The light of dawn turned the skies grey as the king left his Damayanti behind, his senses bereft of reason. Kali laughed at him, his vile spirit rejoicing that Nala would no longer enjoy the love of his queen. In the tree above, the koel buried its face in its chest, unable to sing as it listened to the plaintive mourning of the heartbroken king.
5
In the Heart of the Fire
Damayanti stirred from her sleep, stretched drowsily and sought her husband’s warmth, forgetting for a moment that they were no longer lying on a satin bed under a silken canopy. Not finding him, she sat up languidly and opened her eyes. She recoiled in horror as she saw the looming shadows of the forest and heard the cries of wild birds and beasts. She had forgotten the harsh reality of their exile during the long night, but now their plight hit her with greater force. Where was her husband? She called out to him, softly at first and then louder, her voice rising in panic. When he did not answer, she stumbled to her feet and crashed through the bushes looking for him.
‘Where are you, Nala? Are you perhaps playing a foolish jest? Or have you gone looking for wild berries to soothe our hunger? Answer me now, my king, before I lose my reason! My body shudders, fearing that you have abandoned me, forgetting the vows you took to protect me. Come before me, my love. Tell me that you have not deserted your faithful wife who knows nothing but her love for you. Answer me, Nala! Answer!’
Then she ran, falling, then rising again, seeing Nala in every shadow and in every stirring of the leaves. Her body was soon bleeding, torn by the harsh brambles, but no trace could she find of her beloved king. ‘I curse you, evil spirit, who has taken over my husband’s heart,’ she ranted, ‘for nothing else could have persuaded him to forsake me!’
Panicked, anguished, blinded by tears, Damayanti roamed through the dense jungle, finally stepping unawares on a python lying across her path. She felt her leg caught in a bind and assumed that it was a creeper, until the snake wrapped its coils around her, tighter and tighter. Soon, she could not move, she could not breathe. The serpent opened its jaws wide before her terrified face. She screamed then, an anguished wail that sent the birds screeching into the skies. Her cry of horror startled a hunter nearby and brought him running towards her, his arrow already flying through the air to pierce the snake’s head. He ran closer and used his axe to slash off the snake’s head. Then he began to tear away at the coils that caged her still.
Damayanti had fainted in his arms and the hunter carried her away from the carcass of the python and laid her down gently on the ground. His eyes roamed unhindered over her fair face and her curved limbs. He bent over her and began to tear away her clothes so that he could indulge his lust. She woke with a start, feeling his rough hands on her body, horrified to see the beast that now sought to devour her. She tore herself free and backed away, calling out a warning to him. But, inflamed by desire, the hunter rushed towards her, intent on making her his prey.
‘I saved you and you owe me your life and your body, fair one!’ he leered.
‘Keep your distance, beast, or brave Nala will tear you to pieces!’ she shouted as she ran from him.
‘Where is he? There is none here to come to your aid!’ he replied, advancing still. She was a gentle maiden alone in the fierce jungle. Who would she turn to for help? ‘Come to me, my beauty,’ he said, eyes burning with desire.
Nala floundered through the forest, sheltering behind thick trees whenever he spotted trumpeting elephants or stampeding herds of bison. His mind went back again and again to the dice game, when he had fallen prey to his brother’s plot to destroy him. He was struck with fierce remorse that he had left his gentle wife alone in these dangerous woods. How could he be certain that she would find her way to her father’s kingdom? Perhaps she had already fallen victim to a lion or a tiger. How could he have done what he did? What darkness had seized his soul that he committed one sin after another? There was nothing left for him in the world of men that had so cruelly separated him from his beloved. He would renounce its temptations and torments and spend his remaining days in the arms of nature. He would survive on nuts and berries, sleep on smooth, sun-baked rocks, listen to the birds sing and drink the clear waters of jungle brooks. He would accept life as it unfolded, free from the lure of ambition and desire.
