Two Vedic Tales

Stories from The Mahabharata and the Puranas

Two stories from Vedic literature. The first is Nala and Damayanti, a magical love story set in Ancient India, taken from the Mahabharata. It was told by a sage to King Yudhisthira to assuage his sorrow when he was first exiled into the forest. The king had asked, “Who has suffered more than I?”, and the sage said, “Listen to the tale of Nala and Damayanti.” The second story is about King Rukmangada, a great monarch whose adherence to virtue was tested severely by the gods, who gave him the choice of either killing his son or abandoning truth. By his adherence to the sacred Ekadashi vow he was able to defy the power of the great Lord of Death Yamaraja, and send his entire kingdom to the eternal spiritual world. Fearful that his services would no longer be required, Yamaraja goes to the universal creator, the god Brahma, who devises a means to resuce him from his dilemma.