Shloka 66
Damayantī’s Recognition by the Piplū Mark and Her Return to Vidarbha
कुरुनन्दन युधिष्ठिर! इस प्रकार राजा नलको संदेश और वस्त्र देकर नागराज कर्कोटक वहीं अन्तर्धान हो गया ।। इति श्रीमहाभारते वनपर्वणि नलोपाख्यानपर्वणि नलकर्कोटकसंवादे षट्षष्टितमो<5ध्याय:
kurunandana yudhiṣṭhira! evaṃ rājā nalaḥ sandeshaṃ vastrāṇi ca dattvā nāgarājaḥ karkoṭakaḥ tatraivāntardhānaṃ gataḥ. iti śrīmahābhārate vanaparvaṇi nalopākhyānaparvaṇi nalakarkoṭakasaṃvāde ṣaṭṣaṣṭitamo 'dhyāyaḥ.
Bṛhadaśva said: “O Yudhiṣṭhira, joy of the Kurus! Having thus delivered his message and given the garments, King Nala saw the serpent-king Karkoṭaka vanish from that very spot.” Here ends the sixty-sixth chapter in the Vana Parva of the Mahābhārata, in the Nalopākhyāna section, in the dialogue between Nala and Karkoṭaka—marking the close of this episode where aid is given, counsel is exchanged, and the path forward is set through timely guidance and gratitude.
ब॒हदश्व उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage underscores the ethic of receiving help with humility and responding with appropriate gratitude and action. Counsel and timely assistance—when honored and put into practice—become instruments for restoring one’s path in dharma, even after misfortune.
Bṛhadaśva concludes this segment by telling Yudhiṣṭhira that Nala, after giving a message and garments, witnesses the serpent-king Karkoṭaka vanish on the spot. It functions as a formal chapter-ending note, closing the Nala–Karkoṭaka exchange.