Nala

Nala (Sanskrit: नल) is a character in the Vana Parva book of the Mahabharata. He was the king of Nishadha Kingdom and the son of Veerasena. Nala was known for his skill with horses and for his culinary expertise. He married princess Damayanti, of the Vidarbha Kingdom. He was blessed by goddess Kali. He was also a great cook and wrote the first-ever book on cookery, Pakadarpanam (Sanskrit: पाकदर्पण). He is said to have been able to cook a full meal without lighting fire. Even today, a consistently good chef/cook is credited as someone with Nala-Bhagam to mean that their dish tastes as if Nala has prepared it. Story Nala's story is told in the Vana Parva of the Mahabharata and was adapted into various versions. According to the 12th century text Nishadha Charita, one of the five mahakavyas (great epic poems) in the canon of Sanskrit literature, written by Sriharsha, Nala, King of Nishadha, found a beautiful swan in a forest. The swan told him about Damayanti. An impressed Nala told the swan to go to Damayanti and tell her about him. Later, He was chosen by Damayanti as her husband in the swayamvara, a function in which the bride selects her husband from among the invitees, in preference to even the gods who came to marry her. All the gods left the place praising the qualities of Nala and blessing the couple. But when Kali Purush heard everything from the returning gods, in wrath, vowed to doom the life of Damayanti, since she had chosen a mortal and disregarded them. He vowed to divert Nala from the path of Dharma (the path of righteousness and virtue) and to separate Nala and Damayanti. Such was the purity of Nala that it took twelve years for Kali to find a small fault in him and bewitch his soul. After being influenced by evil, Nala played a game of dice with his brother Pushkara and gambled away his wealth and the kingdom to him. Before departing, Damayanti sent her children to her father's kingdom with a charioteer. Pushkara threatened that any citizen who showed sympathy for them would suffer the penalty of being forced to live in the jungle. While Damayanti was sleeping, Nala, under the influence of Kali, deserted her and went away.