Shloka 30
Rathaghoṣa–Saṃjñāna: Damayantī’s Inference and the Dispatch of the Envoy (Āraṇyaka-parva, Adhyāya 71)
अपि चेदं वयस्तुल्यं बाहुकस्य नलस्य च । नायं नलो महावीर्यस्तद्विद्यक्ष भविष्यति,“इसी प्रकार बाहुक और नलकी अवस्था भी एक है। यह महापराक्रमी राजा नल नहीं है तो भी उनके ही समान विद्वान् कोई दूसरा महापुरुष होगा
api cedaṁ vayastulyaṁ bāhukasya nalasya ca | nāyaṁ nalo mahāvīryas tadvidyakṣa bhaviṣyati ||
Ṛtupārṇa berkata: “Lagipula usia Bāhuka dan Nala tampak sama. Jika ini bukan Nala, sang pahlawan perkasa, maka pastilah seorang agung lainnya—yang setara dalam kepandaian dan ilmu.”
ऋचुपर्ण उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights careful discernment: true excellence can be recognized through signs such as age, capability, and learned skill. Even when identity is concealed, virtue and competence leave traces that invite reasoned inference rather than rash judgment.
King Ṛtupārṇa observes that Bāhuka’s age matches Nala’s and suspects a deeper identity. He reasons that if Bāhuka is not the famed Nala, then he must be another extraordinary person with comparable expertise—hinting at Nala’s concealed presence.