Vyasa

Aranyaka Parva›The Tale of Nala and Damayanti

Brihadashva Comforts Yudhishthira with Nala's Tale

Why "Pivotal"?

Causal ReachTop 58%
Character WeightTop 89%
State ChangeTop 90%
Narrative RecallTop 50%

~1 min read

Yudhishthira, still grieving after Bhima's outburst, asks the newly arrived sage Brihadashva if there has ever been a king more miserable than himself. The sage tells him there was — a king named Nala, who lost everything to deceit and lived in the forest with only his wife — and yet Yudhishthira still has his brothers and his brahmanas.

Brihadashva arrived while Yudhishthira was still speaking to Bhima. He was a follower of dharma, and when Dharmaraja saw him, he worshipped him with madhuparka — the ritual offering of honey and milk — as prescribed in the sacred texts. When the sage was rested and seated, Yudhishthira looked at him and spoke. His words were piteous. "O illustrious one! I have been robbed of my riches and my kingdom in gambling with dice. I was challenged by those who were skilled in deceit and skilled in playing with dice. I am not skilled in dice, and the deceitful ones had decided on a course of evil. My wife is more precious to me than my own life, and she was dragged into the sabha. Is there any king on earth who is as misfortunate as I am? Have you seen anyone else? Have you heard of anyone else? I think that there is no man who is more miserable than I am." Brihadashva answered him directly. "O great king! O Pandava! You have said you think that there is no man more unfortunate than you are. O unblemished one! O lord of the earth! On this, I can narrate an account, if you wish to hear it. This is the story of a king who was more miserable than you." Yudhishthira told him he wished to hear it. So Brihadashva began. "There was a king of the nishadhas by the name of Virasena. He had a son named Nala, learned in the ways of dharma and artha. We have heard that this king was deceitfully defeated by Pushkara and, though he did not deserve it, lived unhappily in the forest with his wife. When that king lived in the forest, he never had any horses, any chariots, any brothers, or any kin." He paused, then made the comparison explicit. "But you are surrounded by your brave brothers, who are the equals of the gods, and by the foremost among brahmanas, who are like Brahma himself. Therefore, do not sorrow." Yudhishthira said, "O best among eloquent ones! I wish to hear in detail the account of that great-souled Nala. Please tell it to me."

Aranyaka Parva, Chapter 346