The Dwarf at Vidarbha

नारायणं नमस्कृत्य नरं चैव नरोत्तमम्

 देवीं सरस्वतीं चैव ततो जयम् उदीरयेत्

महाभरत

Mahābharata

As retold by

Michael Dolan, B.V. Mahāyogi

Damayanti looked down over the banquet table. Who was this King Rituparna? He had responded to the message, and yet he couldn’t possibly be Nala. Maybe Nala was dead. He might have taught his secrets to this King of Ayodhya who sat at her father's banquet table. Or perhaps Nala had somehow disguised himself as this hunchbacked dwarf who watered the horses in her father's stables. She  must find out more.

Damayanti called for her serving girl.

"Keshini,” she said, “Go and learn who is this horse keeper who drives chariots. Why doesn't he come to the banquet? He is hiding in the stables of my father. Go to him. Be discreet. Approach him courteously, with sweet words. Gain his confidence with kindness soft glances. Draw him into the garden, under the moonlight, near my balcony, that I can hear everything. Tell him my story. Ask his opinion what kind of a man abandons a woman in the forest, leaving her half clad. Find out if he knows anything about Nala."

"I shall do as you say my mistress," said Keshini, and set out to do the bidding of her mistress.

Damayanti went to the window, and opening it, stepped out onto the balcony under the moonlight. She could see the garden below. She watched as Keshini, her serving girl, opened the door to the stables.

As Nala was seeing to the horses, he heard a sound. 

Turning, he saw a delicate maiden. Her eyes shone in the moonlight. 

"Good evening sir," she said. "As you have not come to the banquet, I have brought you something to eat and drink." She offered him a plate of food and a glass of water. "Or if you don't like to eat here in the stable with the horses, you can come and eat in the kitchen with the help."

Nala accepted the food. He sat down to eat.

"This suits me fine." He said. "I need to stay close to these poor and tired horses. They have run hard, from Ayodhya to Vidarbha. If I take good care of my horses and rest them well tonight, they will be happier and when we return to Ayodhya they will run faster. Thank you so much for everything. I’m fine here."

"Then I must go," said the girl, smiling "They need me in the kitchen."

“By the way, said Vahuka, “Is it true? What they say about your mistress, I mean. I was told that the fair Damayanti was holding a second contest for her hand. And yet there is no evidence of any contest."

"Contest? I know nothing of any contest. It must've been a rumor spread by an unscrupulous brahmana. There are many such gossips wandering through the forests these days. I'm sure my mistress will never marry again. Why should she, when her last husband, Nala abandoned her in the forest? If a great king like Nala deserts her like a beast, half-clad in the forest, then would she expect from lesser men? "

With this, the serving girl Keshini turned and left the stable. She began walking to the kitchen. Now she was in the garden under the moonlight.

"Wait." She heard.

She turned. Now the hunchbacked dwarf with a long nose had followed her into the garden. They were both directly under the balcony of the fair Damayanti, who could hear everything.

"Just a moment,” he said.

Keshini the serving girl looked at the hideous dwarf whom men called Vahuka. 

"Could this really be Nala?” she thought.

"Yes?” she said. “Have you changed your mind? Will you have your dinner in the kitchen after all?"

"No." Said the dwarf. "But stay a moment. Tell me about your mistress. Is it true that she was abandoned in the forest?"

"Well," she said, "I know that she was desperately in love with Nala. I know that she sent a message to the court of many a king. The message went, ‘oh beloved gambler who lost your kingdom at dice where are you? Where have you gone? You tore my cloth and deserted me. You left me alone in the forest to seek my fortune. Why did you leave me alone and asleep in the woods?' 

She sent a brahmana to many a place throughout this world with this message, hoping to hear from her lost husband. In fact this brahmana reached the kingdom of Rituparna. You yourself replied to this message. What was the meaning of that?”

The dwarf said, “Yes, it’s true. My message was, 'chaste women overcome by calamity in danger protect themselves and keep their virtue."

The serving girl looked at the dwarf and said, “Then, explain yourself. Who are you?"