Canto 5 - Indra and Nārada; Nala and the Gods

1. Then while the king was waiting for kings for the Svayaṃvara, the sage Nārada was ascending to heaven in order to see Indra.

2. There was nothing surprising in the fact that the sage Parvata followed him; for he was his friend: but Nārada, the preceptor of the world, was traversing the sky to the great astonishment (of all).

3. The sage, making his way without any aerial conveyance, was plunging into the ether. There is a restriction of means for others, but for ascetics everything is accomplished by their austerities.

4. The sage went beyond the aerial chariots which wounded the pride of the mansions of Indra and the like,^[1] and did not, though begged by their owners falling at his feet, accept their hospitality.

5. Being afraid of heating him, the sun diminished its own lustre exactly so much as not to be speedily heated in its turn by the lustre of the sage, as the moon is by the day.

6. Alas, as the sun used to overpower with its rays Dvijarāja ‘the moon’, another Dvijarāja, ‘the great Brāhmaṇa’ (Nārada), now overpowered it with his lustre. Who on this earth reaps not the fruit of his actions?

7. Then to him, coming as a guest, the celestial Gaṅgā presented a grass-made seat with the rows of Kuśa grass growing on its banks, water for washing his feet with its own waters, offerings of worship with Dūrvā blades, and Madhuparka with the honey of its lotus beds.

8. Just as an ascetic attains the Absolute, beautiful with the plenitude of bliss, after crossing through the ocean of worldly existence without a beginning; similarly Nārada reached the mansion of Indra, after going beyond the sky, whose depths are unfathomable.

9. Indra finely entertained the guest with a homage greater than what was due. For the good, to do just as much as is proper removes the sin (of omission), but brings no merit.

10. The mountain-cleaving^[2] Indra then quickly welcomed the sage who was the friend of mountains owing to a similarity in name.^[3] Why should not even a ‘mountain’ who was a Brāhmaṇa receive honour, when coming to the lord of the gods?

11. The great sage (Nārada) knew even the celestial trees to be generous with the highest degree of charity, well-learnt from the extremely lavish hand of Indra, owing to their living together with him in heaven.

12. Indra conversed with Nārada, suppressing all talk with others. The meeting of friends is, as a rule, a mine of extensive talk about themselves and others.

13. As Indra’s interest in the conversation grew very intense with the mutual talk, he said to Nārada, wishing to know why the kings of the earth had not long come to heaven.

14. “Do not the royal dynasties now produce as before valiant scions who, on attaining their maturity, fall on the surface of the earth, wounded by the weapons of their enemies?

15. “Heroes betake themselves to the magnificence of my hospitality, by discarding in battles their earthly bodies, by their weight a grave hindrance to an upward journey.

16. “Mighty one, as those kings do not now come to me as guests, as if I were under a curse, I do not set a high value on this my wealth, rendered vile by a selfish enjoyment.

17. “Abundant riches being considered an evil, acquired as they are at the expense of the wealth of good deeds performed in former births, their bestowal on the lotus-hands of worthy suppliants is the prescribed religious rite calculated to calm that evil.

18. “So let the words of thy sublime self, forming the essence of the Vedas, act to-day as the Vedic ‘Sin-destroying’ verses, By forthwith wiping out my accumulated sin that is causing in this matter doubts in my mind.”

19. Thus saying, Indra stood, heightening the abundance of his courtesy with the depth of his attention, and fixing his thousand winkless eyes on the face of the sage.

20. Astonished to see the maturity of his politeness, in spite of his occupying the position of Indra, Nārada said with a smile in a voice thrilled with joy.

21. “Having experienced the labour involved in acquiring the religious virtue accruing from a hundred sacrifices, thou alone, if any one, showest this disregard for the fruit of that labour, thy wealth, though what is gained through pains causes one to have greater attachment to it.

22. “Who will believe that even thy riches, which are beyond the range of expression, have not destroyed thy politeness, unless one’s own intimate, immediate perception says so?

23. “Thou hast a certain superior power of vision, seeing as thou dost the outside as well as the inside of things; for thou sayest, ‘Let me give away my great riches to guests; selfish enjoyment is not good.’

24. “Ah, I am deeply moved by this sweet, unaffected expression of thy sentiments. Rule thou the heavens well for limitless ages. O Indra, prosper thou well!

25. “As to why kings do not come here, lessened in weight by reason of all their sins being washed away by the blood flowing from their bodies wounded in battle, hear a piece of news, the joy of the world’s youth.

