Parnada Reports Bahuka's Cryptic Words to Damayanti
Parnada returns from Ayodhya with nothing from King Rituparna — but a deformed charioteer named Bahuka spoke to him in private, words that made no sense to the brahmana but strike Damayanti like a message from the dead.
Brihadashva said: After a long time, the brahmana Parnada returned to the city of Vidarbha and went straight to Damayanti. He told her everything.
"I searched for Nishadha day and night," he said, "and went to the city of Ayodhya. I presented myself before Bhangasvari. O beautiful one! In a public place, I repeated those words before the immensely fortunate Rituparna, exactly as you had asked me to. On hearing those words, Rituparna, lord of men, did not reply. Nor did any of his courtiers respond, though those words were repeated by me several times. Then the king gave me permission to leave."
Damayanti listened. Her message — the one she had crafted to reach Nala, whoever he might be — had been ignored by the king and his entire court.
But Parnada was not finished.
"A man named Bahuka is in Rituparna's service. He is the king's charioteer and is deformed and has short arms. He is skilled in driving vehicles swiftly and he is accomplished in cooking. When I was alone, he spoke a few words to me. He sighed several times and wept repeatedly. He asked me about my welfare and then addressed me in these words."
Parnada repeated what Bahuka had said:
"Though they confront great calamity, women of a good lineage protect themselves through their own efforts and there is no doubt that they win heaven for themselves. Even if they are abandoned by their husbands, they are never angry. He was trying to sustain his life and a bird stole his garment. He is tormented by anguish and a dark one should not be angry. Whether she is treated well or whether she is treated badly, when she sees her husband without his kingdom and without prosperity, a dark one should not be angry."
Parnada did not understand these words. They seemed like the ramblings of a strange, sorrowful man. But he had delivered them faithfully.
"On hearing these words of his," Parnada concluded, "I instantly returned here. Having heard this, you decide and inform the king."
Damayanti listened to Parnada's words with tears in her eyes.
She understood. The bird that stole a garment. The dark one who should not be angry. The husband without kingdom or prosperity. The wife who must remain faithful. These were not random utterances. They were Nala's own thoughts, his fears, his hope — disguised in riddles spoken through a stranger's mouth.
Bahuka was Nala. And Nala was testing her. Aranyaka Parva, Chapter 365