Shloka 15
Damayantī’s Proposal of a Witnessed Choice; Nala Reports to the Lokapālas
Adhyāya 53
नलश्न नरशार्दूलो लोकेष्वप्रतिमो भुवि । कन्दर्प इव रूपेण मूर्तिमानभवत् स्वयम्,नरश्रेष्ठ नल भी इस भूतलके मनुष्योंमें अनुपम सुन्दर थे। उनका रूप देखकर ऐसा जान पड़ता था, मानो नलके आकारमें स्वयं मूर्तिमान् कामदेव ही उत्पन्न हुआ हो
nalaś ca naraśārdūlo lokeṣv apratimo bhuvi | kandarpa iva rūpeṇa mūrtimān abhavat svayam ||
Dijo Bṛhadaśva: Nala, ese tigre entre los hombres, no tenía igual entre los pueblos del mundo. En hermosura parecía Kāma (el dios del amor) hecho manifiesto en forma corporal, como si el Amor hubiera tomado figura de Nala.
बृहृदश्चव उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights Nala’s unmatched beauty, but within the Nala narrative it also foreshadows a key ethical contrast: external excellence (rūpa, fame) is not the final measure of a person—true worth is tested when fortune turns and one must uphold self-control and dharma amid suffering and temptation.
Bṛhadaśva, recounting the story of Nala, introduces Nala’s extraordinary qualities. Here he emphasizes Nala’s incomparable appearance, likening him to the embodied god of love, setting the scene for why Nala is renowned and why his later downfall and recovery carry such narrative weight.