Week 12 Storytelling: Nala and Damayanti

Nala was the king of the Nishada people. He was a humble king and cared for his people. One day he met a beautiful woman named Damayanti and wanted her to be his wife. She was so gorgeous and everyone wanted her. The gods such as Indra, Agni, Varuna, and Yama all wanted Damayanti for themselves but Nala ended up winning Damyanti's heart. The two fell in love at first sight. This is how their love story begin.

"Nala! Nala! Come here. I'm sending you on a mission. I want you to tell Damayanti, the daughter of King Vidarbha that she must choose a husband soon. I want you to tell her the good characteristics of me. Forget the other gods! I am the suitable husband for her." said Indra.

"Yes sir, I will tell her that she must choose a husband and that you are the one for her." said Nala.

Nala began his journey to find Damayanti. His mission was to tell her that she must find a husband and persuade her that Indra is the right husband for her. He approached her place and knocked on the door. Damayanti slowly opened the door and the two of them stared into each other deeply. Nala had never seen any maiden so beautiful in his life. He was captured by her beauty. Her skin was glowing and her hair was long and luscious. 

"Err.. Oh hello... um my n-n-name is Nala. I was sent by Indra to tell you that you must f-f-find a husband." he stammered.

"Hello, my name is Damayanti. It's nice to meet you" she blushed and shyly looked away trying not to make direct eye contact.

Damayanti invited Nala to come inside and the two ended up having good conversations and shared common interests with each other. Nala knew that his mission was to tell her to choose a husband now he wanted her for himself. This girl was gorgeous and both of them have so much in common. He wanted to pursue her for himself.

"Damayanti, I was sent here to tell you that you must choose a husband to marry but you are so beautiful and we have so much in common. I have to tell you that I'm already in love with you and please please be my wife." Nala said.

"Oh Nala! I fell in love with you at first sight. When you knocked on my door I knew that there is no else I wanted but you." Damayanti said.

The two lovers decided that Nala must tell Indra and the other gods that Damayanti and him were going to be together. 

"Indra, I am sorry to tell you. I understand my mission was to tell Damayanti that you were the suitable husband for her. However, Damayanti and I fell in love and we want to be together." said Nala.

"How dare you steal the woman I'm going to marry! You snake! You did this on purpose! You think you are better than me? You think you are better than all of us gods?! Damayanti must be blind to have chose you! What qualities do you have?! How dare you!" Indra screamed.

Nala left and so Indra told the other gods what happened. The gods all decided to impersonate Nala and see who will win Damayanti's heart. They will trick and deceive Damayanti and the god that wins her heart will marry Damayanti. 

Nala and Damayanti: The Lovers

Author's Note: I decided to write a story about Nala and Damayanti. I wanted to show that they fell in love with each other at first sight. Although Nala was on a mission to tell Damayanti that she was supposed to marry one of the gods. He couldn't help but fall in love with her. Damayanti felt the same way and so Nala decided to tell Indra the truth. In the story, I emphasized the character of Nala and Damayanti. Both of them had similar interests and really understand each other. Nala did not plan to fall in love with Damayanti but the two ended up being in love. Indra was very angry and felt as if Nala had betrayed him. He felt like Nala seduced Damayanti and wanted her for himself. 

Biliography: William Buck, Mahabharata 

Week 12 Reading Diary B: Continuation of Buck's Mahabharata

p. 139-189

The story of Rishyashringa was pretty funny and interesting. It was definitely provoked by Urvashi even though she didn't mean to. It was because Vibhandaka was perverted and caught her bathing that he ejaculated and fell into the lake, so the deer swallowed and thus came out baby Rishyashringa. I thought that part was funny... if Vibhandaka wasn't so perverted maybe he could have prevented this from happening, but hey it makes the story even more interesting.

Another interesting part of this section's reading is the tale of Savitri. The reason why I liked it because it focused on a woman's perspective. Because Savitri was not impress with any men that was chosen for her she decided to search for the right man on her own. I thought Savitri was courageous to give Yama half her life just so her husband could come back to life. What a sacrifice she had made! I think the women in Indian epics had all made huge sacrifices for love and sometimes get the short end of the sick. It's not fair but it was how the story went.

Savitri made such a huge sacrifice not only for her husband but also her father-in-law. I thought it was so sweet and brave of her to put others first. I think this section of the reading is my favorite. It tells a story of a brave woman who was willing to put her love ones before herself. She was selfless and wanted her husband back.

Savitri's portrait: Savitri

Week 12 Reading Diary A: Continuation of Buck's Mahabharata

p.93-138

So the story continues with the dice game when Yudhishthira accepted the dice match even though he was warned by Arjuna that nothing good will come out of it. He ended up losing which sent the Pandavas and Draupaudi, and himself into exile. During the match I felt bad for Draupaudi. Not only was she mocked in front of these men but humiliated as well. She was pulled by the hair and being stripped by men. I thought that was such a terrible part in the story... how could they do such a thing! Poor Draupadi...

In this section of the story I really enjoyed reading about Nala and Damayanti's love story. Althought if they did love each other I didn't understand why Nala left that night and abandon her? There seems to be a similar pattern with the Ramayana story where the man leaves the woman. That dice game is such a trick. Everyone that plays it doesn't seem to have a happy ending.

It was kind of interesting when Nala got bitten by Karkotata and his poison had caused Nala to change his personality but good thing he was able to turn back into himself when Kali was driven away from his body. Then Nala and Damayanti were finally united and that was the end of this reading's section.

Overall, I enjoyed reading over Nala and Damayanti's character. I'm hoping there would be more stories about them later in the book.

Dice Game: Dice