The Rise and Fall of Nahusha

Nahusha was an ancestor of the Kurus. He was a descendent of Manu. He was the son of Ayus. His grandfather was Pururavas and he was the father of Yayati. The upheaval of Nahusha from the highest point to the lowest point during his lifetime provides us with a great learning on how to achieve greatness and how to redeem oneself after a blunder.

Nahusha was the Ideal king. By his good deeds and unmatched valour, he impressed even the Devas in heaven. With his devotion to the Devas, Nahusha could perform his humanly duties and divine responsibilities in a righteous manner with equal justice. This is why when Indra, the king of Devas, was deprived of his throne by a curse, they choose Nahusha as their next king. When he became the king of Devas, he was given Amrit (The nectar of immortality) and he also received a boon from Bhramha. It was the most powerful boon of all, Nahusha got the ability to deprive anyone of their energy and get them under his sway whenever they came within the range of his vision. Even when he was named the king of Devas, he continued to worship the Devas.

This Devotion to the Devas did not last. Arrogance creeped in Nahusha as he came to the realisation that he was the king of the Devas and he was Indra himself. As ego poisoned his mind, his performance lost its sincerity and earnestness. He started treating his subjects whom he once worshipped as his slaves. He forced the sages to push his chariot and disrespected them. His unrighteousness began to destroy him from within which Nahusha did not realize.

Due to this change in Nahusha’s personality, Sage Brighu with the help of Bhramha cursed Nahusha. They stripped him of his power and was sentenced to live on earth as a snake. As Nahusha fell from heaven, he realised his mistake and his arrogance was destroyed. He did not lose his past memories due to all the righteous acts that he had performed before arrogance crept in him. He begged the Devas and Sages for their forgiveness for is misdoings. Agastya took mercy and requested Bhrigu to provide relief. Bhrigu said Nahusha would be relieved of his curse after generations. His descendent, Yudhishthira, was to relieve him of his curse by answering questions raised by Nahusha. Years later, Yudhishthira answered all of Nahusha’s questions correctly thus relieving him of his curse.

This story teaches us that one may attain heaven but retaining it is not easy. One does not know when arrogance takes over oneself. Our arrogance can overpower to the extent that we start mistreating people we once worshipped and respected.

The life story of Nahusha stands true across all the barriers of time. It is similar during all ages where people become vain and arrogant after achieving great deeds or power. We tend to forget the responsibilities associated with power.

Confidence is necessary to move forward in life, but that should not get converted to ego and conceit. Ego and conceit lead to arrogance. An arrogant person thinks that he has all the talent that he needs. His abilities would be enough to get by and becomes a know all in his field. The moment the person feels he is a know all and the best, then he has nothing more to learn and seek, which becomes a deterrent to growth. Confidence with humbleness is a true quality of a seeker and a leader.

In today’s business environment, there exists tremendous competition. Confidence plays an important role to growth. One must have the following qualities to be a good leader: Understanding, problem solving, supporting, rewards, motivating, training, delegating, inspiring, empowering, vision, communicating and building trust. All of these qualities are not achieved if one is arrogant. The essence of Nahusha’s story depicts that one should not be arrogant even after achieving a high position in life. Arrogance is followed by one’s downfall, just as the saying goes “Pride comes before a fall”.