Nal-Damayanti

The reverent chanting of Karkotak, Cobra king, Damayanti, Nal, Rituparn, the great king is destroyer of the Kaliyug' s evil influence. .

When the great soul Arjuna went away to the heaven (abode of Indra) to obtain weapons, the Pandavas were staying in the Kamyak forest. They were in great remorse and feeling perturbed due to the separation from Arjuna and ruin of the Empire. It is related that one day, Pandavas and Draupadi were talking about this. The king Yudhishthir was just consoling Bhimsen, at the sametime, the great sage Vrihadashwa was seen coming to their hermitage.

Seeing the sage Vrihadashwa coming, the righteous Yudhishthir moving onward, greeted and offered him a seat, worshipped with due respect. After his rest, Yudhishthir began to relate his concern. He stated-'Your Majesty! Under the fraudulent plan, calling me, the Kauravas gambled and having defeated an innocent man like me by foul means and thus, grabbed all my possessions. Not only this, dragging my beloved Draupadi, they humiliated her in the open assembly. At last, they sent us wrapped in black deer skin to the dense forest. O the sage! You, please tell us, who is more unfortunate king then I? Have you ever heard or seen anywhere such a grieved one?'

The sage Vrihadashwa said-O Dharmaraj! Your assertion that no such grieved, king was ever born, is not correct; because I know about a king more distressed and unfortunate than you. If you so desire, I should narrate.

On the insistence of the virtuous king Yudhishthir, the sage Vrihadashwa started narrating.