“Ne’er was the time when I was not, nor thou, nor yonder kings of earth: Hereafter, ne’er shall be the time, when one of us shall cease to be. The soul, within its mortal frame, glides on thro’ childhood, youth, and age; Then in another form renewed, renews its stated course again. All indestructible is He that spread the living universe; And who is he that shall destroy the work of the Indestructible? Corruptible these bodies are that wrap the everlasting soul— The eternal, unimaginable soul. Whence on to battle, Bhârata! For he that thinks to slay the soul, or he that thinks the soul is slain, Are fondly both alike deceived: it is not slain—it slayeth not; It is not born—it doth not die; past, present, future knows it not; Ancient, eternal, and unchanged, it dies not with the dying frame. Who knows it incorruptible, and everlasting, and unborn, What heeds he whether he may slay, or fall himself in battle slain? As their old garments men cast off, anon new raiment to assume, So casts the soul its worn-out frame, and takes at once another form. The weapon cannot pierce it through, nor wastes it the consuming fire; The liquid waters melt it not, nor dries it up the parching wind: Impenetrable and unburned; impermeable and undried; Perpetual, ever-wandering, firm, indissoluble, permanent, Invisible, unspeakable.”—MILMAN. But of all the episodes, that of Nala (_nul’ă_) and Damayanti is unsurpassed for pathos and tenderness of sentiment. King Nala, enamored of the “softly-smiling” Damayanti, “pearl among women,” finds his love returned, and is accepted by her in preference to many other princes and even four of the gods. A jealous demon, however, possesses him, and causes him to lose at play everything except his bride, whom he cannot be prevailed upon to stake. Yet at last, in his madness, he deserts her in the forest, and Damayanti, after many strange adventures, reaches her father’s court in safety. There she adopts the device of inviting suitors a second time to propose for her hand, in the hope of bringing her lost husband to her side if he should hear that there was danger of his losing her forever. Nala, meanwhile, disguised as a charioteer, had entered the service of another king, who now sets forth to offer himself to the beauteous princess, driven by her husband. When they arrive Damayanti penetrates the disguise of the charioteer, and to prove the correctness of her suspicions, puts him to the severest test. She contrives to have his children brought before him. The father’s heart is touched at once; he clasps them in his arms, and bursts into tears.