The Story of Nal and Damayanti in Bhakti and Sufism Accounts

The story of Nal and Damayanti from the Mahabharata is a very popular and frequently told story. It has been interpreted in many languages which also includes Persian and Braj. This page describes the interpretations of the story conducted by Todar Mal, the Hindu finance minister of Mughal emperor Akbar and Abu al-Faiz, Akbar's poet laureate. Both the interpretations include the central theme of love. In Todar Mal's version, the story of Nal (or Nala) and Damayanti has themes such as love, deceit and war between Hindu deities and Nal. On the other hand, Faizi talks about three oppositions which also play a role as themes. The first opposition is love and intellect (aql), the second opposition is between love and beauty (husn) and the third opposition is between Ishq and junnun (frenzy). However, one account is related to Bhakti which includes a lot of Hindu deities and connections between the supreme power and human beings. The other account is related to Sufism which includes a passionate connection between love and humans.

A general statement related to Bhakti states that it is a devotional worship for one supreme deity, by whose blessings a person can achieve salvation. A Bhakti rendition of Nala-Damayanti: Todarmal’s ‘Nector of Nal’s life’ describes the famous story of Nal and Damayanti. The story is described from a Hindu traditional perspective keeping in mind the Hindu culture. The story includes themes of love, deceit and war. 'Nector of Nal's Life' is closely related to Bhakti of a Hindu deity called Hari. It starts off with Damayanti's life. Damayanti is a young princess whose beauty is beyond perfection. Due to this her mother insists on marrying her daughter to a God instead of marrying her to a mere human. They consider Lord Indra to be the perfect match for Damayanti. However, the goose that had been sent to Indra holding the invitation to the marriage was hit by a storm and lands in the kingdom of a handsome king named Nal. Nal takes cares of the goose and instead of continuing its journey the goose decides to choose Nal as the rightful husband of Damayanti. Lord Indra finds out that Nal is in love with Damayanti and demands him not to marry her or else he will have to pay for his actions. However, Indra realises that he must deceit to win Damayanti and so he decides to take the form of Nal. Damayanti is presented with two Nals and so she must choose the one she loves. "Anguished, she calls upon Hari who guides her actions and enables her to know which is truly Nal. Only when she looks into the eyes of both does she know her true love and garlands the real Nal" (Wadley 1999, 33). This is the first instance in the story in which the power of Bhakti is displayed.

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