ततो निबद्धहृदयः पुनर् आगम्य तां सभाम् ॥
दमयन्तीं तथा दृष्ट्वा रुरोद निषधाधिपः ॥
यां न वायुर् न चादित्यः पुरा पश्यति मे प्रियाम् ॥
सेयम् अद्य सभामध्ये शेते भूमाव् अनाथवत् ॥
इयं वस्त्रावकर्तेन संवीता चारुहासिनी ॥
उन्मत्तेव वरारोहा कथं बुद्ध्वा भविष्यति ॥
कथम् एका सती भैमी मया विरहिता शुभा ॥
चरिष्यति वने घोरे मृगव्यालनिषेविते ॥
गत्वा गत्वा नलो राजा पुनर् एति सभां मुहुः ॥
आकृष्यमाणः कलिना सौहृदेनापकृष्यते ॥
द्विधेव हृदयं तस्य दुःखितस्याभवत् तदा ॥
दोलेव मुहुर् आयाति याति चैव सभां मुहुः ॥
सो ऽपकृष्टस् तु कलिना मोहितः प्राद्रवन् नलः ॥
सुप्ताम् उत्सृज्य तां भार्यां विलप्य करुणं बहु ॥
नष्टात्मा कलिना स्पृष्टस् तत् तद् विगणयन् नृपः ॥
जगामैव वने शून्ये भार्याम् उत्सृज्य दुःखितः ॥
tato nibaddhahṛdayaḥ punar āgamya tāṃ sabhām ||
damayantīṃ tathā dṛṣṭvā ruroda niṣadhādhipaḥ ||
yāṃ na vāyur na cādityaḥ purā paśyati me priyām ||
seyam adya sabhāmadhye śete bhūmāv anāthavat ||
iyaṃ vastrāvakartena saṃvītā cāruhāsinī ||
unmatteva varārohā kathaṃ buddhvā bhaviṣyati ||
katham ekā satī bhaimī mayā virahitā śubhā ||
cariṣyati vane ghore mṛgavyālaniṣevite ||
gatvā gatvā nalo rājā punar eti sabhāṃ muhuḥ ||
ākṛṣyamāṇaḥ kalinā sauhṛdenāpakṛṣyate ||
dvidheva hṛdayaṃ tasya duḥkhitasyābhavat tadā ||
doleva muhur āyāti yāti caiva sabhāṃ muhuḥ ||
so 'pakṛṣṭas tu kalinā mohitaḥ prādravan nalaḥ ||
suptām utsṛjya tāṃ bhāryāṃ vilapya karuṇaṃ bahu ||
naṣṭātmā kalinā spṛṣṭas tat tad vigaṇayan nṛpaḥ ||
jagāmaiva vane śūnye bhāryām utsṛjya duḥkhitaḥ ||
But his heart was still bound: the king of Nishadha came back once more into the hall, and seeing Damayanti thus, he wept. ‘She, my beloved, whom before this neither wind nor sun ever beheld, now lies in the middle of the hall upon the ground, as one without protector. How will this lovely woman, covered by the cut remnant of her garment, wake as though out of her mind? How will Bhaimi, faithful, gracious, and alone, deprived of me, wander through the dread forest haunted by beasts and serpents?’ Nala the king went away and came back again to the hall, over and over: drawn away by Kali, drawn back by affection. His grieving heart became as if split in two, swinging back and forth again and again like a pendulum, going to the hall and coming away from it. At last, overpowered and bewildered by Kali, Nala fled, abandoning his sleeping wife after much piteous lamenting. His self destroyed, touched by Kali, the king, still turning it all over in his mind, went off into the empty forest, leaving his wife behind in sorrow.
fdadef378c76 · published Jul 16, 2026, 4:54:09 PM UTC
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What makes this scene terrible is precisely the inner rupture: Nala has not stopped loving, but love no longer governs his action. When the mind is seized by Kali, the heart knows the truth, yet the feet walk away regardless.