That king devoted to faith and religion was summoned to dice by
certain deceitful persons of mean mind and uncultured soul and of
crooked ways, and skilful in gambling, and was deprived of wealth and
kingdom. Know that I am the wife of that bull among kings, known to all
by the name of Damayanti, anxious to find out my (missing) lord. In
sadness of heart am I wandering among woods, and mountains, and lakes,
and rivers, and tanks and forests, in search of that husband of
mine--Nala, skilled in battle, high-souled, and well-versed in the use
of weapons. O hath king Nala, the lord of the Nishadhas, come to this
delightful asylum of your holy selves? It is for him, O Brahmanas, that
I have come to this dreary forest full of terrors and haunted by tigers
and other beasts. If I do not see king Nala within a few days and
nights, I shall seek my good by renouncing this body. Of what use is my
life without that bull among men? How shall I live afflicted with grief
on account of my husband?"
"'Unto Bhima's daughter, Damayanti, lamenting forlorn in that forest,
the truth-telling ascetics replied, saying, "O blessed and beauteous
one, we see by ascetic power that the future will bring happiness to
thee, and that thou wilt soon behold Naishadha.
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