Shloka 1

Vyāsa’s Arrival at Janamejaya’s Sarpasatra; Commissioning of Vaiśaṃpāyana’s Recital (व्यासागमनम्)

Devanagari script

अपन क्ात बछ। अर: 2 चतुष्पठ्चाशत्तमोड ध्याय: माताकी आज्ञासे मामाको सान्त्वना देकर आस्तीकका सर्पयज्ञमें जाना सौतिर्वाच तत आहूय पुत्र स्वं जरत्कारुर्भुजज्मा । वासुके्नागराजस्य वचनादिदमब्रवीत्‌,उग्रश्रवाजी कहते हैं--तब नागकन्या जरत्कारु नागराज वासुकिके कथनानुसार अपने पुत्रको बुलाकर इस प्रकार बोली--

Transliteration

śaunaka uvāca | sūtir uvāca | tata āhūya putraṃ svaṃ jaratkārur bhujagottamā | vāsuker nāgarājasya vacanād idam abravīt |

Translation

Śaunaka fragte. Sauti erwiderte: Daraufhin ließ die Schlangenmaid Jaratkāru, dem Wort Vāsukis, des Königs der Nāgas, folgend, ihren eigenen Sohn rufen und sprach wie folgt—

Word by Word

• {'śaunaka uvāca': 'Śaunaka said (the questioner among the sages at Naimiṣa)', 'sūtiḥ uvāca': 'Sauti said (Ugraśravas, the narrator)', 'tata': 'then, thereafter', 'āhūya': 'having summoned, calling near', 'putram': 'son (accusative singular)', 'svam': 'one’s own', 'jaratkāruḥ': 'Jaratkāru (here: the Nāga-maiden, mother of Āstīka)', 'bhujaga-uttamā': 'best among serpents

• eminent Nāga woman', 'vāsukeḥ': 'of Vāsuki (genitive singular)', 'nāga-rājasya': 'of the king of the Nāgas', 'vacanāt': 'from the word/command

• according to the instruction', 'idam': 'this', 'abravīt': 'she said, spoke'}

Speaker

शौनक उवाच

Characters & Entities

• शौनक (Śaunaka)
• सौति / उग्रश्रवस् (Sauti / Ugraśravas)
• जरत्कारु (Jaratkāru, Nāga-maiden)
• आस्तीक (Āstīka)
• वासुकि (Vāsuki)
• नागराज (King of the Nāgas)
• सर्पयज्ञ (Sarpa-satra / serpent-sacrifice)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse foregrounds dharma as responsive action: a mother’s instruction, aligned with a larger communal need, becomes the immediate moral call. It highlights how rightful obedience and timely intervention can serve as instruments to prevent collective harm.

What is happening in the narrative?

The narrator (Sauti) reports that Jaratkāru, the Nāga-maiden and mother of Āstīka, summons her son and begins to speak, doing so at the behest of Vāsuki, king of the Nāgas—setting up Āstīka’s movement toward the serpent-sacrifice where his role will be decisive.