rincess choose one of them as a spouse.

The broken-hearted Nala, forced to sue for the gods, made known their
request to Damayanti, who declared she didn't intend to marry any one
but himself, as she meant to announce publicly at the Bride's Choice
on the morrow.

"Yet I see a way of refuge--'tis a blameless way, O king;
Whence no sin to thee, O rajah,--may by any chance arise.
Thou, O noblest of all mortals--and the gods by Indra led,
Come and enter in together--where the Swayembara meets;
Then will I, before the presence--of the guardians of the world,
Name thee, lord of men! my husband--nor to thee may blame accrue."

She was, however, sorely embarrassed on arriving there, to find five
Nalas before her, for each of the gods had assumed the form of the
young prince after the latter had reported what Damayanti had said.
Unable to distinguish between the gods and her lover, Damayanti prayed
so fervently that she was able to discern that four of her suitors
gazed at her with unwinking eyes, exuded no perspiration, and cast no
shadow, while the fifth betrayed all these infallible signs of
mortality. She, therefore, selected the real Nala, upon whom the four
gods bestowed invaluable gifts, including absolute control over fire
and water.

The young couple were perfectly happy for some time, although a wicked
demon (Kali)--who had arrived too late at the Bride's Choice--was
determined to trouble their bliss. He therefore watched husband and
wife in hopes of finding an opportunity to injure them, but it was
only in the twelfth year of their marriage that Nala omitted the
wonted ablutions before saying his prayers. This enabled the demon to
enter his heart and inspire him with such a passion for gambling that
he soon lost all he possessed.

His wife, seeing her remonstrances vain, finally ordered a charioteer
to convey her children to her father's, and they had barely gone when
Nala came out of the gambling hall, having nothing left but a garment
apiece for himself and his wife. So the faithful Damayanti followed
him out of the city into the forest, the winner having proclaimed that
no help should be given to the exiled king or queen. Almost starving,
Nala, hoping to catch some birds which alighted near him, flung over
them as a net his only garment. These birds, having been sent by the
demon to rob him of his last possession, flew away with the cloth,
calling out to him that they were winged dice sent by Ka