Shloka 17
न हाल्पवीर्यो भवति यो वाहान् कुरुते मुनीन् | अहं तपस्वी बलवान् भूतभव्यभवत्प्रभु:,जो ऋषियोंको भी अपना वाहन बना सके, उस पुरुषमें थोड़ी शक्ति नहीं होती है। मैं तपस्वी, बलवान् तथा भूत, भविष्य और वर्तमान तीनों कालोंका स्वामी हूँ
na hālpavīryo bhavati yo vāhān kurute munīn | ahaṃ tapasvī balavān bhūta-bhavya-bhavat-prabhuḥ ||
Nahusha said: “He who can make even sages serve as his conveyance is not a man of little power. I am an ascetic of fierce austerity, mighty in strength, and I claim mastery over the three times—past, future, and present.”
नहुष उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse warns, by negative example, that spiritual merit and strength become ethically dangerous when fused with pride: claiming greatness through the humiliation of sages signals adharma, not true superiority.
Nahusha boasts of his power, asserting that making sages serve as his conveyance proves his might, and he proclaims himself an ascetic-lord over past, present, and future—an expression of overreach that frames his moral decline.