Shloka 104
नलस्य बाहुकत्वेन ऋतुपर्णनगरप्रवेशः
Nala as Bāhuka enters Ṛtuparṇa’s city
विशोकां कुरु मां क्षिप्रमशोक प्रियदर्शन । वीतशोकभयाबाध॑ कच्चित् त्वं दृष्टवान् नृपम्,(अब उसने अशोकसे कहा--) 'प्रियदर्शन अशोक! तुम शीघ्र ही मेरा शोक दूर कर दो। क्या तुमने शोक, भय और बाधासे रहित शत्रुदमन राजा नलको देखा है? क्या मेरे प्रियतम, दमयन्तीके प्राणवल्लभ, निषधनरेश नलपर तुम्हारी दृष्टि पड़ी है?
bṛhadaśva uvāca | viśokāṃ kuru māṃ kṣipram aśoka priyadarśana | vītaśokabhayābādhaḥ kaccit tvaṃ dṛṣṭavān nṛpam ||
Dijo Bṛhadaśva: «Oh Aśoka, grato a la vista, líbrame pronto del dolor. ¿Has visto acaso al rey Nala, domador de enemigos, libre de pena, temor y aflicción?»
बृहृदश्च उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the human need for reassurance in times of separation: grief seeks relief through truthful news and compassionate speech. It also implies an ethical ideal of steadiness—being ‘free from grief, fear, and affliction’—as a mark of inner strength and worthy kingship.
Bṛhadaśva addresses Aśoka and urgently asks him to remove his sorrow by reporting whether he has seen King Nala. The line belongs to the Nala–Damayantī cycle within the forest-book, where characters search for the lost Nala and cling to any sign of him.