Shloka 10
Nahūṣa’s Fall Explained: Agastya’s Account to Indra (Śalya-narrated)
एते प्रमाणं भवत उताहो नेति वासव । नहुषो नेति तानाह तमसा मूढचेतन:
ete pramāṇaṃ bhavata utāho neti vāsava | nahuṣo neti tān āha tamasā mūḍha-cetanaḥ ||
Dijo Śalya: «Aquellos sabios preguntaron: “Oh Vāsava (Indra), ¿aceptas como autoridad (pramāṇa) estos mantras védicos—prescritos para el rito de aspersión purificatoria de las vacas—o no?”». Nahuṣa, con la mente ofuscada por la oscuridad (tamas), les respondió: «No», rechazando así la autoridad de los mantras del Veda.
शल्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse warns that when a person—especially a ruler—falls into tamas (spiritual and moral ignorance), he may reject pramāṇa (legitimate authority such as Vedic injunctions). Such denial of sacred and ethical norms signals a collapse of dharma and becomes a cause of downfall.
Sages question Nahuṣa (addressed as Vāsava/Indra due to his assumed position) about whether he accepts certain Vedic mantras as authoritative. Nahuṣa, mentally clouded by tamas, answers ‘no,’ explicitly refusing their authority.