Shloka 178
Ādi-parva Adhyāya 3 — Janamejaya’s Rite, Dhaumya’s Parīkṣā, and Uttanka’s Kuṇḍala Quest (सर्पसत्रप्रस्तावना–गुरुपरीक्षा–उत्तङ्कोपाख्यान)
उत्तड़क उवाच तक्षकेण महीन्द्रेन्द्र येन ते हिंसित: पिता । तस्मै प्रतिकुरुष्व त्वं पन्नगाय दुरात्मने,इतना कहकर उत्तंक फिर बोले--भूपालशिरोमणे! नागराज तक्षकने आपके पिताकी हत्या की है; अतः आप उस दुरात्मा सर्पसे इसका बदला लीजिये
Uttaṅka uvāca—Takṣakeṇa mahīndrendra yena te hiṁsitaḥ pitā | tasmai pratikuruṣva tvaṁ pannagāya durātmane ||
Uttaṅka said: “O best of kings! It was Takṣaka who harmed your father. Therefore you must exact retribution from that wicked serpent.” Thus Uttaṅka urges the ruler toward vengeance, casting it as a kingly duty to answer grievous injury—yet the appeal also awakens the ethical tension between justice and retaliatory wrath.
उत्तड़क उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights a royal-ethical dilemma: a king is urged to uphold justice by answering grave harm, yet the call to ‘retaliate’ also risks sliding from righteous punishment into vengeance driven by anger.
Uttaṅka informs and provokes the king by naming Takṣaka as the serpent responsible for the father’s death, pressing the king to take action against Takṣaka—an impetus that leads toward the famous serpent-sacrifice (sarpa-satra) episode.