Naishadha Charita, also known as Naishadhiya Charita (), is a poem in Sanskrit on the life of Nala, the king of Nishadha. Written by Sriharsha, it is considered one of the five mahakavyas (great epic poems) in the canon of Sanskrit literature. It was composed by Śrī Harṣa in the court of the Gahaḍavāla King Jayachandra.
Contents Naishadha Charita presents the story of Nala's early life; his falling in love with Damayanti, their marriage, and honeymoon.
This mahakavya is divided into two parts – Purva and Uttara, each of them containing eleven cantos or divisions. Its story is that of Nala and Damayanti, the daughter of Bhima, the king of Vidarbha. This story is first related in the 3rd part of the Vanaparva of the Mahabharata, where the treatment is different. The language of the Naishadha Charita is highly elaborate and polished, with continual play upon words and variety of metres. The Shishupala Vadha of Magha and the Naishadha Charita of Sriharsha are considered tests for scholars; of the Naishadha it is said that it is Naishadham Vidvad-aushadham, i.e. the "Scholars' tonic".
Characters The main characters of the poem are: Nalaking of Naishadha DamayantiNala's beloved, and later his wife Saraswatigoddess of learning Indraking of heaven The Gods as suitors to Damayanti
Plot
The first canto begins with an elaborate description of Nala, his physical beauty, valour and other qualities. The minstrels visiting the court of Nala bring the news of Damayanti, the daughter of King Bhimna, as an accomplished and charming lady. Love for that princess was thus kindled in Nala. Unable to bear it, he went to a pleasure garden in his palace where he seized a beautiful swan he saw. It cried in horror and was let off by the kind prince. It went to Kundinapura, the capital city of King Bhima, and managed to find Damayanti in a garden there. The swan gave her a good picture of Nala and assured her of its services in fostering mutual affection between her and Nala. It flew to Nala and apprised him of Damayanti's enviable attainments. King Bhima was informed of his daughter's ailment, which was virtually love-sickness, by the innocent and inexperienced companions of Damayanti. Thereupon, Bhima made arrangements for the swayamvara (an ancient Indian practice whereby a girl chooses a husband from a list of suitors) of his daughter.
Meanwhile, Indra, the king of the gods, learnt from Narada the news of Damayanti's swayamvara and of her steadfast love for Nala. Natural fascination to win the hand of a damsel goaded Indra to attend the swayamvara. He got down to earth with the gods Agni, Yama, Varuna and Shani (Saturn) and met on his way Nala, who too was proceeding to attend the swayamvara. He was unable to contain his envy on noticing Nala's enchanting appearance and so resorted to a ruse by requesting Nala to be the emissary of the gods and impress upon Damayanti their unequalled worthiness. The rewards that are vouchsafed traditionally to one who offers his service to another in need were brought by Indra to the notice of Nala, who was otherwise unwilling and at the same time felt the delicacy of refusing the request of the divine beings. At last, he agreed and was sent to the harem of Damayanti, remaining invisible to others — a boon granted to him by the gods.
Keeping his identity unknown to Damayanti, Nala attempted to deliver to her the message of the gods but his well-reasoned arguments on behalf of the gods were not acceptable to Damayanti, who was against a human being seeking an alliance with the gods. Nala's warning that the gods would create problems and obstacles in her married life, if she chose someone else, did not defer her from her steadfast love for Nala. At last, Nala revealed his identity and left the harem.
The four gods assumed a form identical to Nala's and were there along with Nala, virtually presenting five Nalas. At the instance of Vishnu, Saraswati, the goddess of learning, became the bridesmaid for Damayanti. She took the princess to the kings and spoke highly of the worth of each one, but they were all rejected by Damayanti. At last, the princess was brought before the five Nalas. Sarasvati described each god in such a manner that her words attributable to that god were also contained in her description. Damayanti was perplexed. She felt that Nala was a master of many lores and could understand even the intentions of horses and so he was there presenting himself in five forms. She was unable to know the real Nala and in a mood of anguish prayed to the gods to reveal their identity and enable her to choose Nala. She found that the gods did not touch the ground with their feet, did not wink and had no sweat on their bodies. Their garlands did not fade. Thus she became certain about their identity.
On knowing Nala's identity, bashfulness took full control of her. She would put the garland around Nala's neck but her fingers did not move even a little to do so, restraint and bashfulness forbidding her. She whispered into the ears of Saraswati uttering the letter (lit. no) and stopped. She touched the fingers of Saraswati who laughed at this. The bridesmaid took the princess before Nala and addressed the gods that Damayanti, a chaste woman, would not choose any of them and requested them to shower their favour on the princess. The gods gave their assent through the movement of their eyebrows and returned to their regions. The marriage celebrations followed on a grand scale.
Kali, the evil genius, met the gods who were returning to their regions, and was informed of Damayanti's choice. He avowed to spoil the happy life of the wedded pair and took his position on a tree in Nala's mansion.
The last five cantos deal with the happy life of Nala and Damayanti. The poet takes care to show that Nala did not violate the rules of conduct in his religious acts. The poem abruptly ends after narrating Damayanti's beauty in the moonlit night.