Even as he reached this momentary state of clarity, the world shocked him rudely out of his reverie. Nala saw panic-stricken deer and bears running helter-skelter and heard chattering monkeys and parrots overhead as they fled from the fury of a forest fire. Thick trunks blazed like torches and black smoke eddied towards him, making him choke and gasp. His instinct for survival prompted him to flee from the advancing flames. But his newfound spirit of renunciation advised him to stay where he was and allow the fire to consume him. Was it not better to suffer a few moments of pain than to endure the anguish of a life without Damayanti?
He closed his eyes and girded himself to stay where he was.
The hunter now stood just a few feet from Damayanti, gloating as his eyes took in his luscious prey. She raised a hand before her and uttered a final warning. ‘Indra’s boon protects me,’ she said. ‘Take one more step forward and you will be struck dead!’ But her stalker laughed and rushed forward.
Immediately, a flash of lightning stabbed fiercely down at him from a clear sky. He crumpled in mid-stride, his body reduced to a smoking ruin.
‘Thank you, great Indra!’ she sobbed as she ran away from the spot, through the forest filled with wild animals. Her ordeal was far from over. Wild buffalos came charging at her, trampling everything in their way, forcing her to run and hide. Creepers hanging from trees revealed themselves to be hissing serpents that sent her screaming and tumbling over tree roots. She came upon a band of brigands plotting an attack on a passing caravan and fled deeper into the shrubs, fearful of attracting their attention. When she was ready to collapse, she finally emerged from the oppressive forest and threw herself down on a rock near a lagoon. She looked longingly at the azure waters, desperate to soak her tired limbs in their coolness. Then she noticed the bubbles rising to the surface, followed by the snouts of lurking crocodiles, waiting to attack the deer that had come to the water’s edge.
Everywhere she looked there was only danger and death.
She heard a chilling snarl and turned her head to see a tiger crouching low, staring at her with golden eyes. Desperate and careworn, Damayanti called out in despair. ‘O Nala, tiger among men! Can you not see me cowering before this dreadful creature? Do you not recall your vow to protect me with the strength of your arms? If you will not honour your vows, what hope remains for me to live any longer on this earth? Watch if you will and see your queen torn to pieces by this tawny beast. And remember that she never stopped loving you even for a moment.’ She joined her hands in prayer and closed her eyes, waiting for the tiger to end her life with one fierce blow.
A tense moment passed and then another. She waited still, bracing her mind for death. When she opened her eyes, however, the tiger had turned away and was gliding to the lagoon to stalk the tender deer. Was fate playing games with her? Damayanti lifted her eyes to the lofty mountain range that raised its hundred peaks to the sky, and pleaded with the mountain god to tell her if he had seen her Nala. But the hills were silent, the mist on their summits dissolving as the sun rose higher, scorching her with intense heat. So passed an endless day of misery and when night fell she huddled against a tree trunk, listening to the strange cries of the creatures of the night. Another day passed in torment and another, until she came upon an ashram from which rose the smoke of sacred fires.
The sages saw the frail form of the woman, her beauty radiant still in her careworn face, and asked her if she were a jungle spirit or a mountain goddess. ‘I am just an unfortunate woman whose husband deserted her in the forest!’ she said, telling them her sad story and stirring even their ascetic hearts to pity. ‘Will I meet my Nala again? Will we come through our trials to be united once more?’ she asked.
‘You proved at your swayamvara that love is mightier than Indra’s lightning or Agni’s fire, purer than Varuna’s waters or Yama’s dharma,’ they said. ‘Now you must fight a fiercer battle, to free your husband’s soul from the vices that caused his downfall. If you win this battle, your love will be invincible, my child!’ She stood with bowed head listening to them, but when she looked up again, they had vanished without a trace. Was all this just a cruel trick played by her deranged mind?
‘Alone again!’ she lamented, sinking to her knees under a soaring Ashoka tree. ‘Majestic Ashoka, whose very name signifies one who destroys grief . . . Free me from pain and unite me once more with my Nala!’
