Shloka 75

नलस्य बाहुकत्वेन ऋतुपर्णनगरप्रवेशः

Nala as Bāhuka enters Ṛtuparṇa’s city

Devanagari script

न चाप्यस्य गिरेविंप्रा नैव नद्याश्न देवता । मानुषीं मां विजानीत यूयं सर्वे तपोधना:,“अनिन्दिते! कल्याणि! अथवा तुम इस नदीकी अधिष्ठात्री देवी हो, सच-सच बताओ।' दमयन्तीने उन ऋषियोंसे कहा--“तपस्याके धनी ब्राह्मणो! न तो मैं इस वनकी देवी हूँ, न पर्ववकी अधिदेवता और न इस नदीकी ही देवी हूँ। आप सब लोग मुझे मानवी समझें

Transliteration

na cāpy asya gire viprā naiva nadyāś ca devatā | mānuṣīṁ māṁ vijānīta yūyaṁ sarve tapodhanāḥ ||

Translation

“O brahmins, I am not the presiding deity of this mountain, nor the goddess of this river. Know me to be a human woman, all of you who are rich in austerity.” In the narrative, the speaker rejects divine attribution and insists on her human status, grounding the encounter in truthfulness and humility rather than wonder or superstition.

Word by Word

• {'na': 'not', 'ca api': 'and also / even', 'asya': 'of this', 'gireḥ (giri)': 'of the mountain', 'viprāḥ': 'O brahmins', 'na eva': 'certainly not', 'nadyāḥ (nadī)': 'of the river', 'devatā': 'deity

• presiding divinity', 'mānuṣīm': 'human (female)

• belonging to mankind', 'mām': 'me', 'vijānīta (vi-√jñā)': 'know

• understand', 'yūyam': 'you (plural)', 'sarve': 'all', 'tapodhanāḥ': 'those whose wealth is austerity

Speaker

बृहृदश्च उवाच

Characters & Entities

• बृहदश्व (Bṛhadaśva)
• दमयन्ती (Damayantī)
• विप्राः (brahmins/ṛṣis)
• गिरि (mountain)
• नदी (river)
• देवता (presiding deity)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse emphasizes सत्य (truthfulness) and विनय (humility): one should not accept exalted or supernatural labels falsely, but state one’s real condition plainly, even before revered ascetics.

What is happening in the narrative?

Ascetics suspect the woman they meet might be a local deity of the forest/mountain/river. She answers that she is not any such devatā and asks them to recognize her as a human woman.