Damayanti Received by the Queen Mother of Chedi

After travelling for a long time, Damayanti arrived in the evening at a great city. It belonged to Subahu, the truthful king of Chedi. She entered the city clad only in half a garment. She was pale, thin, miserable. Her hair was loose and unwashed. She walked like one who was demented. The citizens saw her enter the capital in this state. In their curiosity, vulgar boys followed her. Surrounded by them, she approached the royal residence. The king’s mother saw her from the palace. She saw the crowd pressing around this woman and she restrained them. In her amazement, she made Damayanti ascend into the palace and asked her: “You have clearly been overtaken by misfortune. Yet how is your form so beautiful? You blaze like lightning in the clouds. Tell me. Who are you and whom do you belong to? Even though you are shorn of ornaments, your form cannot be human. Your radiance is like that of an immortal or a brahmana. Though helpless, you have not been scared of these men.” Damayanti replied. “Know me to be a woman who follows the same vows as her husband. Know me to be a sairandhri (a maidservant of noble birth). I live wherever I wish. I live alone on fruits and roots and find a bed wherever evening falls. My husband has innumerable qualities and has always been devoted to me. I have always followed my valiant husband, like a shadow. It was through ill fortune that he was extremely addicted to gambling. He was defeated in a game of dice and left alone for the forest. The brave one was clad in a single garment and was maddened with grief. So as to comfort him, I followed him into the forest. One day, in that forest, the brave one was overcome by hunger and thirst and had to go elsewhere. He was careless and lost even the single garment that he possessed. He was naked and maddened and lost whatever senses he possessed. I followed him, clad in my garment. But I could not sleep for many nights. Then, after a long time, I fell asleep and he abandoned me, though I had done no harm. He sliced my garment into two. I have been searching for my husband, tormented by grief, day and night. But I have not been able to find my beloved, who is the lord of my life and riches and like an immortal to me.” Her eyes filled with tears. She lamented in many ways. The king’s mother suffered with her. Then she said: “O fortunate one! Stay with me, I am pleased with you. O blessed one! My men will hunt out your husband. Or perhaps, while he is roaming around here and there, he may arrive here on his own. O blessed one! Live here and you will get your husband back.” Damayanti answered: “O mother of brave ones! I can live with you, but I will not eat leftover food. Nor will I wash the feet of others. I will never speak to other men. If any man solicits me, he must be punished. But in the course of searching for my husband, I will see brahmanas. If this can be done, I will certainly stay with you. But if it is otherwise, my heart will never allow me to stay.” The king’s mother told her with a happy mind: “I will do all this. A vow like this should be praised.” She called her daughter Sunanda. “O Sunanda! Though she will be a sairandhri, know her to be like a goddess. Always enjoy yourself with her, without any anxiety in your mind.”