Shloka 26

Nahūṣa’s Pride, the Ṛṣi-Borne Palanquin, and the Search for Indra (नहुष-इन्द्राणी-प्रकरणम्)

Devanagari script

अधर्मज्ञो महर्षीणां वाहनाच्च ततः शुभे । इष्टिं चाहं करिष्यामि विनाशायास्य दुर्मते:

Transliteration

adharmajño maharṣīṇāṁ vāhanācca tataḥ śubhe | iṣṭiṁ cāhaṁ kariṣyāmi vināśāyāsya durmateḥ ||

Translation

シャリヤは言った。「おお吉祥なる御方よ、彼はダルマを知らず、しかも大聖仙たちの乗り物まで奪った。ゆえに我もまた、あの邪心の者を滅ぼすための供犠の儀を執り行おう。」

Word by Word

अधर्मज्ञःknower of adharma / one who knows unrighteousness

महर्षीणाम्of the great sages

वाहनात्from the vehicle / from the conveyance

चand

ततःthen / thereafter / from that

शुभेO auspicious one

इष्टिम्a sacrifice / rite

चand

अहम्I

करिष्यामिwill do / will perform

विनाशायfor destruction

अस्यof this (man) / his

दुर्मतेःof the evil-minded one

Speaker

शल्य उवाच

Characters & Entities

Śalya

mahārṣis (great seers)

vāhana (vehicle/conveyance)

iṣṭi (sacrificial rite)

śubhe (addressed woman, unnamed here)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse frames ethical failure (ignorance of dharma and disrespect toward sages) as a grave offense that invites deliberate counteraction; it also shows how ritual action (iṣṭi) can be conceived as morally charged—used not only for welfare but as a response to wrongdoing.

What is happening in the narrative?

Śalya addresses an auspicious lady and condemns a certain person as adharma-minded, citing the taking of the great seers’ conveyance as evidence; he then declares his intention to perform an iṣṭi specifically aimed at bringing about that person’s destruction.