Keshini

From her palace window, Damayanti sees a charioteer with short arms and a malformed body — and her heart grows calm. She sends her maid Keshini to question him, suspecting this is King Nala in disguise. Keshini learns he is Rituparna's charioteer and cook, and that Varshneya is with them, but the suspicion remains.

Keshini repeats the words of a grieving wife — about the gambler who abandoned her, the half-garment, the bird that stole it — and asks Bahuka to recount the tale. He speaks with a choked voice, suppressing his grief, but when he finishes, he weeps uncontrollably. Keshini reports everything to Damayanti.

Damayanti, now certain that Bahuka is Nala, weeps — but needs one final confirmation. She sends Keshini to steal meat from Bahuka's kitchen. When she tastes it, she recognizes the cooking of her husband from years before, and knows beyond doubt.

Keshini brings the twins to Bahuka. He recognizes them instantly — Indrasena and her brother. The king rushes to them, embraces them, places them on his lap, and weeps loudly, his grief and anguish pouring out. But then, abruptly, he sends Keshini away, fearing that her frequent visits may be misinterpreted.

Damayanti, hearing Brihadashva's account, suspects the charioteer Bahuka is her lost husband Nala. She sends her maid Keshini to secretly observe him — and Keshini returns with reports of impossible things: narrow passages widening before him, vessels filling with water at his glance, fire refusing to burn him, and flowers growing fresher in his hands.

Keshini reports Bahuka's strange agitations to Damayanti, who suspects he is Nala but is uncertain because of his changed appearance. She sends word to her mother, requesting a meeting with Bahuka — and with her parents' sanction, has him brought to her chambers.

With Skanda instated as general of the gods, Rudra departs for Bhadravata in a chariot yoked to a thousand lions, followed by a vast celestial procession — gods, yakshas, rishis, weapons, rivers, and the very branches of knowledge — establishing the new cosmic order.

A woman asks Virochana whether brahmanas or asuras are superior, sparking a confrontation. Virochana and the brahmana Sudhanva stake their lives on the answer and go to Prahlada for judgment — where the question of who is superior becomes a question of who will tell the truth.

Dhritarashtra asks for more counsel, unsatisfied with what he has already heard. Vidura responds with an ancient story about Virochana and Sudhanva — a tale of pride, truth, and the cost of falsehood — and then delivers a cascade of ethical warnings about the dangers of favoring Duryodhana over the Pandavas.