Shloka 25
Cyavana’s Yogic Display and Kuśika’s Recognition of Tapas (च्यवन-योगप्रभावः कुशिकस्य तपःप्रशंसा च)
नहुष उवाच उत्तिषोत्तिष्ठ विप्रर्षे गवा क्रीतोडसि भार्गव । एतन्मूल्यमहं मनन््ये तव धर्मभूतां वर
Nahuṣa uvāca: uttiṣṭhottiṣṭha viprarṣe gavā krīto’si bhārgava | etan mūlyam ahaṃ manye tava dharmabhūtāṃ vara ||
नहुष उवाच—उत्तिष्ठोत्तिष्ठ विप्रर्षे, गवा क्रीतोऽसि भार्गव। एतन्मूल्यमहं मन्ये तव धर्मभृतां वर॥
नहुष उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights an ethical failure: treating a righteous sage as property and reducing spiritual authority to a monetary ‘price.’ It warns that pride and misuse of power violate dharma, especially in relations between rulers and brahmin-seers.
King Nahuṣa addresses a Bhārgava sage, commanding him to rise and asserting that he has ‘bought’ him with a cow—claiming this is the sage’s proper value. The scene underscores Nahuṣa’s overbearing conduct toward a dharmic ascetic.