Events occurring in each chapter
The progress of the story spanning across 22 chapters is presented below, by showing the significant events covered in a range of verses. The verse numbers referred to here are taken from the book Naishadhiya Charitam Of Harsha published by Nirnaya Sagar Press.
Sarga 1 +Story-line in Sarga 1VersesEvents presented1-25King Nala's description26-30Women falling in love with King Nala31-41Damayanti's love with King Nala42-55Nala's love for Damayanti56-64King Nala's desire to visit a garden, description of Nala's horse68-73The sighting of King Nala by people of the city74-106King Nala's wandering in the garden, description of fruits and flowers107-116Description of a lake in the garden117-129Description of a swan in the garden, Nala's capture of the swan and the reaction of other birds130-134The swan's rebuke of Nala135-142The swan's narration of its plight143-144Nala's release of the swan145Concluding verse of sarga 1
Sarga 2 +Story-line in Sarga 2VersesEvents presented1-7The swan's activity after being released by Nala8-15The swan speaks to Nala16-48The swan describes Damayanti to Nala49-62Nala responds to the swan's words63Nala enters a dwelling in the garden64-72The swan sets off on a journey towards the Kuṇḍina73-106Description of Kuṇḍina107-109The swan spots Damayantī110Concluding verse of sarga 2
Sarga 3 +Story-line in Sarga 3VersesEvents presented1-12The swan approaches Damayantī and leads her away to a nearby forest13-53The swan ridicules Damayantī in her futile attempts at capturing it. Later, the swan introduces itself to Damayantī, praises Nala and claims that Lord Brahma wishes to unite Nala and Damayantī in marriage54-59Damayantī seeks the swan's forgiveness. She reluctantly expresses her love for Nala60-73The swan encourages Damayantī to speak her mind74-91Damayantī expresses her love for Nala and entreats the swan to unite her with Nala92-96Damayantī pleads the swan to convey her message to Nala at an appropriate time97-99The poet (Śrī Harṣa) opines that Damayantī's expression of love for Nala is quite appropriate100-128The swan describes love-stricken Nala's plight to Damayantī129Damayantī's friends find her in the forest130-135The swan returns to Nala and narrates its conversation with Damayantī to him136Concluding verse of sarga 3
Sarga 4 +Story-line in Sarga 4VersesEvents presented1-42Description of the plight of love-stricken Damayantī43-74Afflicted by her love for Nala, Damayantī speaks to her friend and censures the moon75-99Damayantī censures Manmatha100-109Damayantī and her friends engage in a conversation in the form of riddles110-114Damayantī faints and her friends revive her115-122King Bhīma rushes to his daughter's chamber upon hearing the commotion and learns that she is love-stricken from the physician124Concluding verse of sarga 4
Sarga 5 +Story-line in Sarga 5VersesEvents presented1-11Sage Nārada visits heaven along with his friend sage Parvata12-19Indra inquires Nārada why Kings perishing in battle were not attaining heaven. Indra further bemoans that the wealth of the heaven is worthless if it were not be offered to others20-36Nārada praises Indra for his magnanimity. He describes the beauty of Damayantī to Indra and her love for a human (without revealing Nala's name). He further adds that the kings of the earth are attending Damayantī's svayaṃvara and hence are not engaged in battle at the moment.37-39Indra says that Lord Viṣṇu's power has ensured that the Gods remain unrivalled40-44Disappointed due to not witnessing a battle in heaven, Nārada leaves heaven45-54Indra's wife Śacī and other apsaras are saddened by his love for Damayantī.55-58Gods Agni, Indra, Yama and Varuṇa are also eager to marry Damayantī and follow Indra to the earth to attend Damayantī's svayaṃvara59-73The Gods meet with Nala, who is on his way to the svayaṃvara, and are captivated by his charming personality74-78The Gods greet Nala. Indra introduces himself, the other Gods and presents a request before Nala79-92Nala ponders over Indra's words. He mulls over the qualities of a charitable man and the greatness of charity93-97Nala salutes to the Gods and agrees to fulfil their request98-102The Gods express that they are in love with Damayantī. They wish Nala to act as their messenger and inform Damayantī of their love for her103-115Nala explains his incapability in acting as their messenger116-137Indra warns Nala of not fulfilling his promise given to the Gods. The Gods convince Nala that attainment of fame is greater than attaining Damayanti and finally persuade him to act as their messenger138Concluding verse of sarga 5
Sarga 6 +Story-line in Sarga 6VersesEvents presented1-6Nala sets on his journey towards the city of Kuṇḍina7-49Nala enters the city of Kuṇḍina. He becomes invisible owing to the boon of the Gods. Women of the city see Nala's shadow, footprints, ornaments etc. and are astonished by an invisible thing in their city50-56The invisible Nala runs into Damayantī and she hurls a garland onto his neck57-74Nala enters the Damayantī's chamber and observes the various activities of her friends75Nala is dejected at the prospect of acting as the Gods' messenger 76-89Another messenger of Indra enters the chamber and offers Indra's proposition to Damayantī.90-110Damayantī rejects Indra's proposal and censures her friends for questioning her love for Nala111-112Nala is joyous on seeing Damayantī's rejection of Indra's proposal113Concluding verse of sarga 6
Sarga 7