ditary right,
Slayer of his foes, dark Nala--Punyasloka is he called;
Holy, Veda read, and eloquent--soma quaffing, fire adoring,[78][79]
Sacrificer, liberal giver--warrior, in all points a king,--
Of this monarch, best of mountains--know, the wife before thee stands.
Fallen from bliss, bereft of husband--unprotected, sorrow-doomed,
Seeking every where her husband--him the best of noblest men.
Best of mountains, heaven-upsoaring--with thy hundred stately peaks,
Hast thou seen the kingly Nala--in this dark and awful wood:
Like the elephant in courage--wise, impetuous, with long arms,
Valiant, and of truth unquestioned--my heroic, glorious lord;
Hast thou seen Nishadha's sovereign--mighty Nala hast thou seen?
Why repliest thou not, oh Mountain--sorrowing, lonely, and distressed,
With thy voice why not console me--as thine own afflicted child?
Hero, mighty, strong in duty--true of promise, lord of earth,
If thou art within the forest--show thee in thy proper form.
When so eloquently deep-toned--like the sound of some dark cloud,
Shall I hear thy voice, oh Nala!--sweet as the amrita draught,[80]
Saying, 'daughter of Vidarbha!'--with distinct, with blessed sound,
Musical as holy Veda--rich, and soothing all my pain;
Thus console me, trembling, fainting--thou, oh virtue-loving king!"
To the holiest of mountains--spake the daughter of the king.
Damayanti then set forward--toward the region of the north.
Three days long, three nights she wandered--then that noble woman saw,
The unrivalled wood of hermits--like to a celestial grove.
To the ancient famous hermits[81]--equal was that sacred crew;
Self-denying, strict in diet[82]--temperate, and undefiled;
Water-drinking, air inhaling--and the leaves their simple food;
Mortified, for ever blessed--seeking the right way to heaven;
Bark for vests and skins for raiment--wore those hermits, sense-subdued.
She beheld the pleasant circle--of those hermits' lonely cells;
Round them flocks of beasts were grazing--wantoned there the monkey tribes.
When she saw those holy dwellings--all her courage was revived.
Lovely browed, and lovely tressed--lovely bosom'd, lovely lipp'd,[83]
In her brightness, in her glory--with her large dark beauteous eyes,
Entered she those hermit dwellings--wife of Virasena's son;
Pearl of women, ever blessed-Damayanti th