Shloka 30
Āstīka’s Commission and Approach to Janamejaya’s Sarpa-satra (आस्तीक-प्रेषणं यज्ञप्रवेशोपक्रमश्च)
मृतं सर्प धनुष्कोट्या समुत्क्षिप्प धरातलात् | तस्य शुद्धात्मन: प्रादात् स्कन्धे भरतसत्तम,भरतश्रेष्ठ! उन्होंने धनुषकी नोकसे पृथ्वीपर पड़े हुए एक मृत सर्पको उठाकर उन शुद्धात्मा महर्षिके कंधेपर डाल दिया
janamejaya uvāca |
mṛtaṃ sarpaṃ dhanuṣkoṭyā samutkṣipya dharātalāt |
tasya śuddhātmanaḥ prādāt skandhe bharatasattama ||
Janamejaya sprach: „O Bester der Bhāratas! Mit der Spitze seines Bogens hob er eine tote Schlange vom Boden auf und legte sie auf die Schulter jenes reinherzigen Weisen.“
जनमेजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights an ethical lapse—treating a sage with disrespect—implying that careless or arrogant actions toward the virtuous can trigger grave consequences and set larger events in motion.
A person (in context, the king) lifts a dead snake with the tip of his bow and places it on the shoulder of a meditating, pure-minded sage, an act that becomes the immediate cause for the ensuing curse and its aftermath.