Shloka 130
नलस्य बाहुकत्वेन ऋतुपर्णनगरप्रवेशः
Nala as Bāhuka enters Ṛtuparṇa’s city
ऋते त्वां मानुषीं मर्त्य न पश्यामि महावने । तथा नो यक्षराडद्य मणिभद्र: प्रसीदतु,“तुम-जैसी मानव-कन्याके सिवा और किसी मनुष्यको मैं इस विशाल वनमें नहीं देख रहा हूँ। इसलिये यक्षराज मणिभद्र आज हमपर प्रसन्न हों!
ṛte tvāṃ mānuṣīṃ martya na paśyāmi mahāvane | tathā no yakṣarāḍ adya maṇibhadraḥ prasīdatu ||
Wika ni Bṛhadaśva: “Maliban sa iyo, O dalagang mortal, wala akong nakikitang ibang tao sa malawak na gubat na ito. Kaya nawa’y maging mapagpala sa amin ngayon si Maṇibhadra, ang hari ng mga Yakṣa.”
बृहृदश्च उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights discernment in uncertain surroundings and the human impulse to seek protection through respectful invocation of a powerful guardian-deity (here, the Yakṣa lord Maṇibhadra), reflecting a cultural ethic of humility and seeking auspicious favor when entering perilous spaces.
Bṛhadaśva observes that, in the vast forest, he sees no other human besides the addressed maiden. In response to the uncanny or potentially dangerous setting, he invokes Maṇibhadra, the Yakṣa-king, praying that the Yakṣa lord be pleased with them that day.