Shloka 21
Nahūṣa’s Pride, the Ṛṣi-Borne Palanquin, and the Search for Indra (नहुष-इन्द्राणी-प्रकरणम्)
शल्य उवाच एवमुकक्त्वा तु तां देवीं विसृज्य च वराननाम् | विमाने योजयित्वा च ऋषीन् नियममास्थितान्
śalya uvāca evam uktvā tu tāṃ devīṃ visṛjya ca varānanām | vimāne yojayitvā ca ṛṣīn niyamam āsthitān |
沙利耶说道：“那胡沙对那位容颜姣好的女神如此言毕，便将她遣退。随后，他违背了对持戒自制之大圣者应有的敬礼，竟把那些仙人（ṛṣi）如同役畜一般，套在自己的天车/肩舆之上。凭借新得的威势，那位国王沉醉于骄矜；在傲慢与无法无天的任性驱使下，他以诸圣为其载具——此乃重大的非正法（adharma），亦是对婆罗门圣序的公然敌对。”
शल्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
Power without humility leads to adharma: Nahūṣa’s pride makes him violate the sanctity of self-restrained sages, showing that kingship is legitimate only when governed by reverence, restraint, and protection of dharma—especially honoring brahmins and ṛṣis.
After speaking to the goddess Śacī, Nahūṣa sends her away and, in an act of arrogance, forces disciplined sages to serve as the ‘yoke’ for his vimāna/palanquin, treating them like draft animals—an insult that signals his moral collapse and foreshadows his downfall.