Shloka 42

Devanagari script

प्रत्याख्याता मया तत्र नलस्यार्थाय देवता: । नूनं तेषां प्रभावेण वियोगं प्राप्तवत्यहम्‌,“मैं समझती हूँ, स्वयंवरके लिये जो लोकपाल देवगण पधारे थे, नलके कारण मैंने उनका तिरस्कार कर दिया था। अवश्य उन्हीं देवताओंके प्रभावसे आज मुझे वियोगका कष्ट प्राप्त हुआ है।” इस प्रकार दुःखसे आतुर हुई सुन्दरी पतिव्रता दमयन्तीने उस समय अनेक प्रकारसे विलाप एवं प्रलाप किये

Transliteration

pratyākhyātā mayā tatra nalasyārthāya devatāḥ | nūnaṁ teṣāṁ prabhāveṇa viyogaṁ prāptavaty aham ||

Translation

Bṛhadaśva said: “There, for Nala’s sake, I rejected the gods who had come. Surely, by the power of those deities, I have now fallen into the misery of separation.” Thus, tormented by grief, the beautiful and faithful Damayantī lamented and cried out in many ways at that time.

Word by Word

प्रत्याख्याताrejected / slighted

मयाby me

तत्रthere

नलस्यof Nala / for Nala's sake

अर्थायfor the sake (of)

देवताःthe deities

नूनम्surely / indeed

तेषाम्of them

प्रभावेणby (their) power/influence

वियोगम्separation

प्राप्तवतीhas obtained / has come to

अहम्I

Speaker

बृहदश्चव उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bṛhadaśva

Nala

Damayantī

devatāḥ (the gods / lokapāla deities implied)

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 moral causality and accountability: Damayantī interprets her present suffering as a consequence of having dishonored divine guests for the sake of her chosen husband, underscoring the ethical weight of respect toward the divine and toward those who arrive as honored participants.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Nala–Damayantī episode, Damayantī, now separated from Nala, reflects on the earlier svayaṃvara where she rejected the gods who had come, and she laments that their offended power has brought about her current anguish of separation.