NALA AND DAMAYANTI
There were many beautiful swans in the palace lake and he sent one of them to Damayanti with his message of love. Damayanti accepted the message. She liked what the swan said about the young prince. She replied positively to him through the swan.
Since Damayanti was anyway of marriageable age, her father the king had decided to arrange her swayamvara. Swayamvara was the type of marriage in which princesses selected their husbands in those days. The word swayam means ‘on one’s own’ and ‘vara’ means wed, so that the word swayamvara meant something akin to ‘marry as one chooses’. For a swayamvara, several princes and noblemen would be invited and the princess would put a garland on the person she chooses from among the assembled.
Several suitors came for Damayanti’s swayamvara. Nala had also come, but four clever demi-gods came in the guise of Nala to dupe Damayanti. When the bejeweled Damayanti came out to the venue with a garland in hand she saw five Nalas staring at her.
For a moment, Damayanti was confused. Then she scanned the five faces carefully to find out which the real Nala was.
She saw that of the five men who looked alike, only one man was blinking. The other four stared at her without blinking. Damayanti instantly understood that the blinking one was the real Nala. She garlanded him and her father the king celebrated the wedding of Damayanti and Nala in style.
They settled into a happy married life but their happiness was short lived. A problem creator spirit known as Kali, became jealous of them. He cast his evil net around Nala. As a result, Nala agreed to a game of dice with his brother. They played with high stakes and in the end Nala lost everything including his kingdom. He and Damayanti were driven out into the forest.
Nala requested Damayanti to return to her father, but she refused. So, at night, when she was sleeping, he ran away from her. He hoped that at least if she was alone she would go back to her father. He went forward on his own, hoping to find a solution for their problem.
After travelling for a while, Nala saw a snake trapped in fire. He rescued the creature, but when it became free, the snake bit Nala. And the snake bite made him shrunken and disfigured. However, in reality, the snake was only a friend. It told Nala that the disfigurement was only temporary and that it will be a help for him to live in the forest in disguise. The snake gave him a magic scarf with which he can regain his original form when the time came.
Nala moved ahead and reached the kingdom of a king called Rituparna. There he started working as a stable hand. Nala did such a fine job of grooming the king's horses that he soon became the king's charioteer.
Nala was also an excellent cook and the meals cooked by Nala also pleased the king immensely. So, very soon Nala became a favorite of the king. The king was an expert in the game of dice and as his confidence in Nala grew, he taught him all the skills necessary to win in a game of dice.
Meanwhile Damayanti had moved forward on her own. She still did not go to her father but went to another kingdom and served as a hand maiden to the princess. But after a while, her father, who was searching for her, found out where she was, and took her home. Now together Damayanti and her father started searching for Nala.
Damayanti knew that Nala would not reveal his identity on his own. So she told her father’s soldiers to search for a person who is an excellent cook and an expert in grooming horses. There was no one in the world to compare with Nala in these qualities and so Damayanti knew that that was the best way in which they could identify him.
The soldiers did find a man like that in the court of King Rituparna but he was a disfigured person who did not bear the least resemblance to Nala. When they came back and reported this to Damayanti she told them:
˜Ask the man one question and come back and give me his answer. Ask him,
˜Why does a man want to desert his wife in the middle of the forest?
The soldiers asked him the question and the man said: ‘Because he had lost his kingdom, and wanted his wife to escape to her father till such time that he could reclaim his kingdom and his wife.
When the soldiers came and reported the answer, Damayanti knew that it was Nala himself. Nala too understood that the time had come to reveal his identity. He used the magic scarf the snake had given him, and returned to his normal form. He returned to his kingdom, won it back, and ruled over it happily with Damayanti.
The love story of Nala and Damayanti has eternally fired popular imagination in the country that to this day a person who takes messages between lovers is referred to as hamsa, the Indian word for swan. Likewise, an excellent cook, especially a male, is referred to as Nala. The story has also inspired famous Indian paintings.
source : http://www.itsaperfectstory.com/blogs/myths-and-legends/nala-and-damayanti
*********************************************************************************
One day, a monk visited Nala's palace and told him the reason why he had to undergo the twelve-year exile. in their previous birth also Nala and Damayanti were king and queen and they had thrown an innocent monk in prison. Their exile was a punishment for their karma of a previous birth.
Eventually, Nala and Damayanti had a son Pushkara. After making him the king, they renounced the world in search of spiritual enlightment.
Read more at http://www.kidsgen.com/fables_and_fairytales/indian_mythology_stories/nala_and_damayanti.
