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 ||
शल्य बोले—उन ऋषियों ने पूछा—“हे वासव (इन्द्र)! गौओं के प्रोक्षण के लिए वेद में बताए गए ये मन्त्र क्या आपके लिए प्रमाण हैं, या नहीं?” तमोगुण से मोहित बुद्धि वाले नहुष ने उत्तर दिया—“नहीं”; इस प्रकार उसने वेदमन्त्रों की प्रामाणिकता का निषेध किया।
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.