Shloka 15
Upaśruti Guides Indrāṇī to Indra; Indrāṇī Reports Nahuṣa’s Misconduct (उपश्रुति-इन्द्राणी-इन्द्रदर्शन प्रसङ्गः)
इन्द्रत्वं त्रिषु लोकेषु प्राप्प वीर्यसमन्वित: । दर्पाविष्ट श्न दुष्टात्मा मामुवाच शतक्रतो
indratvaṁ triṣu lokeṣu prāpya vīrya-samanvitaḥ | darpāviṣṭaḥ sa duṣṭātmā mām uvāca śatakratuḥ ||
„O Śatakratu! Nahūṣa hat die Herrschaft Indras über die drei Welten erlangt und ist mit Kraft und Tapferkeit begabt; doch vom Hochmut berauscht, ist er von böser Gesinnung geworden. Er sagte sogar zu mir: ‚Tritt in meinen Dienst!‘“
शल्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how exalted power, when not governed by humility and self-control, breeds pride and tyranny. Ethical rule (dharma) requires restraint; otherwise authority becomes coercion and moral corruption.
Śalya recounts that Nahusha, after attaining Indra’s position over the three worlds, became arrogant and overbearing. In his pride he even commands Indra (Śatakratu) to attend him as a servant, signaling Nahusha’s moral fall and the disorder caused by hubris.