Saving Nala's Relatives from Anala

The pastime of Nala and Damayanti is described in the Mahābhārata. It is also described beautifully in the Naiṣadhīya-caritam of the renowned poet Śrī Harṣa. The story goes that Damayanti was the princess of the kindgom of Vidarbha. King Nala from the Niṣādha kingdom got attracted to her, and they exchanged messages of love by making a bird (specifically, a swan) as their messenger. In this love story, Damayanti ended up obtaining Nala as her husband.​

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Some generations later, another princess of the same kingdom of Vidarbha yearned for the love of her life. This time, it was Rukmiṇī, yearning to obtain Krishna as her husband. The great Sanskrit poet Mahākavi Ḍhuṇḍhirāja Śāstrī (the parama-guru of Śrī Harisūri) composes a beautiful verse expressing the feelings of her heart:​

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मत्तातपूर्वजतनूभवया कयाचि-​

त्सम्प्रेष्य धन्यतमया द्विजमेव दूतम् ।​

लब्धो नलः पतिरतस्त्वनलो न वव्रे​

सोऽयं मया व्रियत ईश हरेऽविता त्वम् ॥ [वसन्ततिलकम्]​

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[Sing like brahma-saṁhitā]:​

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mat-tāta-pūrvaja-tanūbhavayā kayācit​

sampreṣya dhanyatamayā dvijam eva dūtam​

labdho nalaḥ patir atas tv analo na vavre​

so'yaṁ mayā vriyata īśa hare'vitā tvam​

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Translation: O Hari! A certain fortunate daughter of my paternal ancestors once sent a dvija (bird) as her messenger. By sending a dvija, that Damayanti obtained Nala (King Nala) as her husband. Since she obtained "Nala" as her husband, she never had to embrace any a-nala (any human besides Nala).​

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However, that same anala (fire, specifically fire of separation from you) is now coming to embrace me. I too am now sending a dvija (brāhmaṇa) as my messenger. O Lord! You alone are my protector now.​

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— Bhāgavata-vyañjanam (5.34) of Mahākavi Ḍhuṇḍhirāja Śāstrī. Translation by Hari Pārṣada Dāsa. 01-Oct-2021.​

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PS: The poet has played on two words. The first word is dvija (twice-born), which has two meanings here — (1) Bird , since all birds take birth twice - once as an egg and then by hatching out of it ; (2) Brāhmaṇa.​

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The second word is anala, which has two meanings — (1) Not Nala i.e. any human besides Nala ; (2) Fire.​

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One can read a short synopsis of the Nala-Damayanti pastime at : http://ritsin.com/story-nala-damyanti-love-unknown.../ _/\ò_