DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.638#0437
CHAPTER XXII
Nala in Exile
Nala's Wanderings—The Magic Fire—King of Serpents Rescued—Nala
Transformed—His Service as a Charioteer—Life in Ayodhya—The Evening
Song of Sorrow—Search for Damayanti—How she was Discovered—Her De-
parture from Chedi—Search for Nala—A Woman's Faith—Journey to the
Swayamvara—The Tree Wonder—Demon Leaves Nala's Body—The Coming
of the Chariot—Damayanti's Vow.
Soon after Nala had fled into the forest depths, deserting
the faithful Damayanti, he beheld a great fire which blazed
furiously. As he drew nigh he heard a voice crying over
and over again from the midst of the sacred flames:
"Hasten, Nala! Oh, hasten, Nala, and come hither!"
Now, Agni had given Nala power over fire, so crying:
"Have no fear," he leapt through the flames. ... In
the space within that blazing circle be beheld the king of
serpents lying coiled up in a ring with folded hands and
unable to move.1 " Lo! I am Karkotaka," the serpent said,
"and am suffering this punishment because that I deceived
the holy sage Narada, who thereupon cursed me, saying:
'Thou wilt rernain here in the midst of the flames until
Nala cometh nigh to free thee from my curse'. ... So
do I He without power to move. O mighty rajah, if thou
wilt rescue me even now, I will reward thee abundantly
with my noble friendship, and help thee to attain great
This serpent was a demi-god with human face and hands. It ruled its kind in the
underworld, and recalls the Egyptian king serpent in the story of the shipwrecked sailor.
—See Egypiian Myth and Legend. It is also called Vasuka and Shesha.
(°W»1 J53 26
Nala in Exile
Nala's Wanderings—The Magic Fire—King of Serpents Rescued—Nala
Transformed—His Service as a Charioteer—Life in Ayodhya—The Evening
Song of Sorrow—Search for Damayanti—How she was Discovered—Her De-
parture from Chedi—Search for Nala—A Woman's Faith—Journey to the
Swayamvara—The Tree Wonder—Demon Leaves Nala's Body—The Coming
of the Chariot—Damayanti's Vow.
Soon after Nala had fled into the forest depths, deserting
the faithful Damayanti, he beheld a great fire which blazed
furiously. As he drew nigh he heard a voice crying over
and over again from the midst of the sacred flames:
"Hasten, Nala! Oh, hasten, Nala, and come hither!"
Now, Agni had given Nala power over fire, so crying:
"Have no fear," he leapt through the flames. ... In
the space within that blazing circle be beheld the king of
serpents lying coiled up in a ring with folded hands and
unable to move.1 " Lo! I am Karkotaka," the serpent said,
"and am suffering this punishment because that I deceived
the holy sage Narada, who thereupon cursed me, saying:
'Thou wilt rernain here in the midst of the flames until
Nala cometh nigh to free thee from my curse'. ... So
do I He without power to move. O mighty rajah, if thou
wilt rescue me even now, I will reward thee abundantly
with my noble friendship, and help thee to attain great
This serpent was a demi-god with human face and hands. It ruled its kind in the
underworld, and recalls the Egyptian king serpent in the story of the shipwrecked sailor.
—See Egypiian Myth and Legend. It is also called Vasuka and Shesha.
(°W»1 J53 26