Shloka 52
Nala’s Embassy to Damayantī and the Gods’ Proposal (नलस्य दूतत्वं देवप्रस्तावश्च)
अत्र ते वर्णयिष्यामि यदि शुश्रूषसे5नघ । यस्त्वत्तो दु:खिततरो राजा55सीत् पृथिवीपते,बृहदश्वच बोले--महाराज पाण्डुनन्दन! तुम जो यह कह रहे हो कि मुझसे बढ़कर अत्यन्त भाग्यहीन कोई पुरुष कहीं भी नहीं है, उसके विषयमें मैं तुम्हें एक प्राचीन इतिहास सुनाऊँगा। अनघ! पृथ्वीपते! यदि तुम सुनना चाहो तो मैं उस व्यक्तिका परिचय दूँगा, जो इस पृथ्वीपर तुमसे भी अधिक दुःखी राजा था इति श्रीमहा भारते वनपर्वणि नलोपाख्यानपर्वणि द्विपञ्चाशत्तमो5ध्याय:
atra te varṇayiṣyāmi yadi śuśrūṣase ’nagha | yas tvatto duḥkhitataro rājāsīt pṛthivīpate ||
“If you are willing to listen, O sinless one, I shall describe it to you here: there once was a king, O lord of the earth, who was even more afflicted by sorrow than you.”
ब॒हृदश्चव उवाच
Educational Q&A
Attentive listening to wise counsel and ancient exemplars can reframe personal grief; even great kings have endured worse, so one should meet misfortune with steadiness and dharmic resolve rather than despair.
Bṛhadaśva responds to Yudhiṣṭhira’s lament by introducing an old history: he promises to recount a king who suffered more than Yudhiṣṭhira, setting up the Nala episode as instruction and consolation.