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:
na hālpavīryo bhavati yo vāhān kurute munīn | ahaṃ tapasvī balavān bhūta-bhavya-bhavat-prabhuḥ ||
Nahuṣa berkata: “Sesiapa yang mampu menjadikan para muni (resī) sebagai tunggangannya bukanlah orang yang sedikit kuasa. Aku seorang pertapa bertapa-keras, gagah perkasa, dan mengaku sebagai penguasa tiga zaman—masa lalu, masa depan, dan masa kini.”
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.