26. “There thrives a maiden, an indescribable, priceless gem, the ornament of the earth, who is the daughter of king Bhīma, Damayantī by name—an unfailing weapon of the god of love.

27. “At present growing every moment marvellous in beauty with the speed of youth, she is said to be cherishing love for a youth that bears in full measure the essence of virtue.

28. “With thy lips moving art thou going to ask me, ‘Why not say who he is?’: but thou mayst check thy query midway; fatigue it not by making it go out (of thy mouth).

29. “For even an ascetic’s intellect which goes only as far as the atom, sees not this youth who has been made by the maiden a lion lying in the cave of bashfulness inside the atom of her mind.

30. “Her limbs speaking of the sufferings due to her beloved’s absence indicate her as being the target of flowery arrows, and she has caused the desire of her father to further the Creator’s will in order to bring about the festival of her Svayaṃvara.

31. “Then as the Creator gave orders to Cupid to go on a mission of summoning all kings; the lords of the earth, devoted to Cupid, now regard war as poison.

32. “The endeavour of the kings now is to attain distinction, however slight, in those things, whether finery or qualities, of which Damayantī is fond.

33. “Daily has Cupid’s passion of hunting in the youthful society of kings grown lively in eagerness since the days of her youth.

34. “Hence those kings, (now) longing for the earth, are not eager to become thy guests; ah, there is a vast difference between the desire of the kings for Damayantī and their desire for heaven.

35. “Discontented with this, I have come to heaven to see thee, in order to have the pleasure of seeing a war; for on the earth I do not see any conflict among the kings whose minds are absorbed in her.

36. “Alas, though I know that no one is offering any resistance to thee, cruel as thou art to enemies, I am asking thee about warfare; for the outpouring of affection on a thing tends to wipe away one’s judgment.”

37. The great divine sage having said thus, the seal of silence on Indra’s mouth burst at once; the gradual conversation of the great is something extremely pleasant and increasingly happy.

38. “There is no question of my practising warfare so long as my own younger brother Viṣṇu, the enemy of demons and my defender, keeps watch; happily do I sleep without any fear, using the victory-marked palm of his hand as a pillow.

39. “Owing to Viṣṇu’s assuming the form of the universe, his identity with the sage Jaimini became proper, and (as such) being unable to tolerate any corporeal form for gods, he made my thunderbolt devoid of meaning.”^[4]

40. Having said to the sage such words as these, he, the ocean of politeness, paused, and then there issued forth Nārada’s faint voice, coming after a long succession of sighs.

41. “Residing on earth, I am not content, thinking of wars that may be going on in heaven and the nether world, and when I come to heaven, there rises in my mind a surmise, unhappy in the end,^[5] as to wars being waged by the heroes of the earth and the nether world.

42. “Now that I have seen thee, permit me to go to the earth; will not perchance the kings coming to marry Damayantī quarrel with one another there?”

43. Saying thus, the sage set out for the earth, forcibly turning back Indra; but the latter, though deterred, carefully followed him a few steps more.

44. The sage Parvata (Mountain) echoed the rambling words of Nārada, having taken them in; he himself did not manifest any Pakṣa (opinion) of his own to Indra who had clipped the Pakṣas (wings) of mountains.

45. Then Cupid prescribed for Indra’s hand the grasping of Damayantī’s cool and tender hands as a fit remedy for its long accumulated hurts caused by the presence of the thunderbolt in it.

46. The beauty of the physicians of heaven, the two Aśvins, is present in Cupid also, and Cupid, having the knowledge of the science of medicine transferred to him through the medium of that beauty, was, I ween, acting as a physician in that way.

47. Then as her husband was going after a mortal woman,^[6] the wife of Indra, assuming an air of humility, indicated that her solemn pride was wounded by the drooping of her lotus face.

48. Verily the thick gloom that came over the nymph Rambhā, as Indra was leaving heaven, was the colour which playfully shewed the erotic sentiment of her heart fading away.

49. The nymph Ghṛtācī said, not in words, but through the heaving of long sighs, “The life of nymphs is now fruitless, it is proper for us to die.”

50. As the Cāmara stick dropped from the lotus hand of the nymph Tilottamā, while her arm like the lotus stalk was agile in waving the Cāmara, she, too, seemed to say thereby, “It would be well for us thus to fall from heaven.”