*******************************************************************************
 |
| Visitor tells King Nala about princess Damayanti |
 |
| Swan reaches at Damayanti |
 |
| Swan gives message of Nala to Damayanti |
 |
| SWAYAMBARA |
 |
| Nala & Damayanti |
 |
| Nala & Damayanti in forest |
 |
| Nala departs Damayanti fast asleep |
 |
| Damayanti alone in forest |
| Long long ago, there lived a handsome young prince named Nala. One day, a visitor to his court told him about a beautiful princess called Damayanti. He liked whatever he heard of the maiden and decided to communicate his interest to her. |
There were many beautiful swans in the palace lake and he sent one of them to Damayanti with his message of love. Damayanti accepted the message. She liked what the swan said about the young prince. She replied positively to him through the swan.
Since Damayanti was anyway of marriageable age, her father the king had decided to arrange her swayamvara. Swayamvara was the type of marriage in which princesses selected their husbands in those days. The word swayam means ‘on one’s own’ and ‘vara’ means wed, so that the word swayamvara meant something akin to ‘marry as one chooses’. For a swayamvara, several princes and noblemen would be invited and the princess would put a garland on the person she chooses from among the assembled.
Several suitors came for Damayanti’s swayamvara. Nala had also come, but four clever demi-gods came in the guise of Nala to dupe Damayanti. When the bejeweled Damayanti came out to the venue with a garland in hand she saw five Nalas staring at her.
For a moment, Damayanti was confused. Then she scanned the five faces carefully to find out which the real Nala was.
She saw that of the five men who looked alike, only one man was blinking. The other four stared at her without blinking. Damayanti instantly understood that the blinking one was the real Nala. She garlanded him and her father the king celebrated the wedding of Damayanti and Nala in style.
They settled into a happy married life but their happiness was short lived. A problem creator spirit known as Kali, became jealous of them. He cast his evil net around Nala. As a result, Nala agreed to a game of dice with his brother. They played with high stakes and in the end Nala lost everything including his kingdom. He and Damayanti were driven out into the forest.
Nala requested Damayanti to return to her father, but she refused. So, at night, when she was sleeping, he ran away from her. He hoped that at least if she was alone she would go back to her father. He went forward on his own, hoping to find a solution for their problem.
After travelling for a while, Nala saw a snake trapped in fire. He rescued the creature, but when it became free, the snake bit Nala. And the snake bite made him shrunken and disfigured. However, in reality, the snake was only a friend. It told Nala that the disfigurement was only temporary and that it will be a help for him to live in the forest in disguise. The snake gave him a magic scarf with which he can regain his original form when the time came.
Nala moved ahead and reached the kingdom of a king called Rituparna. There he started working as a stable hand. Nala did such a fine job of grooming the king's horses that he soon became the king's charioteer.
Nala was also an excellent cook and the meals cooked by Nala also pleased the king immensely. So, very soon Nala became a favorite of the king. The king was an expert in the game of dice and as his confidence in Nala grew, he taught him all the skills necessary to win in a game of dice.
Meanwhile Damayanti had moved forward on her own. She still did not go to her father but went to another kingdom and served as a hand maiden to the princess. But after a while, her father, who was searching for her, found out where she was, and took her home. Now together Damayanti and her father started searching for Nala.
Damayanti knew that Nala would not reveal his identity on his own. So she told her father’s soldiers to search for a person who is an excellent cook and an expert in grooming horses. There was no one in the world to compare with Nala in these qualities and so Damayanti knew that that was the best way in which they could identify him.
The soldiers did find a man like that in the court of King Rituparna but he was a disfigured person who did not bear the least resemblance to Nala. When they came back and reported this to Damayanti she told them:
˜Ask the man one question and come back and give me his answer. Ask him,
˜Why does a man want to desert his wife in the middle of the forest?
The soldiers asked him the question and the man said: ‘Because he had lost his kingdom, and wanted his wife to escape to her father till such time that he could reclaim his kingdom and his wife.
When the soldiers came and reported the answer, Damayanti knew that it was Nala himself. Nala too understood that the time had come to reveal his identity. He used the magic scarf the snake had given him, and returned to his normal form. He returned to his kingdom, won it back, and ruled over it happily with Damayanti.
The love story of Nala and Damayanti has eternally fired popular imagination in the country that to this day a person who takes messages between lovers is referred to as hamsa, the Indian word for swan. Likewise, an excellent cook, especially a male, is referred to as Nala. The story has also inspired famous Indian paintings.
source : http://www.itsaperfectstory.com/blogs/myths-and-legends/nala-and-damayanti
*********************************************************************************
One day, a monk visited Nala's palace and told him the reason why he had to undergo the twelve-year exile. in their previous birth also Nala and Damayanti were king and queen and they had thrown an innocent monk in prison. Their exile was a punishment for their karma of a previous birth.
Eventually, Nala and Damayanti had a son Pushkara. After making him the king, they renounced the world in search of spiritual enlightment.
Read more at http://www.kidsgen.com/fables_and_fairytales/indian_mythology_stories/nala_and_damayanti.
*******************************************************************************
No comments:
Post a Comment