Shloka 65
नलस्य बाहुकत्वेन ऋतुपर्णनगरप्रवेशः
Nala as Bāhuka enters Ṛtuparṇa’s city
नानामृगगणैर्जुष्टं शाखामृगगणायुतम् । तापसै: समुपेतं च सा दृष्टवैव समाश्चसत्,उस आश्रममें नाना प्रकारके मृगों और वानरोंके समुदाय भी विचरते रहते थे। तपस्वी महात्माओंसे भरे हुए उस आश्रमको देखते ही दमयन्तीको बड़ी सान्त्वना मिली
nānāmṛgagaṇair juṣṭaṃ śākhāmṛgagaṇāyutam | tāpasaiḥ samupetaṃ ca sā dṛṣṭvaiva samāśvasat ||
Bṛhadaśva said: “That hermitage was frequented by herds of many kinds of wild animals and thronged with troops of monkeys; it was also inhabited by ascetic sages. The moment Damayantī beheld that āśrama, she felt a deep reassurance and relief.”
बृहृदश्च उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the āśrama as a moral refuge: a place where tapas and disciplined life create safety and reassurance even amid the wilderness. It suggests that proximity to the righteous (tāpasas) and to ordered, dharmic spaces restores inner steadiness in times of distress.
Damayantī comes upon a hermitage in the forest. Seeing it populated by ascetics and surrounded by harmless signs of settled life—animals and troops of monkeys moving about—she immediately feels consoled and regains confidence.