Damayanti
Encyclopedia
Hindu
Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...
mythology, was the princess of Vidarbha Kingdom
Vidarbha Kingdom
Vidarbha kingdom was one among the many kingdoms ruled by Yadava kings in the central and western India, in a region still known as Vidarbha. It was the southern most kingdom known to the kings of Gangatic Plain until they explored Southern India.Damayanti, the wife of Nala was the princess of...
, who married king Nala
Nala
Nala , a character in Hindu mythology, is the king of Nishadha Kingdom, son of Virasena. Nala is known for his skill with horses and culinary expertise. He marries princess Damayanti, of Vidarbha Kingdom, and their story is told in the Mahabharata. His main weakness is gambling...
, of Nishadha Kingdom
Nishadha Kingdom
Nishadha was the kingdom of the celebrated king Nala, who loved and married Damayanti the princess of Vidarbha Kingdom. This kingdom is identified with current day Gwalior district of Madhya Pradesh...
, and their story is told in the Mahabharata
Mahabharata
The Mahabharata is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India and Nepal, the other being the Ramayana. The epic is part of itihasa....
.
The story
Damayanti was a princess of Vidarbha KingdomVidarbha Kingdom
Vidarbha kingdom was one among the many kingdoms ruled by Yadava kings in the central and western India, in a region still known as Vidarbha. It was the southern most kingdom known to the kings of Gangatic Plain until they explored Southern India.Damayanti, the wife of Nala was the princess of...
. She was of such beauty and grace that even the gods could not stop from admiring her. She fell in love with Nala simply from hearing of his virtues and accomplishments from a golden swan. When it came time for Damayanti to choose her husband at a swayamvara
Swayamvara
Swayamvara , in ancient India, was a practice of choosing a husband, from among a list of suitors, by a girl of marriageable age. Swayam in Sanskrit means self and vara means choice or desire ....
, gods, princes and kings came to seek her hand. The Gods Indra
Indra
' or is the King of the demi-gods or Devas and Lord of Heaven or Svargaloka in Hindu mythology. He is also the God of War, Storms, and Rainfall.Indra is one of the chief deities in the Rigveda...
, Agni
Agni
Agni is a Hindu deity, one of the most important of the Vedic gods. He is the god of fire and the acceptor of sacrifices. The sacrifices made to Agni go to the deities because Agni is a messenger from and to the other gods...
, Varuna
Varuna
In Vedic religion, Varuna is a god of the sky, of water and of the celestial ocean, as well as a god of law and of the underworld...
and Yama
Yama (Hinduism)
Yama is the lord of death in Hinduism, first recorded in the Vedas. Yama belongs to an early stratum of Indo-Iranian theology. In Vedic tradition Yama was considered to have been the first mortal who died and espied the way to the celestial abodes, thus in virtue of precedence he became the ruler...
were on their way for attendance when they meet Nala. They order him to be their messenger and to go inform Damayanti that she must choose one of them as husband. Nala first refuses, saying he is himself interested in her, but he finally accepts the mission. On seeing him, Damayanti agrees to pay her respects to the gods, but she insists on choosing only Nala for her husband. The Gods then each disguise themselves as Nala, and ask Damayanti to choose amongst them. Damayanti sees through them each time, as she is aware that her true beloved one is a human being and cannot be perfect, which sets him apart from the gods. The demon Kali
Kali (Demon)
In Hinduism, Kali is the reigning lord of Kali Yuga and archenemy of Kalki, the 10th and final Avatar of the Hindu god Vishnu...
, the personification of Kali yuga
Kali Yuga
Kali Yuga is the last of the four stages that the world goes through as part of the cycle of yugas described in the Indian scriptures. The other ages are Satya Yuga, Treta Yuga and Dvapara Yuga...
, also wants to marry Damayanti. On his arrival, he is unaware that he is too late for the swayamvara
Swayamvara
Swayamvara , in ancient India, was a practice of choosing a husband, from among a list of suitors, by a girl of marriageable age. Swayam in Sanskrit means self and vara means choice or desire ....
. He runs into the gods and they tell him how she has chosen Nala
Nala
Nala , a character in Hindu mythology, is the king of Nishadha Kingdom, son of Virasena. Nala is known for his skill with horses and culinary expertise. He marries princess Damayanti, of Vidarbha Kingdom, and their story is told in the Mahabharata. His main weakness is gambling...
in their place. Kali
Kali (Demon)
In Hinduism, Kali is the reigning lord of Kali Yuga and archenemy of Kalki, the 10th and final Avatar of the Hindu god Vishnu...
then angrily vow to cause the fall of Nala’s kingdom through his propensity for gambling.