Alas, the tree made no answer and all she could hear was the wind rustling among the leaves. She rose again to search for her king and came upon a group of merchants resting with their horses and elephants by the side of a river. She rushed into their midst, seeking news of Nala, only to see them shrinking in horror on seeing her crazy manner and her dishevelled form. Their leader took pity on her and told her that he had seen no stranger resembling Nala on their path. He had his women bring her some food and also allowed her to rest at the edge of their camp.
Damayanti sank into a deep sleep, glad to be in human company and hoping that the morrow would bring better tidings. But it seemed that destiny had another plan in mind. She woke up startled, hearing terrified voices and the mad whinnying of horses. She saw wild elephants attacking their camp, trampling over the men and upending the fires they had built to keep themselves warm during the night. Fanned by a brisk wind, the flames spread across their tents, feeding on the piles of goods, giving them little time to escape. Damayanti ran from the fire until she reached a curving brook that held the flames at bay. When morning dawned, she saw that only a few men had survived, and they were picking desperately through the smouldering embers to salvage at least a part of their belongings. She heard them wailing loudly and cursing the woman who they thought had brought down this blight upon their heads.
‘We must find her and stone her to death!’ they shouted, their eyes burning with hatred. She ran away again, far from these vengeful men, fearing that they would throw her into the fires that still burned. What more did fate have in store for her?
Steeling himself against certain death, Nala stood before the advancing flames. Then he heard a desperate voice calling to him, addressing him by name. Who could it be—a spirit or a man dwelling in this wilderness who knew that he was near? The voice wailed louder. ‘Nala, come to me. Come save me!’ it called out.
He had to answer the desperate plea. Even if he were to die, it would be better if he did so while helping another. Nala ran towards the fire and felt its hot breath on his face. The voice appeared to be coming from the very heart of the roaring flames. He plunged in, not pausing to think, feeling the heat burn away the piece of cloth he wore around his waist. But wonder of wonders! His body was not burned but glowed like burnished gold, protected by a many-coloured cloak that fluttered around him and kept the fire away. He remembered then that Agni had blessed him with his protection when he had won Damayanti’s hand, and dived further into the flames. He saw a mighty Naga writhing in pain on a rock as the flames surrounded him. His body was human till his waist, his face was that of a wise old man, and above it rose a snake’s hood. The giant serpent reduced himself to the size of a thumb and begged Nala to carry him out to safety. ‘I will reward you richly, O king! Have pity on me and save me,’ he cried.
A final leap, a scattering of sparks and the snake was in his hand. Nala raced through the fire and carried him out of harm’s way. But when he tried to place him on the ground, the Naga begged him to walk ten steps further, counting out the steps aloud. Nala did so, but when he said ‘Dasha’ or ten, which also means ‘Bite!’ the snake bit him, making him scream and drop him to the ground. To Nala’s shock, his own body grew bent and misshapen and his skin became dark and mottled. He saw too that he was now clothed in the coarse garb of a servant. What was happening to him? Why was he being punished for performing a good deed?
Terrified and weeping, Damayanti scrambled away from the angry merchants who blamed her for their calamity, and travelled further on the forest path that finally took her to the capital city of the Chedis.
Looking at her bedraggled form and her haunted gaze, the street urchins teased her and threw stones at her. When she staggered past the palace, ready to drop, the queen mother spotted her from the terrace and glimpsed the nobility that lay hidden beneath her wretched appearance. She had her maids bring her in, give her food and clean clothes. Damayanti told the queen mother that she was merely a serving woman who had been separated from her husband. Listening to her genteel words and captivated by her charming face, the queen employed her as her daughter’s companion. It appeared that Nala’s queen had finally found relief from her travails. But could she be happy when she still had no news of her husband?
