Shloka 11

Nahūṣa’s Fall Explained: Agastya’s Account to Indra (Śalya-narrated)

Devanagari script

ऋषय ऊचु. अधर्मे सम्प्रवृत्तस्त्वं धर्म न प्रतिपद्यसे । प्रमाणमेतदस्माकं पूर्व प्रोक्त महर्षिभि:

Transliteration

ṛṣaya ūcuḥ | adharme sampravṛttas tvaṃ dharmaṃ na pratipadyase | pramāṇam etad asmākaṃ pūrvaṃ proktaṃ maharṣibhiḥ |

Translation

The sages said: “You have set yourself upon the path of adharma; therefore you do not truly apprehend dharma. For us this teaching is authoritative, for in former times the great seers declared it a valid standard.”

Word by Word

• {'ṛṣayaḥ': 'sages, seers', 'ūcuḥ': 'said (perfect tense, 3rd person plural)', 'adharme': 'in adharma

• in unrighteousness, injustice', 'sampravṛttaḥ': 'fully engaged, set in motion, actively pursuing', 'tvam': 'you', 'dharmaṃ': 'dharma

• righteousness, moral law, duty, right order', 'na': 'not', 'pratipadyase': 'you understand/accept/enter upon

• you take up as your course', 'pramāṇam': 'authoritative means/standard of knowledge

• valid proof', 'etat': 'this', 'asmākam': 'for us

• of us', 'pūrvam': 'formerly, in earlier times', 'proktam': 'declared, taught', 'maharṣibhiḥ': 'by great seers (instrumental plural)'}

Speaker

शल्य उवाच

Characters & Entities

• ṛṣayaḥ (sages)
• maharṣayaḥ (great seers)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

A person who is actively committed to adharma loses the capacity to recognize and accept dharma; therefore, ethical understanding requires inner alignment with righteousness. The verse also grounds dharma in pramāṇa—authoritative teachings transmitted by earlier great seers.

What is happening in the narrative?

A group of sages addresses someone they judge to be acting unrighteously, rebuking him for failing to grasp dharma and citing the ancient pronouncements of great seers as the authoritative basis for their instruction.