Talk:Nahusa
By Swami Harshananda
Nahusa
There cannot be a better example than that of emperor Nahuṣa to show that power and wealth, honour and valour can corrupt the minds of even good and great persons.
Nahuṣa, the grandson of the well-known emperor Pururava of Candravamśa (lunar lineage), was a great emperor of pure character. When Indra the king of
the gods in heaven, quietly disappeared because of the sin of brahmahatyā (incurred by killing Vṛtrāsura), all the gods of heaven went to the four-faced creator Brahmā and appealed to him for giving them someone to rule over heaven.
Brahmā suggested that the emperor Nahuṣa be brought from the bhuloka (earth). Though Nahuṣa was unwilling to shoulder that responsibility first, he later on yielded to their importunities.
As he sat on the throne of Indra and started tasting the power, luxuries and glory, his mind gradually got corrupted by the sinful desire of having Sacīdevī (wife of Indra) as his wife. Meanwhile Indra had been liberated from his sin through proper expiation and was getting ready to return.
When Śacīdevī got the message of Nahuṣa, she cleverly worked out a strategy by which Nahuṣa could get into trouble. Driven by fate as it were, Nahuṣa ordered the Saptarṣis to carry his palanquin to Śacīdevī’s palace. On the way, blinded by lust, he kicked the sage Agastya (one of the seven sages) urging him with the words, ‘sarpa! sarpa!’ (‘Move quickly!’). No sooner did Agastya hear these words and get the kick, than he cursed him, ‘Become a sarpa (serpent!)’ Nahuṣa immediately fell down from the palanquin as a python.
Once, Bhīma, the second of the Pāṇḍava princes, was caught by this python. The python set a condition for his release, viz., that he should answer its queries. Bhīma could neither answer them nor could extricate himself by his own prowess. Finally, Yudhiṣṭhira, his elder brother, who came there, answered them satisfactorily thereby getting him released.
The python too was transformed into the emperor Nahuṣa who left immediately for heaven.
References[edit]
- The Concise Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Swami Harshananda, Ram Krishna Math, Bangalore