Shloka 18
Nahūṣa’s Pride, the Ṛṣi-Borne Palanquin, and the Search for Indra (नहुष-इन्द्राणी-प्रकरणम्)
मयि क्ुद्धे जगन्न स्यान्मयि सर्व प्रतिष्ठितम् । देवदानवगन्धर्वा: किन्नरोरगराक्षसा:
mayi kruddhe jagan na syān mayi sarvaṁ pratiṣṭhitam | devadānavagandharvāḥ kinnaroragarākṣasāḥ ||
Nahuṣa mengisytiharkan dengan keangkuhan: “Jika aku murka, dunia ini akan lenyap; kerana segala-galanya bersandar padaku. Wahai yang senyumannya suci, apabila amarahku meluap, para dewa, danava, gandharva, kinnara, nāga, rākṣasa, bahkan seluruh alam pun tidak mampu menentangku. Sesiapa yang kupandang dengan mataku, akan kurampas tejas—cahaya wibawanya.”
नहुष उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the moral danger of unchecked wrath and self-glorifying pride. By claiming the cosmos depends on him, Nahusha exemplifies adharma as ego-inflation: it destabilizes judgment and threatens social and cosmic order rather than protecting it.
Nahusha is speaking boastfully, asserting that if he becomes angry the world would be destroyed and that no class of beings—gods, demons, Gandharvas, Kinnaras, Nāgas, or Rākṣasas—could oppose him. The statement functions as intimidation and self-assertion within the unfolding tensions of the Udyoga Parva.