Shloka 18
Nahūṣa’s Fall Explained: Agastya’s Account to Indra (Śalya-narrated)
एवं भ्रष्टो दुरात्मा स देवराज्यादरिंदम । दिष्ट्या वर्धामहे शक्र हतो ब्राह्मणकण्टक:
evaṁ bhraṣṭo durātmā sa devarājyād arindama | diṣṭyā vardhāmahe śakra hato brāhmaṇakaṇṭakaḥ ||
“یوں وہ بدباطن دیوتاؤں کی سلطنت سے گرا دیا گیا۔ خوش بختی ہے، اے شکر! ہم ترقی پا رہے ہیں—کیونکہ برہمنوں کو ستانے والا وہ کانٹا مارا گیا ہے۔”
अगस्त्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse affirms a dharmic principle: those who become a ‘thorn’ to brāhmaṇas and violate sacred-social order ultimately fall from power, while the restoration of justice is seen as a cause for communal well-being and prosperity.
Agastya addresses Śakra (Indra), declaring that a wicked figure has been cast down from divine sovereignty and that it is fortunate for all that this oppressor of brāhmaṇas has been slain, implying the re-establishment of moral and cosmic order.