Shloka 17
Nahūṣa’s Pride, the Ṛṣi-Borne Palanquin, and the Search for Indra (नहुष-इन्द्राणी-प्रकरणम्)
न हाल्पवीर्यो भवति यो वाहान् कुरुते मुनीन् | अहं तपस्वी बलवान् भूतभव्यभवत्प्रभु:,जो ऋषियोंको भी अपना वाहन बना सके, उस पुरुषमें थोड़ी शक्ति नहीं होती है। मैं तपस्वी, बलवान् तथा भूत, भविष्य और वर्तमान तीनों कालोंका स्वामी हूँ
na hālpavīryo bhavati yo vāhān kurute munīn | ahaṃ tapasvī balavān bhūta-bhavya-bhavat-prabhuḥ ||
ナフシャは言った。「聖仙（ムニ）すら己の乗り物となし得る者は、決して力の乏しい者ではない。我は苛烈なる苦行を積む修行者、剛力の持ち主にして、過去・未来・現在の三時をも支配すると自負する。」
नहुष उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse warns, by negative example, that spiritual merit and strength become ethically dangerous when fused with pride: claiming greatness through the humiliation of sages signals adharma, not true superiority.
Nahusha boasts of his power, asserting that making sages serve as his conveyance proves his might, and he proclaims himself an ascetic-lord over past, present, and future—an expression of overreach that frames his moral decline.