Shloka 102
नलस्य बाहुकत्वेन ऋतुपर्णनगरप्रवेशः
Nala as Bāhuka enters Ṛtuparṇa’s city
उपगम्य तरुश्रेष्ठमशोकं पुष्पितं वने । पलल्लवापीडितं ह्ृद्यं विहज्जैरनुनादितम्,तदनन्तर वह दूसरे स्थानपर जाकर अश्रुगह्द वाणीसे विलाप करने लगी। उसने आँसू भरे नेत्रोंसे देखा, वहाँसे कुछ ही दूरपर एक अशोकका वृक्ष था। दमयन्ती उसके पास गयी। वह तरुवर अशोक-फूलोंसे भरा था। उस वनमें पल्लवोंसे लदा हुआ और पक्षियोंके कलरवोंसे गुंजायमान वह वृक्ष बड़ा ही मनोरम जान पड़ता था
bṛhadaśva uvāca | upagamya taruśreṣṭham aśokaṃ puṣpitaṃ vane | pallavāpīḍitaṃ hṛdyaṃ vihagair anunāditam ||
Bṛhadaśva said: Drawing near in the forest, she came to a finest of trees—an aśoka in full bloom. Laden with fresh shoots, pleasing to the heart, and resonant with the calls of birds, it appeared exquisitely delightful. After this, moving on to another spot, she began to lament in a voice choked with tears, her eyes brimming as she looked about and approached the tree.
बृहृदश्च उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage uses serene natural beauty (the blossoming aśoka, birdsong) to heighten the contrast with inner grief, suggesting an ethical ideal of steadfast endurance: even amid sorrow and separation, one continues to move forward, observe, and act without collapsing into despair.
In Bṛhadaśva’s narration of Damayantī’s ordeal, she wanders in the forest weeping and lamenting. She notices a nearby aśoka tree in bloom, heavy with tender shoots and alive with birdsong, and approaches it as her grief continues.