great sins I had
committed in a former life that such calamity hath befallen me, _viz_.,
the loss of my husband's kingdom, his defeat at the hands of his own
kinsmen, this separation from my lord and my son and daughter, this my
unprotected state, and my presence in this forest abounding in
innumerable beasts of prey!"

"'The next day, O king, the remnant of that caravan left the place
bewailing the destruction that had overtaken them and lamenting for
their dead brothers and fathers and sons and friends. And the princess
of Vidarbha began to lament, saying, "Alas! What misdeed have I
perpetrated! The crowd of men that I obtained in this lone forest, hath
been destroyed by a herd of elephants, surely as a consequence of my ill
luck. Without doubt, I shall have to suffer misery for a long time. I
have heard from old men that no person dieth ere his time; it is for
this that my miserable self hath not been trodden to death by that herd
of elephants. Nothing that befalleth men is due to anything else than
Destiny, for even in my childhood I did not commit any such sin in
thought, word, or deed, whence might come this calamity. Methinks, I
suffer this severance from my husband through the potency of those
celestial _Lokapalas_, who had come to the Swayamvara but whom I
disregarded for the sake of Nala." Bewailing thus, O tiger among kings,
that excellent lady, Damayanti, devoted to her husband, went, oppressed
with grief and (pale) as the autumnal moon, with those Brahmanas versed
in the Vedas that had survived the slaughter of the caravan. And
departing speedily, towards evening, the damsel came to the mighty city
of the truth-telling Suvahu, the king of the Chedis. And she entered
that excellent city clad in half a garment. And the citizens saw her as
she went, overcome with fear, and lean, melancholy, her hair dishevelled
and soiled with dust, and maniac-like. And beholding her enter the city
of the king of the Chedis, the boys of the city, from curiosity, began
to follow her. And surrounded by them, she came before the palace of the
king. And from the terrace the queen-mother saw her surrounded by the
crowd. And she said to her nurse, "Go and bring that woman before me.
She is forlorn and is being vexed by the crowd. She hath fallen into
distress and standeth in need of succour. I find her beauty to be such
that it illumineth my house. The fair one, though looking like a maniac,
seemeth a very _Sree_ with her large eye