Shloka 24

Devanagari script

कथं भविष्यसि पुनर्मामनुस्मृत्य नैषध । कथं भवागञ्जगामाद्य मामुत्सृज्य वने प्रभो,“निषधनरेश! यदि मैं मर गयी, तो मुझे बार-बार याद करके आपकी कैसी दशा हो जायगी? प्रभो! आज मुझे वनमें छोड़कर आप क्‍यों चले गये?

Transliteration

kathaṁ bhaviṣyasi punar mām anusmṛtya naiṣadha | kathaṁ bhavān jagāmādya mām utsṛjya vane prabho ||

Translation

‘O king of Niṣadha, how will you endure again and again, remembering me? And how is it that you have gone away today, leaving me behind in this forest, O lord?’

Word by Word

कथम्how?

भविष्यसिwill you be / will you become

पुनःagain, repeatedly

माम्me

अनुस्मृत्यhaving remembered (me)

नैषधO Naiṣadha (king of Niṣadha)

कथम्how?

भवO lord / O sir

अगञ्जगामdid (you) not go away / did not depart

अद्यtoday, now

माम्me

उत्सृज्यhaving abandoned/left (me)

वनेin the forest

प्रभोO lord

Speaker

ब॒हृदश्चव उवाच

Characters & Entities

Naiṣadha (king of Niṣadha, i.e., Nala)

Forest (vana)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights the ethical weight of abandoning a dependent loved one: remembrance intensifies suffering, and a ruler’s or husband’s duty (dharma) is tested when compassion conflicts with fear, shame, or desperation.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Nala–Damayantī episode, Damayantī addresses Nala (the Naiṣadha king) after he has left her in the forest; she questions how he can live with the repeated memory of her and why he departed, abandoning her in the wilderness.