After biting Nala, the snake reverted to its giant form and spoke to him, explaining that he was Karkotaka, ruler of the Nagas, cursed by Sage Narada to stay rooted in one spot until rescued by the valiant king. ‘The poison that has transformed your body will gradually over time drive out the evil Kali who possesses your soul, Nala,’ he said. ‘Further, your changed appearance will protect you from the men sent by your brother to kill you. They will not recognize Nala in the hunchbacked, squint-eyed Bahuka who will find work in Ayodhya as King Rituparna’s charioteer. Bide your time and use your wits to win back what you have lost, Nala. I must go now, but I will leave you with something priceless that you must guard with your life.’ Karkotaka handed him a gift and vanished from the spot.
Nala went his way, pondering over the fantastic turn of events. Perhaps the worst was now over. After a few more days of travel he found himself at the gates of Ayodhya where he was fortunate to capture the king’s attention by calming the frenzied horses that had overturned the royal chariot. He advised the king’s charioteer on how he could charm the steeds with ease. ‘Feed them well. Control them with affection, not the whip,’ he said. ‘The secret to winning them over is love and nothing more!’
The grateful king placed him in charge of his stables and later made him his cook as well, for Nala’s skill with food was without equal, thanks to Yama’s boon.
Hearing that his precious daughter had been exiled to the forest along with Nala, King Bhima sent out men to roam far and wide looking for the two. One of his emissaries, Sudeva, spotted Damayanti among the royal maids in Chedi and verified her identity by the mole on her forehead that was shaped like a lotus bud. Damayanti knew Sudeva well and agreed to his entreaties to come back with him to Vidarbha to be reunited with her parents and her children. When she went with Sudeva to reveal the truth to the king of Chedi, he graciously allowed her to leave, happy that she would be returning to her life as a princess. This was what Nala had wanted—to see Damayanti safe in the bosom of her family. But where was the king himself? Was he alive or dead?
Damayanti was sleepless, unable to enjoy a life of luxury when she knew he was suffering somewhere in hunger and fear. She had to do something to rescue her Nala, for her heart told her that he was alive still. Oh, why was fate so cruel? And why had her husband not come to Vidarbha to look for her? He had professed ceaseless love, enduring loyalty. Had it all been just a sham? Had he taken another wife, perhaps, and forgotten the princess who had chosen him over the gods in heaven?
6
The Riddle of Love
Damayanti did not know what to think or what more to do. But then she had a visitor—one whom she trusted more than anyone else, for he had been loyal to her, never abandoning her, unlike Nala. In fact, it was she who had gone to the forest, leaving him clueless as to where she could be. But here he had come to Vidarbha again, looking for her. She gathered Gagana into her arms and rained kisses on his soft head. She stroked his feathers with a loving hand and offered him his favourite foods and drinks.
‘You must be
careful that I do not fall in love with you, for my wife will not like that!’ he joked, his eyes gleaming softly with delight on being reunited with her. In her moment of dark despair, her winged visitor brought new hope to the woeful Damayanti. Gagana had visited Nala’s palace after a long stay in Manasarovar, only to hear the dire news of their exile into the forest. Finding no trace of him or Damayanti in Nishada, the golden swan had flown to Vidarbha to look for her.
She shed a flood of tears as she told her old friend all that had transpired since the fateful dice game had torn her life apart. The hamsa, stricken with sorrow, was reduced to a pale shadow of his usual merry self. He comforted Damayanti, and together they considered and discarded various plans to find the missing Nala.
‘What if he does not want me anymore?’ she wept. ‘That would be a greater blow to me than even death!’
‘How can that be? Do you think your love is so feeble that it can be blown apart by just a strong gust of wind?’ asked Gagana. ‘Perhaps Nala stays away from you because he blames himself for his gambling that reduced you to such straits. He must be weeping just as bitterly to be separated from his queen as you weep for him. Do not give up hope, Damayanti, but bend your mind towards bringing him back to you.’
The two spent many hours together until they came up with an ingenious plan. But first, Damayanti had to convince her father not to give up on Nala who he strongly believed had died in the forest fire. She spoke to him movingly, and finally Bhima agreed to send out his men to search one last time for his missing son-in-law. Before these agents left, however, Damayanti spoke to them and gave them several specific directions.
Prem Purana Page 23