Damayanti Speaks to the Ashoka Tree
After the ascetics disappear, Damayanti goes to another region and sees a flowering ashoka tree. She speaks to it, asking it to remove her sorrow and inquiring if it has seen Nala. She circles it thrice and then moves on, entering an even more terrible region. The tree does not respond, and her sorrow remains unrelieved.
She went to another region. Her voice choked with sobs. Her eyes filled with tears. Then she saw an ashoka tree — flowering, supreme among trees, weighed down with its branches and resounding with the notes of birds.
She went to it.
"Alas! In the midst of this forest, there is this beautiful tree. O beautiful ashoka! Free me from my sorrow. Is there any chance that you have seen the king, freed from sorrow and fear? He who is named Nala is Damayanti's beloved husband and the destroyer of enemies. Have you seen my beloved, the king of the Nishadhas? His body and skin are delicate and he is attired in only half a garment. Suffering through his vice, the brave one has resorted to the forest. O ashoka! Act accordingly, so that I can go away from you without any sorrow. O ashoka! Be truthful to your name. Be the one who removes sorrow and dispel my sorrow."
Thus did the distressed one speak to the ashoka tree. She circled it thrice.
Then Bhima's beautiful daughter entered a region that was even more terrible. She saw many trees and many streams there, many beautiful mountains and many kinds of animals and birds. Wandering in search of her husband, she saw many valleys, slopes and extraordinary rivers.
The tree had not answered. Her sorrow remained unrelieved. Aranyaka Parva, Chapter 358