Nala Enters Rituparna's Service as Bahuka

Verse 1 (3.64.1)

तस्मिन्नन्तर्हिते नागे प्रययौ नैषधो नलः । ऋतुपर्णस्य नगरं प्राविशद्दशमेऽहनि ॥

tasminnantarhite nāge prayayau naiṣadho nalaḥ | ṛtuparṇasya nagaraṃ prāviśaddaśame'hani

When the serpent had vanished, Nala of Nishadha set out, and on the tenth day he entered Rituparna's city.

Verse 2 (3.64.2)

स राजानमुपातिष्ठद्बाहुकोऽहमिति ब्रुवन् । अश्वानां वाहने युक्तः पृथिव्यां नास्ति मत्समः ॥

sa rājānamupātiṣṭhadbāhuko'hamiti bruvan | aśvānāṃ vāhane yuktaḥ pṛthivyāṃ nāsti matsamaḥ

He presented himself to the king, saying: "I am Bahuka. In driving horses there is no one on earth to equal me."

Verse 3 (3.64.3)

अर्थकृच्छ्रेषु चैवाहं प्रष्टव्यो नैपुणेषु च । अन्नसंस्कारमपि च जानाम्यन्यैर्विशेषतः ॥

arthakṛcchreṣu caivāhaṃ praṣṭavyo naipuṇeṣu ca | annasaṃskāramapi ca jānāmyanyairviśeṣataḥ

"I am also one to consult in difficult affairs and in matters calling for skill, and I know the art of preparing food better than others."

Note on the text: Speaker set to Nala (as Bahuka): verses 3–4 continue his words to the king (no printed heading).

Verse 4 (3.64.4)

यानि शिल्पानि लोकेऽस्मिन्यच्चैवान्यत्सुदुष्करम् । सर्वं यतिष्ये तत्कर्तुमृतुपर्ण भरस्व माम् ॥

yāni śilpāni loke'sminyaccaivānyatsuduṣkaram | sarvaṃ yatiṣye tatkartumṛtuparṇa bharasva mām

"Whatever crafts there are in this world, and whatever else is very hard to do, I will strive to do it all. Rituparna, take me into your service."

Verse 5 (3.64.5)

इत्युक्तः स नलेनाथ ऋतुपर्णो नराधिपः । उवाच सुप्रीतमनास्तं प्रेक्ष्य च महीपते ॥

ityuktaḥ sa nalenātha ṛtuparṇo narādhipaḥ | uvāca suprītamanāstaṃ prekṣya ca mahīpate

Addressed thus by Nala, King Rituparna, well pleased at heart, looked at him and said, O lord of the earth:

Note on the text: Removed stray wiki marks (` and ') that Wikisource uses to set off this verse. Not in the critical edition (found in the vulgate recension); the critical edition records it in its apparatus as 3.64.4d*0302.

Verse 6 (3.64.6)

वसबाहुक भद्रं ते सर्वमेतत्करिष्यसि । शीघ्रयाने सदा बुद्धिर्ध्रियते मे विशेषतः ॥

vasabāhuka bhadraṃ te sarvametatkariṣyasi | śīghrayāne sadā buddhirdhriyate me viśeṣataḥ

"Stay, Bahuka, and good fortune be with you; you shall do all of this. My mind has always been set above all on swift driving."

Note on the text: Speaker set to Rituparna: verses 6–8 are his reply (no printed heading in Wikisource; the critical edition prints ṛtuparṇa uvāca here).

Verse 7 (3.64.7)

स त्वमातिष्ठ योगं तं येन शीघ्रा हया मम । भवेयुरश्वाध्यक्षोऽसि वेतनं ते शतंशतम् ॥

sa tvamātiṣṭha yogaṃ taṃ yena śīghrā hayā mama | bhaveyuraśvādhyakṣo'si vetanaṃ te śataṃśatam

"Put to work whatever method will make my horses swift. You are master of my horses; your wage is a hundred hundred."

Note on the text: Corrected शीध्रां → शीघ्रा (misprint in Wikisource; ध्र for घ्र and a stray anusvara; the critical edition reads śīghrā) and अश्वाध्यक्षोसि → अश्वाध्यक्षोऽसि (missing avagraha).

Verse 8 (3.64.8)

त्वामुपस्थास्यतश्चैव नित्यं वार्ष्णेयजीवलौ । एताभ्यां रंस्यसे सार्धं वस वै मयि बाहुक ॥

tvāmupasthāsyataścaiva nityaṃ vārṣṇeyajīvalau | etābhyāṃ raṃsyase sārdhaṃ vasa vai mayi bāhuka

"Varshneya and Jivala will always wait on you; you will enjoy their company. Live here with me, Bahuka."

Verse 9 (3.64.9)

एवमुक्तो नलस्तेन न्यवसत्तत्रपूजितः । ऋतुपर्णस्य नगरे सहवार्ष्णेयजीवलः ॥

evamukto nalastena nyavasattatrapūjitaḥ | ṛtuparṇasya nagare sahavārṣṇeyajīvalaḥ

Addressed thus by him, Nala lived there, honoured, in Rituparna's city, together with Varshneya and Jivala.

