Mahabharata — Anushasana Parva, Shloka 27

Dhūpa–Dīpa–Bali Phala Praśna; Nahūṣa–Agastya–Bhṛgu Saṃvāda

Incense, Lamp, and Bali Offerings; the Nahūṣa Dialogue

Devanagari script

तत एन सुदर्दुर्बुद्धि धिक्शब्दाभिहतत्विषम्‌ । धरण्यां पातयिष्यामि पश्यतस्ते महामुने

Transliteration

tata enaṁ sudardurbuddhi dhikśabdābhihatatviṣam | dharaṇyāṁ pātayiṣyāmi paśyatas te mahāmune mahāmune |

Translation

“Rồi ta sẽ quật kẻ tâm địa cực kỳ tà vạy ấy xuống đất; hào quang của hắn sẽ bị tiếng hô ‘đáng hổ thẹn!’ từ bốn phía đánh gục—và ta sẽ làm điều đó ngay trước mắt ngài, hỡi bậc đại hiền.”

Word by Word

• {'tataḥ': 'then, thereafter', 'enam (enaṁ)': 'this one (accusative singular

• referring to Nahusha)', 'su-dar-dur-buddhi': 'of exceedingly wicked/warped understanding

• very ill-minded', 'dhik-śabda': 'the word/cry ‘dhik!’ meaning ‘shame!, fie!’', 'abhihata': 'struck, smitten, beaten down', 'tviṣ': 'splendor, radiance, luster', 'dharaṇī': 'the earth, ground', 'pātayiṣyāmi': 'I shall cause to fall

• I will throw down', 'paśyataḥ': 'while seeing

• in the presence of (genitive/locative sense)', 'te': 'of you

• to you', 'mahāmune': 'O great sage (vocative)'}

Speaker

अगस्त्य उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Agastya
• Mahāmune (addressed sage)
• Nahusha (implied referent: ‘enam’)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Arrogance and moral blindness lead to the loss of one’s ‘tviṣ’ (splendor/legitimacy). Public censure (‘dhik!’) symbolizes ethical condemnation, and the sage’s act of casting down the offender represents dharmic retribution restoring moral order.

What is happening in the narrative?

Agastya declares that he will make the ill-minded offender (Nahusha) lose his radiance under the force of reproach and will hurl him down to the earth, doing so in the presence of the addressed great sage.