Puranic Encyclopaedia: A Comprehensive Dictionary with Special Reference to the Epic and Puranic Literature c5.95

c5.95

1) The background of the story of Nala. During the time of the forest life of the Pāṇḍavas, Arjuna had gone to Kailāsa to do penance before Śiva for getting divine weapons. The rest of the Pāṇḍavas spent the time till the arrival of Arjuna, in sorrow and sadness. They spent miserable days one by one. At that time the hermit Bṛhadaśva visited them. They welcomed the hermit. In the midst of their conversation Dharmaputra told the hermit with tears that he was the most unhappy man in the world. Hearing this the hermit told them the story of Nala, to console the Pāṇḍavas.