Damayanti

Damayanti is a character in Hindu mythology. She is the wife of Nala and their story is told in the Mahabharata.

The Story

Damayanti was a princess who fell in love with Nala simply from hearing about his virtues and accomplishments, although he was addicted to gambling. When it came time for Damayanti to choose her husband at a swayamvara, princes and kings came to seek her hand, including Nala. The gods Indra, Agni, Varuna, and Yama were in attendance, too. Nala met the gods on their way there, and they ordered him to go inform Damayanti that she must choose one of them for her husband. Damayanti agreed to pay her respects to the gods, but she insisted on choosing Nala for her husband. The gods each disguised themselves as Nala, but Damayanti saw through them each time.

Damayanti and Nala were happily married and had two children, but disaster struck as a result of Nala's propensity for gambling. In games of dice, he lost everything he owned, forcing Nala and Damayanti to live in poverty in the forest. Birds flew away with the only garment Nala possessed. In despair, he decided to abandon Damayanti, hoping she would return to her father's house. While she slept, he divided the one remaining garment between them and left. Damanyanti, however, remained in the forest. Nala, meanwhile, was bitten by a serpent and was turned into a dwarf due to the effects of the venom. As a dwarf, he served as a cook and a horsetrainer in a royal palace.

After a while, Damayanti was discovered and taken back to her father's house where she was reunited with her children. They searched for Nala, but could not find him. Damayanti learned about the dwarf and suspected it might be her husband. In order to test his identity, she requested a second swayamvara. Nala's master was one of the many kings who went to the swayamvara, and Nala accompanied him. On their journey to the swayamvara, the king instructed the dwarf in the techniques of gambling. Damayanti was persuaded that the dwarf was Nala because of the flavor of a dish that he cooked for her. The two were reunited and Nala was transformed from being a dwarf into his familiar form. He used the knowledge of gambling he had gained in order to regain everything he had lost.

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