The Story of King Nahusha

The name of King Nahusha is found in the Rig Veda. He was a legendary king of the Lunar dynasty (Chandravansham) and the father of King Yayati.

Image by Felix-Mittermeier.de from Pixabay

Chandravanshi King Ayus (the son of King Pururavas) and his wife Prabha (daughter of Svaravanu) had no son. So, Ayus approached Rishi (sage) Dattatreya and served him for many years. Finally, Dattatreya became pleased with his dedication and blessed him with the boon of having a son with many virtues. 

Once upon a time, Lord Shiva and Devi Parvati went to Nandana Vana (the garden of Swarga, or Heaven). There, Devi Parvati saw the Kalpavriksha, or wish-fulfilling tree, and she prayed for a daughter. Thus, Devi Ashoka-sundari was born. While returning from the Nandana vana, Devi Parvati told her that she would be married to the son of Chandravanshi king Ayus, whose strength and wisdom would be comparable to that of Dev-raj Indra only.

One day, asura Viprachitti's son Hund entered the Nandana Vana and saw Ashoka-sundari. The asura was dazzled by the beautiful look of the maiden and proposed marriage to her. But Ashoka-sundari refused him, claiming that it was fate for her to marry the yet-to-be born son of King Ayus. Disheartened, Hund made an attempt to abduct her by deception. Soon, Ashoka-sundari realised that and cursed Hund that her husband would kill him for his lust.

Hund was afraid, as Ashoka-sundari was a daughter of Shiva and Parvati, and her words would never fail. Hence, he called for his friend, ashura Kampana, and asked him either to kill or to steal the child as soon as he was born. Kampana made several attempts to kill the child in his mother's womb without success. At last, the blessed child was born, and he was named Nahusha. 

Soon after the birth, Hund abducted the child and took him to his place. He told his wife Vipula about the curse and instructed her to cook the boy for him, as he wanted to eat the child who was supposed to kill him. Vipula asked her maid to kill the boy and cook him for her husband. But the maid felt pity for the boy and, instead of killing him, sent him to the ashram of Sage Vashistha. 

The maid cooked a deer and fed Hund the meat. Hund was relieved as he thought that he had annihilated his enemy. He then went to Ashoka-sundari again and told her about the death of Nahusha. Ashoka-sundari could not believe her own ears and, instead of marrying Hund, she started severe penance and austerity.

Rishi Vashistha brought up the boy with care and bestowed upon him his blessings. He taught the boy different branches of knowledge and trained him in the art of warfare and the usage of divine weapons. After completing his training, Vashistha told him about his true identity and how Hund had abducted him. 

Enraged, Nahusha decided to take revenge on the demon for his misdeeds. As he was about to set off to kill the asura, the devas came to bless him and gifted him with divine weapons. Dev-raj Indra gave him his own chariot and asked his charioteer, Matali, to go with him. Clad in divine armour and equipped with divine weapons, Nahusha went to battle with Hund. 

When Hund came to know about Nahusha, he understood how he was made a fool by his own people and had no other way but to confront him. The battle was a long one, and after fierce resistance from the demon, Nahusha killed him. As told by Vashistha, Nahusha married Ashoka-sundari, and together they returned to his parents' home. King Ayus and his wife were overjoyed by seeing their long-lost son. 

Nahusha was a gifted warrior with nonparallel skills, and he expanded his father's kingdom up to the end of the world. After many years, King Ayus coronated him as the King and himself left for heaven with his wife. Nahusha was a wise and just ruler. Not only his subjects, but the sages and devas were all used to respecting him for his qualities. 

Dev-raj Indra left Swarga

One day, Dev-raj Indra was enjoying the singing and dancing of the apsaras in his court at Amravati (the capital of Deva Loka). He was accompanied by his wife, Sachi Devi, and was also surrounded by all the devas, apsaras, kinnears, gandharvas, and sages. He was proud of his achievements as being the sole ruler of Swarga-rajya and of his opulence of wealth. 

At that time, Guru Brihaspati, the teacher and adviser of the devas, entered there. Out of his arrogance and ego, Lord Indra did not pay him his due respect. He did not even bother to offer him a seat. All the other devas were also too busy to enjoy the dancing, and none of them properly welcomed their Guru. Brihaspati noticed everything. He understood that Indra was too proud of his power to even give proper respect to his Guru. Hence, he felt insulted and left the court silently. He even decided to leave the Swarga-rajya and ceased to be the Guru of the devas. 

Soon, Indra understood his mistake. With repentance, he went to see Brihaspati. But Brihaspati refused to return to Deva Loke. Without their Guru, the devas were weak. The asuras took advantage of the situation and decided to attack Swarga-rajya. Indra and the other devas sought help from Prajapati Brahma. Brahma chastised Indra for his actions and advised him to seek assistance from Vishwarupa, son of the sage Tvashta. 

Vishwarupa had three heads and, he was well versed in the vedas. As the gods approached him, he readily agreed to become their Guru. Vishwarupa's mother was an asura, and he had a great fondness for his mother and for the asuras as well. Although he became the Guru of the devas, he started to favour the asuras secretly. He used to transfer the benefits of the sacrificial rites to the asuras. One day, Indra caught him red-handed, and out of rage, Indra instantly cut off his head with the sword. 

It was a serious offence as he killed a Brahman (Brahma-hatya) who was even his Guru. Instead of defending his own actions, Indra preferred to admit his sins to all. Because of his sincerity and humility, everyone was eager to help him. 

