Notes on Nala and Damayanti

नारायणं नमस्कृत्य नरं चैव नरोत्तमम्

 देवीं सरस्वतीं चैव ततो जयम् उदीरयेत्

महाभरत

Mahābharata

As retold by

Michael Dolan, B.V. Mahāyogi

Nala and Damayanti:

End Notes

Nala and Damayanti is a much longer story than that of Shakuntala, with twists and turns, swayamvaras, gods and demons, a magic dwarf and a snake prince.  The story tradition has delighted Hindu audiences for generations in various forms including dance and drama in Telugu, Tamil, Hindi and Sanskrit. The different dance forms in Telugu version may be found online. 

Along with the story of Shakuntala it is easily one of the most beautiful and charming episodes in the Mahābhārata. I have avoided condensing the story, since a quick telling of the fantastic plot makes it seem like a fairy tale. I have tried to maintain the detail given in the Mahābhārata, eliminating excessive repetition and overheated prose when possible.

Nala and Damayanti seems to me a great example of ancient "Magical Realism." Simply changing the locale and era, the actual story might have been written during the Spain of Cervantes with its conquistadores, or the Latin American world of Gabriel Garcia Marquez and his sailing ships in the jungles of Macon   

It has been observed that when people read stories written in the style of "Magical Realism" they focus on the "Magic" and forget the "Realism." But the story of Nala fascinates us even today for its realism. While it is true that the story mentions the gods, they intervene only long enough to ensure the wedding of Nala and Damayanti, or to possess Nala's spirit with the influence of Kali. 

There are no flying dragons or giants with magic castles. The entire story is quite realistic:  A man possessed by madness gambles his kingdom and faces exile. He struggles with his newlywed wife through a series of setbacks. He changes his appearance while she hides in a foreign land but luck and faith pull them through in the end. The descriptions of ancient India are quite detailed, down to the kinds of trees, fruits and flowers, animals, and style of cooking. 

The story may seem familiar since it  contains a number of devices that have influenced similar stories: mistaken identity, disguise, swan messengers, curses from the gods. It contains many parallels to the Mahābhārata itself.

For example, the protagonist is Nala. Arjuna, while hiding incognito changes his name to Brihan-Nala, "Big Nala." Nala competes in a swayamvara, where he is cloned: Damayanti has to choose between 5 Nalas. Arjuna wins the swayamvara with Draupadi. The heroine's name also begins with "D." Damayanti chooses between 4 gods and Nala. Draupadi has 5 husbands. The most important of the 5 husbands loses his kingdom at dice. Nala loses his kingdom at dice. Yudhisthira is exiled to the forest. Nala is exiled to the forest. Nala and Damayanti spend time incognito in another kingdom. So do the Pandavas. In exile, Bhima is an excellent cook. Nala is also an excellent cook who marries the daughter of Bhima. Brihadaswa tells the story to Yudhisthira because of its obvious parallels. The story is ancient in the time of the Pandavas, probably at least 3,000 years old. In India many traditions in dance and story have grown up around the retelling of the story of Nala and Damayanti.

Severe critics may denounce the story as being devoid of any good moral principles. And yet Nala and Damayanti promote the values of faithfulness, of honor above cheating, and finally of shaking off the dark influences of the iron age.

In the end, this is also a modern story. Damayanti is a strong woman: When it is planned to marry her to a god, she rejects the gods themselves, taking a mere mortal as a husband. Abandoned by her husband, she survives attacks by snakes and hunters and even a stampede of elephants, losing neither noble bearing nor feminine beauty. Nala, for his part, leaves her to protect her from death by exile. Always faithful to his wife, he lives by his wits and sense of humour; He is in touch with his feminine side and is an excellent cook, master of the culinary arts. 

In fact, Nala is credited with being the author of a treatise on cooking called the  Pakadarpanam is closely associated with Ayurveda. The ancient Ayurvedic pandit, Charaka mentions sometime around 300 BC that he had learned much of his knowledge from Nala's treatise. 

In a scholarly paper for the Institute for Oriental Study, Dr. Lalita Kuppuswamy of New Delhi University writes about Nala's Pakadarpanam: 

''We come across interesting details on defects of food, preparation of soups with different pulses, preparation of dishes from vegetables with their nutrition contents, various types of sweets dishes, varieties of curds, chutneys, dishes according to seasons etc. The day from sunrise to sunset is divided into six parts and the first part is assigned as spring and the last as winter and the food according to the season.

''The cook has to have certain qualifications. Birth in the same country [as the party being cooked for], self control, soft spoken, knowledge about various materials, place and time etc. He has to wash his hands and feet before cooking. Cooking has several advantages in improving quality, digestibility and palatability. At the same time, cooking in a wrong manner can reduce the nutritional contents. We find various devices to keep the dishes cool and free from spoiling due to heat.'' 

''Satisfaction of hunger is not the only primary criteria for adequate food intake. For sustaining healthy and active life, diet should be planned on sound nutritional principles. The most striking feature of ancient culinary is that it was based on a sound base of well balanced diet, because the base of food preparation is based on Ayurveda - balance of Tridoshas."

The story of Nala and Damayanti turned out to be more of a challenge than I had expected. It's taken me more than a month to retell the story. As a stand-alone episode, it's much longer than the other sections of the Mahābhārata. As such, it has often suffered from being condensed by first year Sanskrit students with an almost painful compression until the story  seems too naive a fable to be worth a modern reader's serious consideration. Or it has been retold as a kind of  fairy tale told by Indian grandmothers in lilting English filled with commentaries and purple prose. 

I've done my best to keep the purposeful tone of the grave Brihadashva who not only knew the Vedas and their stories, but was good at shooting dice.

For this retelling, I am indebted to the Ganguli translation of Mahābharata as well as the improved translation of Dean Milman's work which was edited by Monier Williams (1889) and relies on the  manuscript of the Mahābhārata belonging to the India Office and Bodleian Libraries. Both are available on-line. The Monier Williams version is a rich source for Sanskrit students and includes and extensive glossary.