Shloka 263
नहुषोपाख्यानम्—दीपदान-धूप-बलीकर्म-प्रशंसा
Nahūṣa Episode and the Commendation of Lamp-Gifting and Household Offerings
न च शक्तो5भविष्यद् वै पातने तस्य तेजसा । पृथ्वीनाथ! यदि नहुष भूगुको देख लेते तो उनके तेजसे प्रतिहत होकर वे उन्हें स्वर्गसे नीचे गिरानेमें समर्थ न होते
na ca śakto 'bhaviṣyad vai pātane tasya tejasā | pṛthvīnātha yadi nahuṣa bhṛguko naiva dadarśa ha ||
Bhīṣma said: “O lord of the earth, had Nahuṣa not beheld Bhṛgu, he would not have been able—his effort checked by Bhṛgu’s spiritual radiance (tejas)—to cast him down from heaven. The point is that true ascetic brilliance restrains arrogance and wrongful force, and it protects dharma by rendering unjust power ineffective.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Spiritual radiance born of tapas (tejas) functions as a moral restraint: it neutralizes arrogant or unrighteous power and prevents harm, showing that dharma is safeguarded not merely by force but by inner purity and ascetic authority.
Bhīṣma explains to the king that Nahuṣa could not have cast someone down from heaven if he had encountered Bhṛgu, because Bhṛgu’s tejas would have repelled and checked Nahuṣa’s attempt, making the fall impossible.