Shloka 13
Adhyāya 12: Devas’ Petition to Nahūṣa; Bṛhaspati on Śaraṇāgata-Dharma; Indrāṇī’s Strategic Delay
इन्द्राद् विशिष्टो नहुषो देवराजो महाद्युति: । वृणोत्त्मं वरारोहा भर्तृत्वे वरवर्णिनी,“इस समय महातेजस्वी नहुष देवताओंके राजा हैं। अतः इन्द्रसे बढ़कर हैं। सुन्दर रूप- रंगवाली शची इन्हें अपना पति स्वीकार कर लें”
indrād viśiṣṭo nahuṣo devarājo mahādyutiḥ | vṛṇotu tvāṃ varārohā bhartṛtve varavarṇinī ||
മഹാതേജസ്സോടെ ദീപ്തനായ നഹുഷൻ ഇപ്പോൾ ദേവരാജനാണ്; ഇന്ദ്രനേക്കാളും ശ്രേഷ്ഠൻ. അതിനാൽ, സുന്ദരാംഗിനീ, ഉത്തമവർണിനീ ശചീ! അവനെ ഭർത്താവായി സ്വീകരിക്ക.
शल्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how worldly power and status can be used to pressure personal choice; it implicitly raises an ethical tension between authority and rightful consent, foreshadowing the dangers of pride and coercion even when someone appears ‘greater’ by position.
Śalya reports (or frames) the situation that Nahuṣa has become devarāja in Indra’s place and urges Śacī to accept Nahuṣa as her husband, presenting Nahuṣa’s elevated status and splendor as the justification.