51. The nymph Menakā, as she sought to hide her feelings, wishing to cover up the grief rising in her mind, seemed to apply an external plaster of clay, while her bursting heart was being heated, as if wrapped in leaves.^[7]

52. Under the pretext of her motionless posture at that moment the nymph Urvaśī, who had charmed the world with her excellence, was with her body doing the work of a boundary post marking the end of her friendship with Indra.

53. One of the nymphs said to another, who wished to know what the matter was, Indra hearing some of her words, “Look, this son of the sage Kaśyapa—Indra, the performer of a hundred sacrifices—is going to the earth.”^[8]

54. One of the nymphs, proud of her beauty, said to a friend within Indra’s hearing, “Why disdain even to look at mortals? Art thou not going, too, for the sake of company?”

55. Then did the lords of the quarters, Agni, Varuṇa and Yama follow Indra with pleasure: let some one first show only the way ahead; he who follows his footsteps is not rare.

56. Then they separately sent to Damayantī women messengers, expert in the stealing of hearts, and sent to her father presents concealed under a pretence of joy at his success in wars.

57. Alack, it was strange that even those gods followed the way to the earth, leaving the heavens; or, perhaps there is no heaven called as such; that is heaven where one’s heart goes.

58. Then those great gods were taken to the earth by horses which quickly covered the distance; on the way, in a posture in which their necks were turned aside and raised, they heard a sound far away.

59. They did not have the time even to guess whether the sound came from the clouds or the ocean; they saw only a chariot close by, which had arrived simultaneously with the hearing of the sound.

60. In it the great gods recognised Nala, the supreme reward of the existence of their eyes—Nala who used to delight in giving rest to his charioteer, and was expert in understanding the instinct of horses.

61. Was it not natural that Varuṇa should be reduced to a state of complete inertia at the sight of Nala’s youth, being motionless, lord of the waters as he was, with a sense of profound astonishment?

62. Observing Nala’s beauty, Yama, the ornament of the solar dynasty, became so very gloomy that that goḍ is called even to-day Kāla (black)^[9] by all.

63. When Agni, reflecting on the exuberance of Nala’s beauty, felt the heat (of grief), the cause was not that he was fire, but that he was not Nala.

8.“Kaśyapasutā”, earth, lit, the daughter of Kaśyapa, in which case the insinuation is that of incest. Kaśyapa means also ‘a drunkard’, in which case Indra is visiting the daughter of a drunkard.

9.Kāla is an epithet of Yama and means “time”: it is here taken in its adjectival sense “black”.

64. Kauśika (Indra), with his many eyes gazing at Nala’s beauty surpassing that of Cupid, and (then) looking round the whole of his own body thought he himself was really a Kauśika (owl).

65. Considering him to be the Monism of Beauty, rising up incarnate, the gods surrendered their hearts to amazement, and so lost control over them.

66. Since the features of his beauty corresponded to what they had heard before, the gods said to one another in a low voice, “Is he that Nala?’

67. His adornments, appropriate for choosing such a bride, the time itself, the way of the chariot leading to Kuṇḍina—all these spoke to them of the king’s intentions.

68. Having found Nala, the life-breath of the world, Yama, Varuṇa and Agni, respectively glad, restless (with joy), and exceedingly warm (with fervour), secretly thought in their minds thus.

(Yama thought)—

69. “Whether Damayantī chooses him or not, she can be dear to me in neither of two ways: on the one hand,^[10] fie on her, unable to discern merits; on the other,^[11] how can I have her?”

(Varuṇa thought)—

70. “She will choose me, if she does not know the measure of his superiority to me; but how will the princess know my own superiority to him?”

(Agni thought)—

71. “If Damayantī chooses Nala, I shall not merely be put to shame in the outside world; how shall I show my face drooping with shame to my wife at home?”

72. The three gods, pondering thus, did not know in the least what to do; with the sole exception of Indra, they looked at one another’s face.

73. Noticing the dumbfounded look of his followers thinking, ‘What is to be done now?’, Indra, expert in guile as he was, with a view to deceiving Nala, said loudly.

74. “Art thou thriving in all respects? We think thou art that Nala; we seem to see in thee the splendour of King Vīrasena,^[12] our friend occupying half our seat.

75. “‘Nala, where art thou going?’—it is no use asking thus; as this our journey to the earth has become auspicious (by our meeting thee). Has not that very journey, about to achieve its end, made thee come forward half the way?

76. “Nala, here is Yama; he is Agni, shaggy with a mass of flames; here is Varuṇa, and know the remaining one^[13] to be the ruler of the gods.

77. “Nala, to thee we have come as suppliants; know this to be the gist of our words; after taking rest for a while, we shall communicate our business to thee.”

