Shloka 38

नहुषोपाख्यानम्—दीपदान-धूप-बलीकर्म-प्रशंसा

Nahūṣa Episode and the Commendation of Lamp-Gifting and Household Offerings

Devanagari script

एवमेतत्‌ पुरावृत्तं नहुषस्य व्यतिक्रमात्‌

Transliteration

evam etat purāvṛttaṃ nahuṣasya vyatikramāt

Translation

かくしてまことに、この古の出来事は、ナフシャの越権によって起こったのである。

Word by Word

• एवम्: thus, in this manner
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: एवम्

• एतत्: this (thing)
• एतत्: Karta
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: एतद्
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Singular

• पुरा: formerly, long ago
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: पुरा

• वृत्तम्: event, occurrence, what happened
• वृत्तम्: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: वृत्त
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Singular

• नहुषस्य: of Nahusha
• Type: Noun
• Root: नहुष
• Form: Masculine, Genitive, Singular

• व्यतिक्रमात्: from/owing to the transgression, misconduct
• व्यतिक्रमात्: Apadana
• Type: Noun
• Root: व्यतिक्रम
• Form: Masculine, Ablative, Singular

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Nahuṣa

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

A ruler’s or person’s downfall begins with vyatikrama—overstepping dharma and rightful boundaries. The verse frames the episode as a moral precedent: misconduct, especially born of pride, inevitably yields ruin.

What is happening in the narrative?

Bhishma concludes or points back to an old illustrative incident, stating that what was just recounted is an ancient occurrence caused by Nahusha’s transgression—linking the story’s outcome directly to the ethical fault that produced it.