King Rituparna was eager to attend, for Damayanti's beauty and virtue were legendary. He called for Bahuka to drive his chariot to Vidarbha - a journey of one hundred yojanas - in a single day.

The Race Against Time

Bahuka accepted the challenge. As the chariot flew across the land with supernatural speed, Rituparna's cloak blew away in the wind. Bahuka refused to stop. When they passed a vibhitaka tree, Rituparna demonstrated his mathematical gift, calculating instantly that the tree held exactly two thousand ninety-six fruits.

Bahuka stopped the chariot in amazement. He begged Rituparna to teach him this skill with numbers - the secret knowledge of dice that could make one unbeatable in gambling. Rituparna agreed, trading this knowledge for Bahuka's secret of controlling horses with such incredible skill.

The moment Nala received this mathematical wisdom, Kali's influence weakened. The dark spirit that had possessed him for years was finally forced out. Kali begged for mercy, and Nala, though justified in destroying him, let him go. The former king of Nishada was free at last.

The Recognition

They reached Vidarbha by evening. Damayanti, watching from her palace window, saw the chariot arrive with impossible speed. Only one man in the world could drive horses like that - but the driver looked nothing like Nala.

She sent her maid to investigate. The maid reported that the charioteer was deformed and ugly, but his cooking filled the palace with divine aromas, and when he washed his hands, the water never touched the ground but evaporated before falling.

Damayanti knew. Only Nala had these divine gifts.

She sent their two children to meet the charioteer. When Bahuka saw Indrasena and Indrasenā, his composure shattered. He embraced them, weeping openly, before catching himself and explaining that they merely resembled children he once knew.

Damayanti then went to Bahuka herself. She asked directly: "Have you ever seen a man who would abandon his sleeping wife in the forest?"

Bahuka defended himself: "I was possessed by Kali. I was not in my right mind. Yet you sent word of a second swayamvara - how could a faithful wife do such a thing?"

"I did it only to bring you here," Damayanti replied. "I have never looked at another man since the day I chose you."

Transformation and Reunion

Remembering the serpent Karkotaka's instructions, Bahuka counted to ten, thought of the serpent king, and wore the magical garment. Instantly, his true form returned. Nala stood before Damayanti as handsome as the day the gods had attended their wedding.

The couple embraced as fourteen years of suffering melted away. The palace erupted in celebration. King Bhima declared a festival throughout Vidarbha. King Rituparna, understanding now why Bahuka's driving had seemed divine, congratulated Nala warmly.

The Final Victory

But Nala's story was not yet complete. With his kingdom still in Pushkara's hands and his people suffering, he returned to Nishada. He challenged his brother to one final game of dice.

Pushkara laughed, confident of another victory. But now Nala possessed Rituparna's mathematical knowledge - the secrets of probability and numbers that governed dice. The game was no longer left to chance or dark magic.

Nala won back everything. His kingdom, his wealth, his honor - all restored in a single day. But when he had the power to destroy Pushkara, Nala chose mercy. He forgave his brother and gave him wealth enough to live comfortably, asking only that he never gamble again.

The Lesson Concluded

Brihadaswa finished his tale. "So you see, Yudhishthira, Nala suffered far more than you. He lost everything, was transformed into an unrecognizable creature, and wandered for years separated from his beloved wife. Yet through patience, love, and perseverance, everything was restored to him."

The sage then taught Yudhishthira the very same mathematical secrets of dice that Nala had learned from Rituparna. "Keep this knowledge," Brihadaswa said. "When the time comes for you to face Duryodhana again, you will not be defeated."

Draupadi wept hearing Damayanti's story - the loyal wife who never doubted her husband despite everything. The Pandava brothers sat in contemplative silence, finding in this ancient tale a mirror of their own exile and a promise of eventual restoration.