78. Thus saying, Indra became silent and said nothing in particular; there was nothing marvellous in this skill in speaking; his teacher from his childhood was Bṛhaspati.

79. As the king was bowing with all his hair standing at the word ‘suppliant’, he was offering, as it were, his own self like a mass of full-blown Kadamba flowers for the worship of their feet.

80. “What is unattainable for these divine lords of the quarters? How can a thing like that be under my control?”—pondering on such a contrast as this, Nala was long in doubt.

(Nala’s musings)—

81. “As any suppliant may easily obtain from me anything that he asks for up to my life, with what gift will my heart be content when the suppliant is the lord of the gods?

82. “As for Damayantī, who is more valuable than even my life and wealth, she is only in my heart; she is not mine; the earth is not worth even a sixteenth part of her.

83. “How can I know their desired object? How can I give unasked? Fie on him who, though he knows a suppliant’s wish, waits for the occasion of his speaking.

84. “A donor, by making a belated gift, cannot remove the sin which he commits, by making a suppliant go through the humiliation of flattering and humble entreaties, and undergo the shame of profuse begging.

85. “The water given to a suppliant by the generous, after having brought to him the gifts to be made, is meant as a remedy against the accidental death of the suppliant falling into a swoon, owing to his fright caused by an apprehension of the failure of his prayer.”^[14]

86. “Not only one’s wealth, but even one’s life should be given away like a straw to a suppliant; this is the meaning of the cleverly worded rule about the making of gifts, when it enjoins the giving of water together with Kuśa blades.^[15]

87. “The lotus, stained in contact with mud, is not fit to be occupied by the goddess of wealth;^[16] hence, the wise should make the pure lotus hand of the suppliant the abode of the goddess.

88. “The earth is overburdened, neither with trees nor with mountains nor with oceans, but with the man whose birth does not serve the purpose of fulfilling the desires of suppliants.

89. “The miser might not out of greed give his riches to others while he is alive; but what surprises me is that he does not do so, even when dead.^[17]

90. “What can be a recompense for the gods for the fame which they have conferred on me, by making their request to me, neglecting all other donors in the world?

91. ‘“Alas, this man is going to the other world alone, leaving behind his wealth at his death’—thinking thus, the friendly suppliant, taking pity, desires to take that man’s wealth to the other world.^[18]

92. “He who accepts a gift is a debtor, who takes one thing in this world to give it back multiplied by a crore in heaven; only a good man, if there be any, comes to practise this everlasting usury in the next world by virtue of his good deeds.”

93. Thinking thus for a moment, Nala said to the gods who were glad to find the countenance of the man supplicated^[19] beaming with joy—something difficult for suppliants to get.

94. “There is not much difference between a cause and an effect, and it is true that a person’s body is produced by food; looking at your nectar-fed bodies, my eyes are being immersed in nectar.

95. “Compare my slight religious merit with its result, namely, you come within the range of my eyes! It is the religious austerities of my forefathers which, maturing in this way, thrive in glory.

96. “Ah, verily the merit resulting from the vow of enduring everything, installed this earth in the rank of a goddess, and even you are honouring her with your lotus feet.

97. “Whatever you desire from this mortal child, whether an offering as great as life itself, or more, let him with it worship your feet: say, what can such a thing be.”

98. Then Nala having politely said thus without any hesitation, Indra, the master of hypocrisy in his actions, spoke these words crooked with insincerity.

99. “Moon of the earth, we desire that festive occasion—marriage with Damayantī; conqueror of Cupid, act thou as our messenger in this matter, casting aside for ever the fear of Cupid.

100. “There are hundreds of kings on the earth; thou art certainly an ocean, they are wells: are there not so many planets in the heavens, which of them is like the sun?

101. “We have all-seeing eyes; we know the unfathomable ocean of thy merits; none of us would be content without engaging thee in this secret affair in this way.”

102. Though he came of a pure family and felt himself to be an abode of virtues, Indra in his desire to oust the sincere and friendly Nala at once became crooked like a bow, which, though made of good bamboo and provided with a string, becomes bent in order to let go the straight and feathered arrow.

103. Nala, who was very subtle, understood Indra’s guile from those very words and then made a suitable speech. Sincerity is not the policy towards those who are insincere.

104. “It is the gravity of my own sins committed in another birth that desires to defy even your greatness that transcends the limit of words.

105. “You know the minds of all; yet I must not maintain a silence which might be prejudicial to the main object in view; let there be shame through speaking, rather than the acceptance of the unrefuted words of others.

