Puranic Encyclopaedia: A Comprehensive Dictionary with Special Reference to the Epic and Puranic Literature c5.100

c5.100

5) Nala and Damayantī to the forest. Puṣkara got the kingdom, wealth and everything that his elder brother, Nala, had possessed. The miserable Nala left everything he had and clad in only one cloth got out of the palace. His wife Damayantī followed him. They stayed outside the city for three days. Puṣkara made a proclamation that if anybody rendered any help to Nala he would be ruthlessly put to death. After that Nala stayed there for three more days, with only water for food and drink. Then he went to the forest. His wife followed him. They were hungry. Nala saw some golden birds. Nala wanted to catch them for food. So he took his only cloth and spread it on the ground. The birds took that cloth and flew away. Those birds were the dices used in the game. They were influenced by Kali. The miserable and hungerstricken Nala asked his wife Damayantī to go with the caravan traders who were going to Avanti and save herself. But she did not consent to go away from him.