Shloka 12
दमयन्त्याः कार्यनिश्चयः — Damayantī’s Crisis Plan and Vārṣṇeya’s Departure
यं यं हि ददृशे तेषां तं त॑ मेने नल॑ नृपम् । सा चिन्तयन्ती बुद्धयाथ तर्कयामास भाविनी,वह उनमेंसे जिस-जिस व्यक्तिपर दृष्टि डालती, उसी-उसीको राजा नल समझने लगती थी। वह भाविनी राजकन्या बुद्धिसे सोच-विचारकर मन-ही-मन तर्क करने लगी
yaṁ yaṁ hi dadṛśe teṣāṁ taṁ taṁ mene nalaṁ nṛpam | sā cintayantī buddhyātha tarkayāmāsa bhāvinī ||
Sesiapa sahaja yang dipandangnya antara mereka, orang itulah disangkanya Raja Nala. Lalu puteri yang berhati mulia itu, dengan kebijaksanaannya, mula menimbang dan berhujah dalam batin—mencari kebenaran di tengah rupa yang memperdaya.
बृहदश्व उवाच
Educational Q&A
When outward signs are unreliable, one must turn to buddhi (discernment) and careful reasoning to choose rightly; ethical action depends on seeing beyond appearances.
At the svayaṃvara, multiple figures appear similar, so the princess mistakes each one she looks at for Nala; realizing the confusion, she begins to think and reason internally to identify the true Nala.