Nahusha (, ) is a king of the

Chandravamsha The Lunar dynasty (IAST: Candravaṃśa) is a legendary principal house of the Kshatriyas varna, or warrior–ruling varna (Social Class) mentioned in the ancient Indian texts. This legendary dynasty was said to be descended from moon-related ...

(Lunar dynasty) in Hindu Puranas and

Mahabharata The ''Mahābhārata'' ( ; , , ) is one of the two major Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epics of ancient India revered as Smriti texts in Hinduism, the other being the ''Ramayana, Rāmāyaṇa''. It narrates the events and aftermath of the Kuru ...

. He is described to be the son of Āyus, the eldest son of

Pururavas Pururavas (Sanskrit: पुरूरवस्, ''Purūravas'') is a character in Hindu literature, a king who served as the first of the Lunar dynasty. According to the Vedas, he is a legendary entity associated with Surya (the sun) and Usha ...

, and Prabha, the daughter of

Svarbhānu Svarbhānu () is an asura traditionally held responsible for solar eclipses and lunar eclipses in Vedic mythology. The name is also used as an attribute of the asuras Rahu and Ketu in Puranic mythology, who are also connected to the solar ec ...

Literature

Nahusha is mentioned often in the

Rigveda The ''Rigveda'' or ''Rig Veda'' (, , from wikt:ऋच्, ऋच्, "praise" and wikt:वेद, वेद, "knowledge") is an ancient Indian Miscellany, collection of Vedic Sanskrit hymns (''sūktas''). It is one of the four sacred canoni ...

, starting in

Mandala 1 The first Mandala ("book") of the Rigveda has 191 hymns. Together with Mandala 10, it forms the latest part of the Rigveda. Its composition likely dates to the late Vedic period (1000-500 BCE) or the Early Iron Age (around 1000 BCE). Contents Hym ...

. Nahusha reigned from Pratishthana. According to the '' Harivamsha'', the appendix of the epic ''

'', he married Viraja, the mind-born daughter of the

Pitrs The pitris (, ) are the spirits of departed ancestors in Hinduism. Following an individual's death, the performance of the antyesti (funeral rites) is regarded to allow the deceased to enter Pitrloka, the abode of one's ancestors. The non-perfor ...

. They had six or seven sons, according to different scriptures. His eldest son Yati became a '' muni'' (ascetic). He was succeeded by his second son,

Yayati Yayati () is an emperor in Hindu tradition. He is described to be a Chandravamsha king. He is regarded to be the progenitor of the races of the Yadavas and the Pandavas. According to the Harivamsa, Yayati is the son of King Nahusha, and ...

. According to the ''Padma Purana'', Nahusha married Ashokasundari, she is said to have given birth to Yayati and a hundred daughters of Nahusha.

Legend

Birth and early life

According to the

Padma Purana The ''Padma Purana'' (, or ) is one of the eighteen Puranas#Mahapuranas, Major Puranas, a genre of texts in Hinduism. It is an encyclopedic text, named after the lotus in which creator god Brahma appeared, and includes large sections dedic ...

, Ashoksundari would marry the son of Ayu. Once, when the

asura Asuras () are a class of beings in Indian religions, and later Persian and Turkic mythology. They are described as power-seeking beings related to the more benevolent Devas (also known as Suras) in Hinduism. In its Buddhist context, the wor ...

Hunda entered the grove, he desired Ashoksundari, but the latter informed him of her mother's prophecy. Hunda assumed the form of a beautiful damsel, and tricked Ashokasundari into coming to his palace, whereupon he attempted to violate her chastity. Escaping, Ashokasundari cursed Hunda that the son of Ayu would kill him, after which she began to perform severe penance. Meanwhile, Pururavas, the ancestor of the Chandravamsha dynasty, ruled over the kingdom of Prayaga, with Pratishthana as his capital. After he retired and gave up his kingdom to his son and ascended to heaven, his eldest son Āyu became the king. Āyu was married to Prabha, the daughter of the asura,

Rahu Rāhu (Sanskrit: राहु, 16px, ☊) is one of the nine major celestial bodies ( navagraha) in Hindu texts and the king of meteors. It represents the ascension of the Moon in its precessional orbit around the Earth, also referred to as ...

. However, he remained childless. Āyu approached the seer Dattatreya, and after propitiating him, he requested the sage to grant him a son who would be invincible and possess many virtuous qualities which are required for a great king. The sage obliged and a son was born to Āyu. Hunda was just waiting for the birth of Ayu's son because he was scared that Ashoksundari's curse would come true. So, the infant was kidnapped by the asura Hunda and he ordered his minions to slay the child. However, the minions only abandoned the child at the hermitage of Sage

Vashistha Vasishtha (, ) is one of the oldest and revered Vedic rishis or sages, and one of the Saptarishis (seven great Rishis). Vasishtha is credited as the chief author of Mandala 7 of the ''Rigveda''. Vasishtha and his family are mentioned in Rigv ...

