Shloka 23
Śṛṅgī’s Curse on King Parikṣit
Parikṣit–Śṛṅgī–Takṣaka Causal Link
यज्ञे वा भुजगास्तस्मिज्छतशो5थ सहस्त्रश: । जनान् दशन्तु वै सर्वे नैवं त्रासो भविष्यति,“अथवा उस यज्ञमें सभी सर्प जाकर सैकड़ों और हजारों मनुष्योंको डँस लें; ऐसा करनेसे हमारे लिये भय नहीं रहेगा
yajñe vā bhujagās tasmiñ chatāśo ’tha sahasraśaḥ | janān daśantu vai sarve naivaṁ trāso bhaviṣyati ||
Śeṣa sprach: „Oder aber: Bei jenem Opfer sollen alle Schlangen hingehen und die Menschen zu Hunderten und Tausenden beißen; geschieht das, wird für uns keine Furcht mehr bleiben.“
शेष उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights a morally distorted strategy: seeking safety through indiscriminate violence. It implicitly warns that fear and insecurity can drive beings toward adharma—harming innocents to protect oneself—thereby deepening the cycle of hostility and karmic consequence.
Śeṣa proposes an alternative course of action regarding a sacrificial setting: that the serpents should go there and bite humans in vast numbers, imagining that such aggressive retaliation would remove the serpents’ fear. The line reflects a tense, retaliatory mindset amid the broader serpent-related episodes in Ādi Parva.