Damayanti and Nala are happily married and have two children. Kali enters the palace as a servant, and for twelve long years keeps watch for any little imperfection by which he can strike against Nala. One day, Nala, in a rush to make his prayer defiles himself by not washing his feet, thereby allowing Kali
Kali (Demon)
In Hinduism, Kali is the reigning lord of Kali Yuga and archenemy of Kalki, the 10th and final Avatar of the Hindu god Vishnu...
to bewitch his soul. In games of dice with his brother Pushkara
Pushkara
In Hindu mythology Pushkara was the brother of Nala to whom Nala lost his kingdom and all that he possessed in gambling. Kali got very angry when Damayanti chose Nala in the swayamvar. Kali possessed Nala and was defeated by his brother Pushkara....
, he loses his kingdom, forcing Nala and Damayanti to live in poverty in the forest. Birds fly away with the only garment Nala possessed. After all these misadventure, Nala starts worrying for Damayanti and, obscured by Kali, resolves to abandon her in order to protect her from his bad luck. Damayanti finds herself alone in the forest and invokes a curse on those who have caused the downfall of her husband. Nala, meanwhile, rescues the Snake King Nāga
Naga
Naga or NAGA may refer to:* Nāga, a group of serpent deities in Hindu and Buddhist mythology.-People:* Nayan / Nayar/Nair people of Kerala Society* Naga people, a diverse ethnic identity in Northeast India...
Karkotaka
Karkotaka
Karkotaka was a naga king, who bit Nala at the request of Indra, transforming Nala into a twisted and ugly shape. Karkotaka had deceived Narada who cursed him due to which he could not move a step...
from a fire. As a result, Nāga
Naga
Naga or NAGA may refer to:* Nāga, a group of serpent deities in Hindu and Buddhist mythology.-People:* Nayan / Nayar/Nair people of Kerala Society* Naga people, a diverse ethnic identity in Northeast India...
Karkotaka
Karkotaka
Karkotaka was a naga king, who bit Nala at the request of Indra, transforming Nala into a twisted and ugly shape. Karkotaka had deceived Narada who cursed him due to which he could not move a step...
bites him in rewards. As Nala seeks an explanation, Nāga
Naga
Naga or NAGA may refer to:* Nāga, a group of serpent deities in Hindu and Buddhist mythology.-People:* Nayan / Nayar/Nair people of Kerala Society* Naga people, a diverse ethnic identity in Northeast India...
Karkotaka
Karkotaka
Karkotaka was a naga king, who bit Nala at the request of Indra, transforming Nala into a twisted and ugly shape. Karkotaka had deceived Narada who cursed him due to which he could not move a step...
says that the poison will only take effect when it is perfect. Nala survives the bite, but the venom turns him into an unrecognizable dwarf named Bahuka
Bahuka
Bahuka was the changed name of Nala, a character of Hindu mythology, while he was a charioteer of Rituparna, the king of Ayodhya. His story is told in the Mahabharata, published around the 8th century BC....
, who serves as a charioteer to the Ayodhya King Rituparna
Rituparna
Rituparna : was a king of Ayodhya, and son of Sarvakama, into whose service king Nala entered after he had lost his kingdom. Rituparna was a master mathematician and profoundly skilled in dice Kali...
.
Damayanti takes refuge in the palace of the Princess of Chedi, offering to serve her, only not as a servant; to which the Princess of Chedi replies that she can be her host. Damayanti is finally discovered and taken back to her father's house where she is reunited with her children. They search for Nala, but cannot find him. Damayanti starts thinking that the only way Nala will come back would be for fear that she would not be his wife anymore. Thus she requests a fake second swayamvara. She is still of such irresistible beauty that many kings attend. Nala's master also wants to go to the swayamvara, and Nala accompanies him. On their journey to the swayamvara, the king instructs the dwarf in the techniques of gambling. When King Rituparna reveals to him the supreme skill of controlling the dice, finally the poison take effect and Bahuka vomits Kali from his body and imprisons him temporarily in a tree. Damayanti is persuaded that the dwarf is Nala because of the flavor of a dish that he cooked for her. The pair are reunited and Nala is transformed from a dwarf into his familiar form. He uses the knowledge of gambling he has learned to regain everything he had lost.
She forgives him for having abandoned her in the forest, and he forgives her for having organised another swayamvara.
They live happily ever after.
Nalacharitham
Nalacharitham
- Nalacharitham Attakatha:The substance of the story of Nalan and Damayanthi is depicted in Mahabharatha in chapters 52 to 79 in Vanaparvam as told by Sage Brihadaswan to Dharmaputhra to exemplify the unfortunate turn of events that might take place in the lives of great men and how such things...
attakatha, written by Unnayivaryar, is played through Kathakali.The story is divided into four parts as to be played in four days.The veshas of this are
Nalan-pacha
Damayanthi-minukk
Sage Narada-Minukk