. Vashistha took the child and named him Nahusha "the fearless one". Nahusha grew into a youth, a disciple of Vashistha. Eventually, Vashistha revealed Nahusha's true parentage. Nahusha acquired weapons from the gods and killed Hunda in battle and returned to his parents. He then married Ashoksundari.

Ruling Svarga

Nahusha was made the ruler of

Svarga Svarga (, ), also known as Swarga, Indraloka and Svargaloka, is the celestial abode of the devas in Hinduism. Svarga is one of the seven higher lokas ( esoteric planes) in Hindu cosmology. Svarga is often translated as heaven, though it is reg ...

during Indra's absence, during his war against

Vritra Vritra (, , ) is a danava in Hinduism. He serves as the personification of drought, and is an adversary of the king of the devas, Indra. As a danava, he belongs to the race of the asuras. Vritra is also known in the Vedas as Ahi ( ). He appe ...

. He soon became arrogant and wished to make Shachi, the wife of Indra, his wife. He made the

Saptarishi The Saptarshi ( ) are the seven seers of ancient India who are extolled in the Vedas, and other Hindu literature such as the Skanda Purana. The Vedic Samhitas never enumerate these rishis by name, although later Vedic texts such as the Br ...

(Seven Vedic sages) convey his palanquin towards the mansion of Indra's wife with the intent of seducing her, asking them to hasten, telling them, 'sarpa', 'sarpa', (move on, move on). The sage

Agastya Agastya was a revered Indian sage of Hinduism. In the Indian tradition, he is a noted recluse and an influential scholar in diverse languages of the Indian subcontinent. He is regarded in some traditions to be a Chiranjivi. He and his wife ...

, furious by this disrespect, turned him into a 'sarpa' (serpent). He fell down from the sky, and remained there until he met

Yudhishthira Yudhishthira (Sanskrit: युधिष्ठिर, ud̪ʱiʂʈʰiɾᵊ IAST: ''Yudhiṣṭhira''), also known as Dharmaputra, is the eldest among the five Pandavas, and is also one of the central characters of the ancient Indian epic ''Ma ...

. In the

Dvapara Yuga ''Dvapara Yuga'' (International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration, IAST: ''Dvāpara-yuga'') (Devanagari: द्वापर युग), in Hinduism, is the third and third-best of the four ''yugas'' (world ages) in a ''Yuga Cycle'', preceded b ...

, when the Pandavas were on their exile after losing the game of dice, Nahusha in his serpent form captures Bhima and decides to eat him. Despite Bhima's extraordinary strength, Nahusha is too powerful, as he had received a boon while falling, from Agastya, that taken by him, strong beings superior to him, shall immediately lose their strength. Meanwhile, Yudhishthira was looking for Bhima. He found him and saw what was happening to him. Nahusha reveals himself to be Yudhishthira's ancestor and tells him of his curse. Yudhishthira and Nahusha discourse with each other on their views of

dharma Dharma (; , ) is a key concept in various Indian religions. The term ''dharma'' does not have a single, clear Untranslatability, translation and conveys a multifaceted idea. Etymologically, it comes from the Sanskrit ''dhr-'', meaning ''to hold ...

. Nahusha tells Yudhishthira of his mistakes and asks him to learn from them. Nahusha is relieved from his curse and goes to heaven. Bhima then receives his strength. Nahusha also finds mention in the story, "The Worth of Kine" by

Sister Nivedita Sister Nivedita ( born Margaret Elizabeth Noble; 28 October 1867 – 13 October 1911) was an Irish teacher, author, social activist, school founder and disciple of Swami Vivekananda. She spent her childhood and early youth in Ireland. She wa ...

, in relation to the great sage

Bharadvaja Bharadvaja (, ; also spelled Bharadwaja) was one of the revered Vedic sages (maharishi) in Ancient India. He was a renowned scholar, economist, grammarian and a physician. He is one of the Saptarshis (seven great sages or Maharṣis). His co ...

who was accidentally caught in a net along with fish by fishermen who were fishing in a river. The fishermen took the ''rishi''

Chyavana Chyavana () was a sage (rishi) in Hinduism. He was a son of Bhrigu, also known as Bhrigu Varuni in the Upanishads, and is known for his rejuvenation through a special herbal paste (ayurvedic jam) or tonic known as '' chyavanaprasham'', which ...

to King Nahusha and asked him to pay the price for the fish and the ''rishi'', with the king offering a cow in return for the sage.

References

External links

Hindu Mythology Stories, Facts, and Information
{{Mahabharata Characters in the Mahabharata