Shloka 101
नलस्य बाहुकत्वेन ऋतुपर्णनगरप्रवेशः
Nala as Bāhuka enters Ṛtuparṇa’s city
सा गत्वाथापरां भूमिं बाष्पसंदिग्धया गिरा । विललापाश्रुपूर्णाक्षी दृष्टगाशोकतरुं तत:,तदनन्तर वह दूसरे स्थानपर जाकर अश्रुगह्द वाणीसे विलाप करने लगी। उसने आँसू भरे नेत्रोंसे देखा, वहाँसे कुछ ही दूरपर एक अशोकका वृक्ष था। दमयन्ती उसके पास गयी। वह तरुवर अशोक-फूलोंसे भरा था। उस वनमें पल्लवोंसे लदा हुआ और पक्षियोंके कलरवोंसे गुंजायमान वह वृक्ष बड़ा ही मनोरम जान पड़ता था
sā gatvāthāparāṃ bhūmiṃ bāṣpa-saṃdigdhyayā girā | vilalāpāśru-pūrṇākṣī dṛṣṭvā aśoka-taruṃ tataḥ ||
Bṛhadaśva said: Then she went on to another spot, and with a voice choked and blurred by tears she began to lament. Her eyes brimming with weeping, she looked about and saw, not far from there, an aśoka tree—laden with blossoms and fresh shoots, resonant with the calls of birds. Drawn to it, Damayantī approached that lovely tree, as if seeking relief from sorrow in a place whose very name signifies the banishing of grief.
बृहृदश्च उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage highlights steadfast endurance in suffering: even amid abandonment and fear, Damayantī continues to move forward, expressing grief without losing her moral center. The aśoka tree functions as a symbolic counterpoint—nature offering a momentary refuge and the hope of grief’s eventual cessation.
Damayantī, alone and distressed, walks to another place in the forest and begins to lament with tear-choked speech. With tear-filled eyes she notices an aśoka tree nearby and approaches it, the scene emphasizing her isolation and the poignancy of her search for relief.