106. “How can you, in whose mind is present as in a clear mirror all that is, give such a command to one, to whom it is not fit to be given?

107. “Strange. How can I go on a mission on your behalf to one whom I am at this moment going to choose as my bride? Do not high personages like you feel even contempt for deceiving a straw like me?

108. “Owing to her absence I go mad and lose my senses in a moment; tell me, how can I as such keep your secret^[20] before her?

109. “How can I dissimulate my emotions in the presence of one, cherishing whom in my heart in the form of desire I take my breath? Even the wise cannot resist the objects of sense.

110. “Besides, how can one like me even see her without crushing the sentinels? Where does a maiden confide in a man, ruthless in conquering a hundred thousand sentinels?

111. “The fame that was valued by the generous including the sage Dadhīci had only life as its maximum price. How can I accept it by paying a price a hundred times greater than my life, my beloved Damayantī?

112. “Just as you are asking me for her, I too ought to ask you for her; I must make yourselves my teachers in the matter of flattery in entreaties for the sake of my desired object—Damayantī.

113. “Worshipping you daily, first of all have I begged Damayantī of you; if you do not feel shame in transgressing my prayer, I too am not bound to feel it overmuch.

114. “It is said that Damayantī has already resolved to choose me as her consort; when she sees me, she will only blush; certainly she will not accept you.

115. “So be pleased. Grieve not. This mission is entirely unsuitable for me; wishing to carry it into effect by a wrong method, you will simply acquire ridicule, and not the desired object.”

116. Then thinking over these words of Nala, Indra said, smiling slightly, and furtively looking at the face of his companions.

117. “King, didst thou not thyself, a scion of the dynasty of the moon, say all this? Is thy tongue not ashamed of its refusal, having promised of its own accord to give suppliants the object of their desire?^[21]

118. “Thoughtful one, how is it that thou dost not see this world, transient and false, that even thy mind, strangely enough, is going to forsake virtue and fame?

119. “Who was ever born to thy dynasty, the crown of the world, but did not fulfil the desires of suppliants? The very first member of the dynasty, the moon, was indeed marked with a stain; alack, mayst thou not be like him, too!

120. “But the hare in the moon is only a sign (not a mark of disgrace), while even a sour look or silence or displeasure with regard to a suppliant—all this is disgrace for one like thee.

121. “‘Did he not read the letter ‘Na’, while reading the alphabet, or has he forgotten it even if he did read it?’—thus the letter ‘Na’ used to sway to and fro in the swing of doubt in the minds of suppliants.”^[22]

122. Agni said to him, “Nala, why dost thou let this renown escape thee, white as the moon, that has come to thy hands? No one else on earth has thus had Indra, the owner of the all-giving Kalpa tree, coming as a suppliant.

123. “Let our desire, never thwarted while procuring the joy of the inhabitants of heaven, renounce to-day its pride of being without an equal, owing to our having crowned thyself in its place.”

124. Then said Yama to Nala who was sad: “Light of the family of Vīrasena, is the strange gloom that seeks to dominate thee worthy of thee who dost belong to the dynasty of the moon?

125. “A suppliant was not disappointed even by the Rohaṇa mountain,^[23] hard among hard objects, and even by the wish-cow, a mere animal; alas, child, what is this that thou art about to do?

126. “Does a thoughtful man ever delay, when asked for a favour? Who can be a guarantee for one’s life even for a moment? The two eyes rolling by way of winking speak instantly of death.

127. “Because of the disappointment suffered by the beak of the Cātaka bird asking for water, a gloom spreads over the expanse of clouds, though it was willing to give cool water to the bird.”^[24]

128. Varuṇa, too, raising his hand, spoke some appropriate words to him, “Fame alone, whose pearlstring is the stream of water offered in connection with gifts,^[25] is thy beloved wife.

129. “Thoughtful one, if it is true that even Karṇa and Dadhīci were not everlasting on earth—Karṇa whose skin was an impenetrable armour, and Dadhīci whose bones were hard as the thunderbolt—then neglect not religious virtue.

130. “A wise man like thee cannot get rid of the noose that is fidelity to one’s promise—the noose, bound by which Bali and Vindhya are still unable to move.

131. “Fame, that dear one, the beauty of whose visage surpasses the moon, and who does not forsake her lover, even when she goes to the farthest ends of the directions,—who will maltreat even Fame for the sake of a gazelle-eyed damsel, union with whom is of transient duration?

