Shloka 10

Jaradkāru Encounters the Pitṛs

Jaratkāru-Pitṛdarśana

Devanagari script

सौतिर्वाच श्र॒त्वैवमृषिपुत्रस्तु शवं कन्धे प्रतिक्ठितम्‌ कोपसंरक्तनयन: प्रज्वलन्निव मन्युना,उग्रश्रवाजी कहते हैं--शौनकजी! इस प्रकार अपने पिताके कंधेपर मृतक सर्पके रखे जानेका समाचार सुनकर ऋषिकुमार शंगी क्रोधसे जल उठा। कोपसे उसकी आँखें लाल हो गयीं

Transliteration

sautir uvāca— śrutvaivam ṛṣiputras tu śavaṁ kandhe pratiṣṭhitam | kopasaṁraktanayanaḥ prajvalann iva manyunā ||

Translation

Sauti sprach: „O Śaunaka! Als er vernahm, dass man seinen Vater gezwungen hatte, eine tote Schlange auf der Schulter zu tragen, loderte der Sohn des Weisen, Śṛṅgin, in Zorn auf. Seine Augen röteten sich vor Wut, als stünde er in Flammen der Empörung.“

Word by Word

सौतिःSauti (Ugraśravas), the narrator

उवाचsaid

श्रुत्वाhaving heard

एवम्thus, in this manner

ऋषि-पुत्रःthe sage's son

तुbut, indeed

शवम्a corpse (dead body)

कन्धेon the shoulder

प्रतिष्ठितम्placed, set (upon)

कोप-संरक्त-नयनःwhose eyes were reddened with anger

प्रज्वलन्blazing, flaring up

इवas if, like

मन्युनाwith wrath, by anger

Speaker

कृश उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sauti (Ugraśravas)

Śaunaka

Ṛ

Ṛṣiputra (Śṛṅgin)

the sage-father (Śamīka, implied by context)

dead serpent (śava)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights how anger (kopa/manyu) can overwhelm judgment and propel one toward harmful, disproportionate action—an ethical warning that self-restraint is essential to dharma, especially for those with spiritual power.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sauti narrates to Śaunaka that the sage’s son Śṛṅgin, upon hearing that a dead serpent had been placed on his father’s shoulder, becomes intensely enraged—setting the stage for the fateful curse that follows in this episode.