Shloka 23
कलेर्द्वापरस्य च नले प्रति कोपः
Kali and Dvāpara’s Resolve Against Nala
देवास्त्वां प्राप्तुमिच्छन्ति शक्रोडग्निर्वरुणो यम: । तेषामन्यतमं देवं पतिं वरय शोभने,नलने कहा--कल्याणि! तुम मुझे नल समझो। मैं देवताओंका दूत बनकर यहाँ आया हूँ। इन्द्र, अग्नि, वरुण और यम देवता तुम्हें प्राप्त करना चाहते हैं। शोभने! तुम उनमेंसे किसी एकको अपना पति चुन लो
devās tvāṁ prāptum icchanti śakro ’gnir varuṇo yamaḥ | teṣām anyatamaṁ devaṁ patiṁ varaya śobhane ||
Nala nói: “Chư thiên muốn đoạt được nàng—Śakra (Indra), Agni, Varuṇa và Yama. Hỡi người đẹp, hãy chọn làm phu quân vị thần nào trong số ấy mà nàng ưa thích.”
नल उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the tension between personal choice and powerful external pressures. Even when divine authorities express desire, the ethical frame of a svayaṃvara rests on the bride’s agency to choose; it also foregrounds Nala’s role-bound honesty as a messenger (dūta), conveying the gods’ request without concealment.
Nala speaks to Damayantī and reports that four major gods—Indra, Agni, Varuṇa, and Yama—wish to marry her. He urges her to select any one of them as her husband, setting up the dramatic conflict of the svayaṃvara where Nala himself is also a suitor.