Nala

Then, as the cloth had fallen, the king—hastening—said to Nala, the high-minded one: “I will retrieve it.”

“I wish to go to Vidarbha for the svayaṃvara of Damadantī. If you consider it possible within a single day, O Bāhuka—knower of horses—(tell me).”

Bṛhadaśva said: Then, when the Vārṣṇeya (Nala) had proceeded to gamble, Puṣkara won his kingdom, and whatever other wealth there was as well.

“Such kings as Pṛthu, Purūravā, Gādhi, Nahuṣa, Bharata, Kārtavīrya Arjuna, Māndhātā, Sagara, Rāma, Khaṭvāṅga, Dhundhuhā, Raghu, Tṛṇabindu, Yayāti, Śaryāti, Śantanu, Gaya, Bhagīratha, Kuvalayāśva, Kakutstha, Naiṣadha, Nṛga, Hiraṇyakaśipu…

You will choose me as your husband, just as Damayantī chose the Naiṣadha king. I shall conquer all the kings and, having won you—O fair-complexioned one—take you as mine.

Thus, those two brāhmaṇa sons, becoming a ‘married couple’ by the king’s command, went to the land of Naiṣadha, saying, “Let whatever must happen, happen.”

Having instructed the Naiṣadha king, “Give her to Bhadrāyuṣa,” Ṛṣabha then departed—he who knew the true principles of place, time, and purpose.

The realm remembered as Naiṣadha he gave to Harivarṣa. And the central land of Mount Sumeru he bestowed upon Ilāvṛta.

Beyond this lies Hemakūṭa, also remembered as Kiṃśurūpa. Past Hemakūṭa is Naiṣadha; that region is called Harivarṣa.

Then the meritorious Hlādinī turned to the East and flowed on, cleansing and blessing Upabhāga, Naiṣadha, and Trigarta as well.