Shloka 20
Nahūṣa’s Pride, the Ṛṣi-Borne Palanquin, and the Search for Indra (नहुष-इन्द्राणी-प्रकरणम्)
तस्मात् ते वचन देवि करिष्यामि न संशय: । सप्तर्षयो मां वक्ष्यन्ति सर्वे ब्रह्मर्षयस्तथा । पश्य माहात्म्ययोगं मे ऋद्धिं च वरवर्णिनि,अतः देवि! मैं तुम्हारी आज्ञाका पालन करूँगा, इसमें संशय नहीं है। सम्पूर्ण सप्तर्षि और ब्रह्मर्षि मेरी पालकी ढोयेंगे। वरवर्णिनि! मेरे माहात्म्य तथा समृद्धिको तुम प्रत्यक्ष देख लो
tasmāt te vacanaṃ devi kariṣyāmi na saṃśayaḥ | saptarṣayo māṃ vakṣyanti sarve brahmarṣayas tathā | paśya māhātmyayogaṃ me ṛddhiṃ ca varavarṇini ||
Nahusha said: “Therefore, O goddess, I shall carry out your command—there is no doubt. All the Seven Sages will bear me, and so too will all the Brahmarṣis. Behold, O fair-complexioned lady, the power of my greatness and the fullness of my prosperity.”
नहुष उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how pride can distort one’s sense of rightful authority: Nahusha treats revered sages as instruments of his status. In the ethical frame of the Mahabharata, such overreach against spiritual elders signals adharma and foreshadows downfall.
Nahusha addresses a goddess/lady and agrees to fulfill her instruction. He boasts that the Seven Sages and other Brahmarṣis will carry him (as bearers of his palanquin), urging her to witness his majesty and prosperity—an assertion that sets up the moral tension of arrogance versus reverence for ṛṣis.