Verse 10 (3.64.10)

स वै तत्रावसद्राजा वैदर्भीमनुचिन्तयन् । सायंसायं सदा चेमं श्लोकमेकं जगाद ह ॥

sa vai tatrāvasadrājā vaidarbhīmanucintayan | sāyaṃsāyaṃ sadā cemaṃ ślokamekaṃ jagāda ha

The king lived there with his thoughts ever on the princess of Vidarbha, and every evening he would recite this one verse:

Verse 11 (3.64.11)

क्व नु सा क्षुत्पिपासार्ता श्रान्ता शेते तपस्विनी । स्मरन्ती तस्य मन्दस्य कं वाऽऽसाद्योपतिष्ठति ॥

kva nu sā kṣutpipāsārtā śrāntā śete tapasvinī | smarantī tasya mandasya kaṃ vā''sādyopatiṣṭhati

"Where does she lie now, that poor ascetic woman, worn with hunger and thirst and weary, remembering that fool? And whom has she gone to serve?"

Note on the text: Speaker set to Nala: this is the verse he recites (no printed heading).

Verse 12 (3.64.12)

एवं ब्रुवन्तं राजानं निशायां जीवलोऽब्रवीत् । कामेनां शोचसे नित्यं श्रोतुमिच्छामि बाहुक । आयुष्मन्कस्य वा नारी यामेवमनुशोचसि ॥

evaṃ bruvantaṃ rājānaṃ niśāyāṃ jīvalo'bravīt | kāmenāṃ śocase nityaṃ śrotumicchāmi bāhuka | āyuṣmankasya vā nārī yāmevamanuśocasi

One night, as the king was saying this, Jivala said: "Who is this woman you grieve for all the time? I would like to hear, Bahuka. Whose wife is she, long-lived one, that you mourn her so?"

Note on the text: The first two lines are CE 3.64.11; the third line is not in the critical edition's text (its apparatus has it as 3.64.11d*0303).

Verse 13 (3.64.13)

तमुवाच नलो राजा मन्दप्रज्ञस्य कस्यचित् । आसीद्बहुमता नारी तस्या दृढतरश्च सः ॥

tamuvāca nalo rājā mandaprajñasya kasyacit | āsīdbahumatā nārī tasyā dṛḍhataraśca saḥ

King Nala answered him: "A certain man of little sense had a wife he greatly cherished, and he was even more firmly bound to her."

Verse 14 (3.64.14)

स वै केनचिदर्थेन तया मन्दो व्ययुज्यत । विप्रयुक्तः स मन्दात्मा भ्रमत्यसुखपीडितः ॥

sa vai kenacidarthena tayā mando vyayujyata | viprayuktaḥ sa mandātmā bhramatyasukhapīḍitaḥ

"For some reason that fool was parted from her; separated from her, the foolish man wanders, tormented by misery."

Note on the text: Speaker set to Nala: verses 14–19 continue his answer (no printed heading).

Verse 15 (3.64.15)

दह्यमानः स शोकेन दिवारात्रमतन्द्रितः । निशाकाले स्मरंस्तस्याः श्लोकमेकं स्म गायति ॥

dahyamānaḥ sa śokena divārātramatandritaḥ | niśākāle smaraṃstasyāḥ ślokamekaṃ sma gāyati

"Burning with grief, sleepless day and night, at nightfall he remembers her and sings a single verse."

Verse 16 (3.64.16)

स विभ्रमन्महीं सर्वां क्वचिदासाद्य किंचन । वसत्यनर्हस्तद्दुःखं भूय एवानुसंस्मरन् ॥

sa vibhramanmahīṃ sarvāṃ kvacidāsādya kiṃcana | vasatyanarhastadduḥkhaṃ bhūya evānusaṃsmaran

"Wandering over the whole earth, he has come upon some place and lives there, undeserving of such a fate, recalling that sorrow over and over."

Verse 17 (3.64.17)

सा तु तं पुरुषं नारी कृच्छ्रेऽप्यनुगता वने । त्यक्ता तेनाल्पभाग्येन दुष्करं यदि जीवति ॥

sā tu taṃ puruṣaṃ nārī kṛcchre'pyanugatā vane | tyaktā tenālpabhāgyena duṣkaraṃ yadi jīvati

"And that woman, who followed the man into the forest even in hardship, was abandoned by that luckless one — it would be hard indeed if she is still alive."

Note on the text: Corrected कृच्छे → कृच्छ्रे (misprint in Wikisource; dropped र in the conjunct; the critical edition reads kṛcchre).

Verse 18 (3.64.18)

एका बालाऽनभिज्ञा च मार्गमाणाऽतथोचिता । क्षुत्पिपासापरीताङ्गी दुष्करं यदि जीवति ॥

ekā bālā'nabhijñā ca mārgamāṇā'tathocitā | kṣutpipāsāparītāṅgī duṣkaraṃ yadi jīvati

"Alone, young, inexperienced, unused to such a life, searching for him, her body worn by hunger and thirst — it would be hard indeed if she is still alive,"

Verse 19 (3.64.19)

श्वापदाचरिते नित्यं वने महति दारुणे । त्यक्ता तेनाल्पभाग्येन मन्दप्रज्ञेन मारिष ॥

śvāpadācarite nityaṃ vane mahati dāruṇe | tyaktā tenālpabhāgyena mandaprajñena māriṣa

"in the great and dreadful forest always prowled by beasts of prey, abandoned by that luckless and foolish man, good sir."

Verse 20 (3.64.20)

इत्येवं नैषधो राजा दमयन्तीमनुस्मरन् । अज्ञातवासं न्यवसद्राज्ञस्तस्य निवेशने ॥

ityevaṃ naiṣadho rājā damayantīmanusmaran | ajñātavāsaṃ nyavasadrājñastasya niveśane

So King Nala of Nishadha, remembering Damayanti, lived unrecognised in that king's palace.

Note on the text: Corrected नवेशने → निवेशने (misprint in Wikisource; dropped vowel sign ि; the critical edition reads niveśane).