Description
The tale of Nal and Damayanti is a complex mythological romance that predates the epic Mahabharata. Narrated by the sage Vrihadaswa in the Vana Parva (Book of the Forest) of this epic, it has woven a magical spell on readers down the ages with its narration of: Golden-winged, celestial swans… Shape-shifting gods vying with humans to wed the most beautiful woman ever… Demons loading the dice to wreck a union blessed by the very gods… A serpent’s venom transforming a king into a misshapen dwarf… Two lovers driven apart, and later reunited, through an unheard of second swayamvar (self-choice of a husband) by a renowned princess, in Indian history.
It’s regarded as the greatest love story ever told and retold down the ages in almost every regional language of India. Historians, Poets and Dramatists the world over have waxed eloquent about the love of Nal and Damayanti:
“His thoughts were with a face his dreams had seen
Diviner than the jasmine’s moon-flaked glow,
He listened to a name his dreams had learned
Sweeter than the passion of a crooning bird.”
– Sri Aurobindo, The Tale of Nal (incomplete)
‘Suddenly, in human language, the swan spoke: “Damayanti, in Nishadha, dwells the noble king – like the Ashwins in beauty, peerless among men is he”…’
– Reverend Henry Hart Milman – Historian, Poet and Dramatist
“The story of Nal and Damayanti is without doubt one of the most beautiful stories in the world…”
– Norman N. Penzer, Fellow of the Royal Geographic Society, London
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