Mahabharata — Anushasana Parva, Shloka 11
Dhūpa–Dīpa–Bali Phala Praśna; Nahūṣa–Agastya–Bhṛgu Saṃvāda
Incense, Lamp, and Bali Offerings; the Nahūṣa Dialogue
स ऋषीन् वाहयामास वरदानमदान्वित: । परिहीणक्रियश्वैव दुर्बलत्वमुपेयिवान्
sa ṛṣīn vāhayāmāsa varadānamadānvitāḥ | parihīṇakriyaś caiva durbalatvam upeyivān |
Bhīṣma said: Inflamed with the arrogance born of boons, he made the sages serve as his bearers. As a result, he fell away from proper religious conduct and prescribed duties; and thus he sank into weakness—bereft of the strength that comes from dharma.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Power or extraordinary gifts (boons) can breed arrogance; when one violates dharma—especially by humiliating the virtuous—one loses inner strength and declines. Dharma is presented as the true source of bala (strength).
A person, intoxicated by the pride of having received boons, compels sages to act as his bearers. This disrespect and abandonment of proper conduct causes him to become spiritually and morally weakened.