Nahusha Bhṛgu Śāpa

This is the Anuśāsana Parva’s account of how Nahusha fell from the throne of Indra. Here it is Bhṛgu, not Agastya, who speaks the śāpa (a curse). Nahusha held a vara (a boon) that anyone who came within his sight became subject to him, and he had also been given amṛta to drink. So no ṛshi who was seen by him could curse him. Bhṛgu therefore hid, unseen, in Agastya’s own matted hair while Agastya took his turn bearing the king’s palanquin. When Nahusha struck Agastya’s head with his foot, Bhṛgu cursed him to become a serpent.

In the Udyoga Parva, Agastya himself pronounces the curse.

Nahusha’s rise to power in svarga

Bhīshma tells Yudhishṭhira that this itihāsa follows from the teaching on lamps, because it ends with the same teaching on the puṇya (merit) of dīpa-dāna, the gift of lamps. Nahusha was a rājarshi, a royal ṛshi, of great tapas. By his own puṇya-karma he won the position of devarāja, king of the devas.

Even while he ruled in svarga (heaven), the pure Nahusha went on performing both human and divine rites. He kept the fire rite (agnikārya) and offered samidhs (fire-sticks), darbha grass, flowers, and bali offerings of parched grain mixed with cooked rice. He gave incense and lamps. He kept japa-yajñas and dhyāna-yajñas as if he were still a mortal householder. He honoured all the devas in due order, exactly as before. (Anuśāsana Parva, Chapter 99)

The rise of pride

In time the thought “I alone am now Devendra” took root in Nahusha, and ahaṅkāra (pride) overcame him. His observances began to fall away. Drunk with the pride of his vara, he forced the ṛshis to carry his śibikā (palanquin). As his practice kept declining, he set the great ṛshis a turn each to carry his vāhana (vehicle), and in time it was Agastya’s turn. (Anuśāsana Parva, Chapter 99)

Bhṛgu visits Agastya

At this time Bhṛgu Maharshi, the foremost among the knowers of Brahman, came to Agastya’s āśrama and said: “O great muni! Why should we put up with this outrage of Nahusha, who has become Devendra with such a corrupted mind?”

Agastya answered: “Mahāmuni! How can I curse him? The deva who gave him the vara, as you yourself know, granted that whoever falls within Nahusha’s sight becomes subject to him. Nahusha asked this of the deva as he went up to svarga. For this reason neither you, nor I, nor any other ṛshi has been able to strike him down or bring him low. Moreover, that same deva gave him amṛta to drink as well, and for this reason too we cannot bring him down. Now this worthless man commits adharma against brāhmaṇas because of the vara, which has become a cause of suffering for the people. Vāgviśārada, tell me now what should be done. Whatever you say, I shall do.” (Anuśāsana Parva, Chapter 99)

The plan

Bhṛgu replied: “I have come to you at Brahmā’s own command, to find the way against this powerful Nahusha, who is intoxicated with his rank among the devas. That utterly corrupted being will today yoke you as the bearer of his vāhana. Today, by my own power, I shall bring this proud Nahusha down from the seat of Indra. Before your very eyes I shall set the true Devendra back in his place. That foolish, pāpa-minded Devendra, his mind struck by daiva (fate), will today strike you with his foot, for his own destruction. I will not be able to bear his insolence any longer. In fierce anger I shall curse this being, who overturns dharma and harms the twice-born, to become a sarpa (serpent). O muni! I cannot bear the conduct of this most vile and corrupted being, and before your eyes I shall bring him down to the earth. O muni! I shall deal with this pāpa-laden Nahusha, drunk on wealth and power, exactly as pleases you.”

When Agastya, the imperishable son of Mitra and Varuṇa, heard Bhṛgu speak like this, he was very pleased and his anguish was gone. (Anuśāsana Parva, Chapter 99)

The hiding and the curse

While the two spoke of Nahusha’s deeds, all of Nahusha’s proper rites, divine and human, began to fall apart before their eyes. So did his gifts of lamps, his bali-karma, and the birthday celebrations of his children, all of which had once flourished.