132. “Strange. Even we whom others ask for boons ask thee for a favour; hero, do thou fulfil not only our desire, but also fill the regions with thy fame.

133. “The gods have come to thee as suppliants. Let the divine Kalpa tree, the lustre of its vast fame for charity being thus tarnished, make to-day the heaven white with its flowers alone.^[26]

134. “Nala, even thy name recalled like those of Bharata, Arjuna and Pṛthu gives a traveller his desired object; if thou dost doubt the success of thy own journey, all those benign agencies must also be futile.

135. “Make thy pious promise,^[27] which was to-day delightful with its accents respecting our desired object, true to its literal meaning, by making it a rival of the scriptures^[28] (in its regard for the truth); and, let thy fame, purifying the three worlds, destroy the connection of things with the terms ‘black’, ‘yellow’, ‘red’ and ‘green’, by proclaiming ‘white’ as the only colour on earth.^[29]

136. “How is it that Śani, begotten by the thousand-footed Sun, was born lame? It is said a son has a tendency to resemble the father. But the Sun, manifesting himself to be lame in the act of rising above thy might, in spite of his thousand feet, has provided us with the answer to-day.”

137. Thus hearing these flattering words of the group of gods, the king, though in love with Damayantī, undertook the mission forcibly imposed on him. When he gave his consent, Indra said to him in great joy, “Let the power of being invisible be everywhere subject to thy will.”

138. Epilogue. [The poet refers to his work Śrīvijayapraśasti.]

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

i.e. by going high above them.

[2]:

Formerly mountains had wings which were cut off by Indra.

[3]:

The name of the sage was Parvata, Mountain.

[4]:

According to Jaimini, the author of the Mīmāṃsā philosophy, the gods have no corporeal form, being in the form of mantras, in which case the fact of Indra’s having a thunderbolt becomes meaningless; consequently Indra cannot make any use of it in fighting as desired by Nārada.

[5]:

i.e. a surmise that does not come true in the long run.

[6]:

i.e. Damayantī.

[7]:

The twofold pressure of grief and the effort to hide her feelings is compared to Puṭapāka, which is a ‘particular method of preparing drugs, the various substances being wrapped up in leaves, covered with clay, and heated in fire’. The idea recurs in 17.168.

[8]:

“Kaśyapasutā”, earth, lit, the daughter of Kaśyapa, in which case the insinuation is that of incest. Kaśyapa means also ‘a drunkard’, in which case Indra is visiting the daughter of a drunkard.

[9]:

Kāla is an epithet of Yama and means “time”: it is here taken in its adjectival sense “black”.

[10]:

i.e. if she does not choose Nala.

[11]:

i.e. if she chooses Nala.

[12]:

Nala’s father.

[13]:

Indra himself.

[14]:

A gift is preceded by the act of pouring water on the suppliant’s hand, signifying the resolve to give, and so removing any doubt about the gift to be made.

[15]:

Nala interprets the rule that a gift is to be preceded by the formality of offering to the suppliant water with a few blades of Kuśa grass. The significance of the blades of grass is obvious: with regard to the water, the word “jīvana”: “life” is one of the synonyms of water; hence the conclusion that even one’s life should be given away.

[16]:

The lotus is the seat of Lakṇmī, the goddess of wealth.

[17]:

This is an apparent contradiction. The real meaning is, “On his death he surrenders his wealth to the king.”

[18]:

i.e. wealth, charitably spent in this world, comes back to the donor in the next world. The idea is continued in the next verse.

[19]:

i.e. Nala.

[20]:

i.e. the secret of your appointing me—her lover—as a messenger to her.

[21]:

See Verse 97.

[22]:

i.e. formerly Nala never said No, when asked for a favour.

[23]:

A legendary mountain producing jewels.

[24]:

The gloomy colour of the clouds is fancied as the result of the sin caused by their delay in giving a drink of water to the thirsty Cātaka bird.

[25]:

See Verse 85.

[26]:

The divine tree, which usually supplies the wants of the gods, is white with its fame as well as its flowers; but as this fame no longer exists owing to these gods having diverted their prayer to Nala, it is now white with its flowers only.

[27]:

See Verse 97.

[28]:

Setting aside the visual derivation of the word “pratiśruti”: “promise”, the poet derives it as “śrutiḥ pratibhaṭā pratiśrutiḥ”: “a rival of the scriptures.”

[29]:

The fame, white in its purity, is to make all things white, leaving only one colour on the earth and banishing the rest.