Damayanti Arranges to Meet Bahuka
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.
Keshini had seen everything — the agitations of the wise Punyashloka, the strange movements and gestures that betrayed something beneath the disguise. She returned quickly and reported it to Damayanti.
Damayanti was sad and anxious. The suspicion that this was Nala had taken root in her heart, but she was uncertain. His appearance was wrong. The man who stood before her as Bahuka did not look like the king she had married.
She sent Keshini again — this time to her mother, the queen of Vidarbha.
"Suspecting him to be Nala, I have examined Bahuka in many ways. But I have doubts on account of his appearance. I wish to know this for myself. O mother! Let him come to me, or let me go to him, with or without my father's knowledge."
The queen related this to Bhima. The king learned of his daughter's plan. With the sanction of both her father and her mother, Damayanti had Nala brought to where she was staying. Aranyaka Parva, Chapter 371