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The Fall of Nahusha
just to attract the attention of the passers-by, now he would lapse into silence and conjure up visions of his future happi. ness with Sachi Devi, now he would order the palanquin to be abruptly stopped and ask the rishis to pluck for him flowers from wayside plants, now he would sniff contemptuously and say what a foul and filthy place the kingdom of the gods was. The nearer his destination, the greater his excitement, and his mad lust overpowered him. At last, in a hurry to be in Sachi Devi's arms, he kicked Agastya, shouting: "Sarpa ! Sarpa !" ("Move on ! Move on!") At once Agastya toppled the palanquin and, trembling with rage, repeated the word, "Sarpa ! Sarpa !” (which also means "Serpent ! Serpent !"). And, in a twinkling, Nahusha fell headlong into a deep, densely-wooded ravine in the Himalayas, where he was immediately transformed into a python.
Meanwhile the other six sages, taking pity on Nahusha, reproved Agastya thus: "You have been too hasty. You know it was not Nahusha's fault. It was ours. We crowned him king of the gods. He was doing such good work as the monarch of Bharat, and we interrupted him. We shudder to think how Indra himself would misbehave if he were to become an earthly emperor. We are sure his ways would be much more wicked than Nahusha's in Indraloka."
"I am sorry for what has happened,” replied Agastya. "But I cannot recall my curse."
"Curse is a precious weapon," they said to one another. "In the hands of irate rishis such as Agastya and Durvasa, it has become cheap and contemptible. Perhaps the day is not far off when they shall lose their mastery over it."
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