Bhīshma teaches, in an aside, that householders who are remembered for proper conduct in both the world of the devas and the world of men prosper. They prosper further through incense, lamps, and namaskāra offered with devotion. He says that giving the first portion of cooked food to a guest, and performing bali properly in the home, please the devas a hundredfold. This conduct, kept up through a long reign, was what first brought Nahusha his great position, and his later neglect undid it.

When Nahusha’s share of the yajña was seized by rākshasas because of his neglect, he called Agastya to carry him. At that moment the mighty and radiant Bhṛgu came in an instant from the bank of the Sarasvatī. He said to Agastya: “Close your eyes. I shall enter your jaṭā (matted hair).” Agastya stood still as a pillar and received Bhṛgu into his matted locks. Bhṛgu’s purpose was to bring the king down. Nahusha, meanwhile, took the ṛshi as his bearer and set out.

Agastya asked Nahusha where he wished to be carried and offered to take him wherever he named. As they went, the impatient devarāja drove Agastya on with a whip and struck him again and again. Agastya, whose mind was set on dharma, did not grow angry even at this. Then Nahusha in his fury struck Agastya’s head with his left foot. At that blow Bhṛgu, hidden in the jaṭā and unseen by Nahusha’s vara-powered sight, blazed with the fiercest anger. He at once cursed the pāpa-minded Nahusha: “You most degraded of beings! Because in your anger you have struck this great muni on the head, become a sarpa (serpent) this instant and fall to the earth!”

As Bhṛgu spoke this curse from within the jaṭā, Nahusha fell to the earth, changed into a serpent. (Anuśāsana Parva, Chapter 100)

The promise of release

Even as a serpent on the earth, Nahusha remembered his former gifts, his tapas, his niyamas (observances), and his past merits. He begged Bhṛgu to set an end to the curse. Bhṛgu was moved to compassion and calmed down. Filled with pity, he gave a time for its ending.

Bhṛgu said: “A great and famous king will be born in your own line. He is Yudhishṭhira. He shall free you from this curse.” Having spoken, Bhṛgu vanished from sight.

The Vana Parva, in its Ājagara Parva, tells that Yudhishṭhira answers the serpent Nahusha’s questions on dharma, and that this ends the curse.

The illustrious Agastya, having brought about Indra’s restoration and having been honoured by all the brāhmaṇas, returned to his own āśrama. Nahusha, freed by Bhṛgu from this curse, went up, in Bhīshma’s sight, to Brahmaloka. (Anuśāsana Parva, Chapter 100)

Brahmā sets Indra back on the throne

Bhṛgu, having brought Nahusha down to the earth, went to Brahmā’s abode and told him what had happened. Brahmā called Śakra and the devas and said: “By my own vara, devas, Nahusha had obtained the kingdom. That same Nahusha has now been removed from his position by the angry Agastya and thrown down to the earth. O devas! No affair can go on anywhere without a king. Therefore, consecrate this Śakra once more as king of the devas.”

As Brahmā spoke, the devas were greatly glad and agreed. Bhagavān Brahmā himself performed Vāsava’s abhisheka (consecration) to the kingship of the devas, and Indra shone in that position as before.

Bhīshma closes by saying that this whole course of events came about through Nahusha’s own wrongdoing, and that Nahusha himself, through those same stored-up puṇya-karmas, reached siddhi again. (Anuśāsana Parva, Chapter 100)

Closing teaching on dīpa-dāna

Bhīshma ends the itihāsa by teaching Yudhishṭhira that householders should give lamps freely in the evening. One who gives lamps gains divine sight after death. Givers of lamps shine like the full moon. A giver of lamps will be blessed with beauty and strength for as many years as the number of times the eyes blink in one lifetime. (Anuśāsana Parva, Chapter 100)

Sources

• Mahābhārata, Anuśāsana Parva, Chapter 99: Nahusha’s rise, his pride, Bhṛgu’s visit to Agastya, and the plan
• Mahābhārata, Anuśāsana Parva, Chapter 100: the hiding, the curse, the promise of release, Brahmā’s act, and the teaching on lamps
• Mahābhārata, Udyoga Parva: the account in which Agastya pronounces the curse
• Mahābhārata, Vana Parva, Ājagara Parva: Yudhishṭhira and the serpent Nahusha