Shloka 7
तां सम दृष्टवैव सहसा दमयन्तीं नलो नृपः । आविष्ट: शोकदु:खाभ्यां बभूवाश्रुपरिप्लुत:,भरतकुलभूषण! पिता और माताकी आज्ञा ले दमयन्तीने नलको राजभवनके भीतर जहाँ वह स्वयं रहती थी, बुलवाया। दमयन्तीको सहसा सामने उपस्थित देख राजा नल शोक और दु:खसे व्याप्त हो नेत्रोंसे आँसू बहाने लगे
tāṃ saṃdṛṣṭvaiva sahasā damayantīṃ nalo nṛpaḥ | āviṣṭaḥ śokaduḥkhābhyāṃ babhūvāśrupariplutaḥ ||
As soon as King Nala suddenly beheld Damayantī before him, he was overwhelmed by grief and sorrow, and his eyes flooded with tears. The scene underscores the ethical strain of a ruler caught between inner anguish and the demands of duty, where emotion breaks through the restraint expected of kingship.
बृहदश्चव उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how even a king, expected to embody steadiness and self-control, can be overtaken by sorrow; it invites reflection on dharma as lived under emotional pressure—where compassion and truth of feeling coexist with the responsibilities of rulership.
Damayantī suddenly appears before King Nala; the sight of her immediately triggers intense grief in him, and he breaks into tears, signaling the depth of their distress and the crisis unfolding in their relationship and circumstances.