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Two plays of Ramacandra: An aesthetic study
futile search for Nala naturally led to an attempt at suicide. But we learn that she was saved and was entrusted to the care of a caravan of merchants. Secondly, the dramatic performance before the King of Ayodhya is obviously intended to bring to Nala the knowledge of Damayanti's safety and her probable stay in her father's house. The explicit details are given in the final act of the play where we know that Dayamanti had become aware that Nala was living in Ayodhya and had therefore deliberately arranged the dramatic show to bring him out in the open. But here the fact that the troupe has come from Vidarbha to Ayodhya and also the fact that the show is concerned with the desertion of Damayanti by Nala are sufficiently suggestive of an underlying purpose, The garbhanka is thus an artistic attempt to establish a definite link between the separated couple and to create the possibilities of their reunion. Thirdly, the garbhanka is also expected to confirm the presence of Nala in the royal house at Ayodhya. It was expected that Nala would somehow attend the dramatic performance. In fact, he is actually invited to do so by the King. It was also expected that Nala would be profoundly affected by the show. And so Nala is. The dramatist works out the pathos in the situation leading to the climax of Damayanti's suicide. King Dadhiparna is deeply moved by Damayanti's loyalty to her husband, her sense of a chaste wife's duty and dignity, the immoral cruelty of Nala in deserting his wife, and deep sorrow which shrouds the whole play. The King is so moved as to be carried away by the performance and forget that it was only a dramatic spectacle. If the play could affect the King so much, it is easy to see that Nala would be moved out of his depth and would betray his disguise. This is exactly what happens during the performance. It Is only the transformation of Nala resulting in incredible ugliness and a little resourcefulness of Nala's own parts that save the complete revelation of Nala's real personality for the time being. But Nala is unable to check himself at the sight of Damayanti's suicide; and King Dadhiparna questions him on his real identity. The actors and those who were at the back of the show could therefore be presumed to have been convinced about Nala's whereabouts. The presumption is corroborated, in a way, by the invitation to attend Damayanti's svayamvara the next morning, presented by a messenger from the Vidarbha King.
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This, as we learn later, is a clever plan of Damayanti to bring out Nala in the open. The invitation forces Nala to throw away his disguise and display another peculiar skill that he alone possessed, namely of being able to drive the horses swifter than wind, which will enable the King and Nala to cover the distance of a hundred yojanas in one night in order to be present at the svayamvara, and also help Nala in preventing Damayanti's second marriage. It is on this note that the sixth act ends.
