Queen Damayanti was the wife of King Nala. She is renowned
for her chastity and noble thoughts. It is mentioned in the Mahabharata that Damayanthi
was able to annihilate a womanizer through her chastity.
King Nala lost a game of dice and both he and Damayanti are
banished to spend twelve years in the forest.
Nala only had a single piece of cloth on this body. In the
forest, once he attempted to catch a few birds with golden wings and lost his
only garment.
King Nala and Damayanti were sleeping under a tree and they
covered their body with what Damayanti had worn. Nala was worried about
Damayanti in the dense forest and he knew she would not willingly leave him.
Therefore, he decided to abandon Damayanti thinking that
upon not seeing him she will return to her father.
When Damayanti woke up Nala was not to be seen. While
searching for her husband, she came across a tiger. She panicked and started
running, with the tiger back on her trail.
Soon a hunter rescued her. However, he was a womanizer and
he attempted to molest Damayanti.
An angry Damayanti prayed to the Gods – If I am chaste and
if I have thought of no man other than Nala, then let this hunter fall dead at
this very moment.
As soon as she finished her words, the hunter fell to the
ground and died.
Damayanti then reached the kingdom of Chedi and with the
help of Chedi King Subahu, she was able to reach her kingdom, Vidarbha, and
meet her father Bhishmak.