Shloka 9
Adhyāya 73: Damayantī’s Investigation of Bāhuka
Keśinī’s Observations
अद्य चन्द्राभवक्त्र तं न पश्यामि नलं यदि । असंख्येयगुणं वीरं॑ विनड्क्षयामि न संशय:,आज यदि असंख्य गुणोंसे विभूषित तथा चन्द्रमाके समान मुखवाले वीरवर नलको न देखूँगी तो अपने इस जीवनका अन्त कर दूँगी, इसमें संशय नहीं है
adya candrābhavaktra taṃ na paśyāmi nalaṃ yadi | asaṅkhyeyaguṇaṃ vīraṃ vinaṅkṣyāmi na saṃśayaḥ ||
“If today I do not see Nala—hero of countless virtues, whose face is like the moon—then I shall end my life. Of this there is no doubt.”
बृहदश्चव उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the intensity of steadfast attachment and resolve in separation: the beloved is praised for virtue, and the speaker’s vow shows how powerful longing can become when ungoverned by patience and self-preservation.
In the Nala–Damayantī episode narrated by Bṛhadaśva, Damayantī (implicitly) declares that if she does not see Nala that very day, she will end her life—underscoring the crisis point of their separation.