Nahusha as Indra

Nahusha was a righteous king of the solar line. When Indra fled after the killing of Vṛtra, the devas and ṛshis made Nahusha the temporary Indra. Pride and desire ruined him. He made the saptarshis carry his palanquin and kicked Agastya, and Agastya’s śāpa (a curse) turned him into a great serpent. The Skanda Mahā Purāṇa tells the fall. The Mahābhārata tells how Yudhishṭhira freed him.

Indra’s flight

Vṛtra was a great asura who had been born from Citraratha. Citraratha had spoken a śāpa on Bhagavān Śiva and Pārvatī at Kailāsa, and was born again as an asura. Indra killed Vṛtra. After this brahmahatyā (the pāpa of killing a brāhmaṇa) seized Indra, because Vṛtra was a brāhmaṇa by tapas (austerity). Brahmahatyā entered Indra as a terrible force. He fled in shame and fear and hid in the fibres of a lotus deep in Mānasarovara.

With no Indra to lead the devas, svarga (heaven) fell into disorder. This is told in the Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Māheśvara Khaṇḍa, Kedāra Khaṇḍa, Chapter 15.

The devas and ṛshis met to decide what to do. They could not go on without someone in the seat of Indra. After long talk they chose Nahusha, a king of the solar line, famous for his great dharma, tapas and giving. He was to be Indra while the true Indra was away.

Nahusha is made Indra

Nahusha was set in the seat with full ceremony as the regent Indra. He took Indra’s palace, his court, his powers and his duties. For a time he ruled with justice and skill. He kept the devas in order and kept up the work of the world that Indra had looked after.

But the power of Indra’s seat had not been earned, and it began to spoil a noble character. Nahusha was lifted above his nature. Little by little he gave way to ahaṃkāra (pride) and kāma (desire). He looked at Śacī, the wife of Indra, a lady of great dignity, and he began to want her as his own queen.

Śacī’s condition

Śacī did not want Nahusha. But he held a power that was only for a time, and she knew she could not simply refuse him. She went to Bṛhaspati and the devas for advice. Bṛhaspati told her to gain time. She was to tell Nahusha that she would think of accepting him only if he came to her in a palanquin carried by the saptarshis (the seven great ṛshis). No Indra had ever asked for such a show of rule.

The plan was based on this. The saptarshis, Vasishṭha, Viśvāmitra, Agastya and the others, were far too great to be made palanquin-bearers. Even if Nahusha gave the order, his pride in asking for it would bring about his ruin.

The palanquin of the saptarshis

Nahusha was drunk with power. He agreed to the condition and called the saptarshis to carry his palanquin. The ṛshis had no choice but to obey. The holder of Indra’s seat had a right to command, and a refusal would have caused greater trouble. They carried the palanquin with difficulty and with deep, silent anger.

On the way Nahusha grew impatient with the slow bearers. He kicked, or struck, Agastya with his foot and said, “Sarpa! Sarpa!” This means “Move faster! Go!” It was a double insult: a blow against a great ṛshi, and a rude word.

Agastya’s śāpa

Agastya had great power from tapas and great dignity. He rose in anger and spoke the śāpa at once: “You said ‘sarpa‘, so a sarpa (serpent) you will be! You made us your bearers and then struck me with your foot. Become a serpent and fall from this seat of Indra!”

Nahusha was changed at once into a huge serpent (ahi). He fell from svarga into the forests of the earth. The seat of Indra was empty. In time the true Indra was freed from brahmahatyā and came back to his rightful place. This is told in the Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Māheśvara Khaṇḍa, Kedāra Khaṇḍa, Chapter 15.

Freed through Yudhishṭhira

The Kedāra Khaṇḍa also mentions the well-known sequel. Nahusha stayed in the forest as a great serpent for long yugas. In the time of the Pāṇḍavas, Yudhishṭhira, the son of Dharma, who was known for his wisdom, met this serpent. The serpent asked Yudhishṭhira questions about dharma. Yudhishṭhira answered each one with perfect understanding. Through this talk of tattva-jñāna (knowledge of the truth), Agastya’s śāpa came to its end. Nahusha was freed from the serpent form and went back to his divine nature.

The Ājagara Parva

The Ājagara Parva of the Mahābhārata (Vana Parva, Chapters 176–181) tells the end of Nahusha’s life as a serpent, as the Pāṇḍavas lived in the forest in exile. The Kedāra Khaṇḍa tells the fall and mentions Yudhishṭhira’s meeting only briefly. The Ājagara Parva gives the full account of the freeing.

Bhīmasena was walking ahead of the others in the Kāmyaka forest. A huge python (ajagara) of great power suddenly seized him. Bhīma was very strong, but he could not free himself. The python held him quite still.

Yudhishṭhira came looking for Bhīma and found him held fast. He understood that force had failed, and he spoke with the serpent.

The python was Nahusha. He was willing to let Bhīma go only if Yudhishṭhira could answer his questions about dharma. His questions went to the heart of the brāhmaṇa way of life. He asked, “Who is truly a brāhmaṇa?” Yudhishṭhira answered that a brāhmaṇa is known by conduct and qualities, not by birth alone. The qualities he named were satya (truth), dāna (giving), kshamā (forgiveness), śīla (good character), ahiṃsā (non-harm) and tapas. Their talk then turned to deeper questions about Brahman, dharma and the highest reality.

Yudhishṭhira’s answers were correct and complete, so the conditions of Agastya’s śāpa were met. The python form fell away from Nahusha. His divine form came back, and he rose from the earth to the realms of the devas. The meeting is told as part of the long teaching on dharma and on the qualities of the truly righteous, in the Mārkaṇḍeya Samāsyā Parva.

Another account in the Anuśāsana Parva

The Anuśāsana Parva of the Mahābhārata (Chapters 99–100) tells this episode in a different way. In it, Bhṛgu, hidden and unseen in Agastya’s jaṭā (matted hair), speaks the śāpa that changes Nahusha, not Agastya himself. The reason given is Nahusha’s vara (boon): anyone who came within his sight came under his power, so no ṛshi who could be seen could speak a śāpa on him. Both accounts agree on the outcome and on Yudhishṭhira’s part in ending the śāpa.

Sources

• Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Māheśvara Khaṇḍa, Kedāra Khaṇḍa, Chapter 15
• Mahābhārata, Vana Parva, Chapters 176–181 (Ājagara Parva)
• Mahābhārata, Anuśāsana Parva, Chapters 99–100 (the account of Bhṛgu’s śāpa)