Rituparna was an Ayodhya King, and he was the son of Sarvakama, and for some time, the great king Nala had worked under him with a different name and with a different appearance. Rituparna was a master in archery, he contains great skills in handling deadly weapons, and also he is well-versed in playing the Dice Game, which was considered as a very famous game during that period. Nala, who lived as an Assistant to King Rituparna in the name of Bahuka used to play dice game in order to entertain King Rituparna.
When King Nala, had left alone his queen, Damayanti in a dense forest, she went to the Vidarbha Kingdom and lived in her father’s palace.In order to search for Nala, Damayanti had arranged for a swayamvara by pretending that she wants to remarry. On hearing about the Swayamwara, Nalabegan to ride the chariot for King Rituparna and quickly reached Damayanti’s kingdom. On reaching Damayanti’s father’s palace, Nala who was in the name of Bahuga had transformed himself into King Nala, by wearing costly garments, joined with his wife Damayanti, and after defeating his brother in the dice game, King Nala had restored his kingdom and happily lived for many years along with his family.
After knowing about that the servant served under him was Nala, Rituparna was very happy, and blessed the re-united couple. In the Mahabharata, Rituparna was mentioned as a mighty king, who was also very generous in gifting various things to his people. From Maharishi Narad, Rituparna had understood about the supremacy of Lord Vishnu, and he has become a staunch devotee of Vishnu. During his reign, rain was showered in all seasons, and even the wild animals like lion and tiger showed friendship with cows and buffaloes.
Rituparna had learnt the art of driving chariot at a very high speed from Nala, and in return for that, he has also taught the dice game, by considering him as his friend. King Rituparna contains the powers of several elephants, and he had contained such a great strength, since he obtained it as a boon from a powerful Rishi.
“OM”
WRITTEN BY
R.HARISHANKAR