His entire sin was divided into four parts, and the earth, the water, the trees, and the women took a part of sin each. Henceforth, part of the earth became desert, water showed impurities in the form of bubbles, trees began to discharge sap, and women started to discharge blood during menstruation. But out of gratitude, Indra blessed them all. So, earth can fill up the holes and cracks automatically, water can increase the volume of any substance whenever mixed with it, trees can rejuvenate themselves, and women can have more physical pleasure. 

Free from his sin, Indra concentrated on ruling his subjects and managed to re-install Brihaspati as the Guru. But Tvashta, the father of Vishwarupa, was determined to take revenge for his son's death, and he began a huge yagna (sacrificial rite). During the ritual he made a mistake and instead of saying "may the enemies of Indra grow", he uttered "may Indra's enemy grow". As a result, a huge demon emerged from the alter, who was as big as a mountain. His moustache and beard were as red as molten copper, and his eyes were as bright as the mid-day sun.  Everyone was afraid of him. He was named Vritrasura. 

Although he was a demon, he was a Brahman and was a devotee of Shree Visnu. In his previous life, he was known as Chandraketu, and he took birth as a demon because of a curse. He was immune to earthly weapons. 

The gods were frightened and asked for help from Shree Vishnu, who told the devas to go to the rishi Dadhichi. Rishi Dadhichi sacrificed his own life for the gods, and a weapon was forged from the spine of his body. Indra wielded the weapon, known as the Vajrayudha and went to battle with Vitra. Vitrasura devoured Indra along with his elephant. But Indra came out by cutting his throat with his weapon and killing him. 

Though Indra was saved, he had committed another sin of doing Brahma-hatya. His sin took the form of an old woman, bathed in blood and with a foul smell. She started to haunt Indra wherever he went. Frustrated, Indra decided to flee from Swarga and hid himself within a lotus under the water of the Manas sarovar. 

Nahusha became the King of Deva Loka 

The devas were in trouble as Indra left Deva Loka. Without a king, the law and order were disrupted. As a result, they decided to appoint a new king until Indra returned. They discussed it among themselves and finally chose Nahusha as the most suitable candidate. 

The devas went to the court of Nahusha and requested him to be their King. Nahusha was shocked to hear that. He was just a mortal human. How can he be the King of the devas? 

But the devas were serious about their decision, and they were persistent. Hence, he accepted the offer. He made his son Yayati the king of his earthly kingdom and left for the Deva Loka to rule. Initially, he proved himself worthy. But soon, the power and opulence started to make him arrogant, and he started to boast too much. He became too rude and started to treat the devas and sages badly. The devas also understood their mistake of appointing him as the king. But they had no other way but to tolerate his nuisence as they themselves had chosen him to be the king. 

One day, Nahusha saw Sachi Devi, the Queen of Lord Indra. Nahusha was attracted to her and thought that just like the kingdom of Indra, he could take over his wife as well. As he approached Sachi Devi to have her as his wife, Sachi Devi rejected him immediately. In fear and humiliation, she left Swarga-rajya and went to the ashram of Brihaspati. On the advice of Guru Bihaspati, she asked Devi Upashruti (the patron goddess of uttarayana) to find Indra. After days of searching, Indra was discovered within a lotus. Sachi Devi convinced Indra that he had done enough repentance and he was already free from his sins. Then they planned to teach Nahusha a lesson for his deeds. 

Sachi Devi sent a messenger to Nahusha saying that she had agreed to marry him and wanted to have a talk with him at the place of Brihaspati. Nahusha was delighted to hear that and immediately went to see Sachi Devi. Sachi Devi pretended to be happy to see Nahusha and told him that she was ready for the marriage but on one condition. Nahusha should come to her place for marriage in a palanquin that should be carried by the great sages. This was an outrageous demand, but Nahusha was blinded by his ego and could not understand the trap. 

He called for all the great sages and asked them to carry the palanquin on the day of wedding. The sages agreed as they had respect for the king of the devas and because of the past good deeds of Nahusha. On the day of the marriage, Nahusha started his journey in the palanquin. 

But soon, the journey became extremely uncomfortable for him as the sages did not know how to carry a palanquin properly. Moreover, there was Agasthya Rishi, who was short in height. Because of him, the palanquin was tilted to one side. At last, becoming impatient, Nahusha kicked Agasthya with his leg. Enraged, Agathya cursed Nahusha to become a 'sarpa' or snake. Nahusha realised severity of his action. He began to apologise to the sage right away, but it was too late. He transformed into a large ajagara sarpa (python snake) and fell from the heaven to the earth. 

Thousands of years had passed, and Nahusha continued to spend his cursed life as a serpent. In the Dwapara Yuga, when Pancha Pandava was in exile, the great snake captured Bheema in a dense forest. Though Bheem was very strong, he could not free himself from the grasp of Nahusha. When Nahusha was about to devour him, he came to learn of the identity of Bheem. Knowing Bheem as his descendent, Nahusha freed him and told him the entire story. Pancha Pandava was saddened to hear the story of their ancestor, and finally, Yudhisthir saved him from his curse. Nahusha got back his human appearance and left for heaven forever. 

The story of Nahusha has a moral. Ego and arrogance can destroy good qualities, and anyone can fall in life if he/she forgets to give due respect to others.