Shloka 90
नलस्य बाहुकत्वेन ऋतुपर्णनगरप्रवेशः
Nala as Bāhuka enters Ṛtuparṇa’s city
को नु मे जीवितेनार्थस्तमृते पुरुषर्षभम् । कथं भविष्याम्यद्याहं भर्तुशोकाभिपीडिता,“उन पुरुषरत्न नलके बिना जीवन धारण करनेसे मेरा क्या प्रयोजन है? अब मैं पतिशोकसे पीड़ित होकर न जाने कैसी हो जाऊँगी?”
ko nu me jīvitena arthaḥ tam ṛte puruṣarṣabham | kathaṁ bhaviṣyāmy adya ahaṁ bhartuḥ-śokābhipīḍitā ||
“What purpose can my life serve without that bull among men? How shall I live today, crushed by grief for my husband?”
बृहृदश्च उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the intensity of spousal devotion and the ethical weight of marital bonds, while also implicitly raising the dharmic challenge of enduring suffering without losing steadiness or purpose.
In the Nala–Damayantī episode narrated by Bṛhadaśva, Damayantī laments her condition after being separated from Nala, declaring that life feels purposeless without him and that she is overwhelmed by grief.