Book 6 · Nirvāṇa I निर्वाण · chapters 77–110 · 34 chapters
King Shikhidhvaja of the Malava country and his wife Queen Chudala, who also appears disguised as the young ascetic Kumbha and as the woman Madanika.
Vasishtha tells Rama the story of King Shikhidhvaja and his wife Chudala. The couple rule happily for years, and both practise inner reflection, but Chudala alone reaches self-realization, becoming able to move through the sky and take any form at will. She tries to share this knowledge with her husband, but he will not accept it from her. Sunk in restless dissatisfaction, Shikhidhvaja gives up his kingdom and goes alone into the forest to seek peace through austerity, but years of penance leave him no calmer. Chudala secretly follows him, disguised as a young Brahmin boy named Kumbha, and, without revealing who she is, gradually instructs him in the nature of the mind, ego, and the unreal world, guiding him through renunciation of his hermitage, his possessions, and finally the mind itself, until he settles into steady liberation. To test his equanimity further, Kumbha takes the form of a beautiful woman, Madanika, who lives with him and provokes jealousy and disturbance; he responds without anger or craving. Seeing him unshaken, Chudala reveals her true identity. Reunited, husband and wife live together in the forest as equals, then return to rule the kingdom. After ruling for many years, Shikhidhvaja eventually leaves his body in nirvana, without attachment.
इति सा भामिनी तस्य चूडाला वरवर्णिनी | स्वल्पेनैव हि कालेन ययौ विदितवेद्यताम् || ५ ||
Thus, that beautiful Chudala, the wife of Shikhidvaja, attained the state of knowing the knowable in a very short time.
इस प्रकार, वह सुंदर चूडाला, शिखिद्वज की पत्नी, बहुत कम समय में ज्ञेय को जानने की अवस्था प्राप्त कर गई।
यत्नेन तं च भर्तारमात्मज्ञानामृतं प्रति | बहुशो बोधयामास चूडाला न विवेद सः || ८ ||
With great effort, Chudala tried to awaken her husband to the nectar of self-knowledge, but he did not understand.
बहुत प्रयास करके, चूडाला ने अपने पति को आत्मज्ञान के अमृत की ओर जागरूक करने की कोशिश की, लेकिन वह समझ नहीं पाया।
तस्मान्मदनिकादेहाच्चूडाला निर्गतेव सा | बभावस्य पुरो युक्ता निर्गतेव समुद्गकात् || ३७ ||
Therefore, from my small body, Chudala emerged as if from a pot. She appeared before him, adorned like a goddess emerging from a lotus.
इसलिए, मेरे छोटे शरीर से, चूडाला घड़े से निकलने की तरह प्रकट हुई। वह उसके सामने कमल से निकलने वाली देवी की तरह सजी-धजी प्रकट हुई।
The story occupies chapters 77–110 of Book 6. Each link opens that chapter complete — Sanskrit in Devanagari and IAST, with a plain English and Hindi translation of every verse. The number under each link is its verse count.