Shloka 28
Śṛṅgī’s Curse on King Parikṣit
Parikṣit–Śṛṅgī–Takṣaka Causal Link
दशामस्तं प्रगृह्माशु कृतमेवं भविष्यति । छिन्न मूलमनर्थानां मृते तस्मिन् भविष्यति,इसपर अपनेको पण्डित माननेवाले दूसरे नाग बोल उठे--“हम जनमेजयको पकड़कर डँस लेंगे।' ऐसा करनेसे तुरंत ही सब काम बन जायगा। उस राजाके मरनेपर हमारे लिये अनर्थोकी जड़ ही कट जायगी
daśāma taṃ pragṛhyāśu kṛtam evaṃ bhaviṣyati | chinna-mūlam anarthānāṃ mṛte tasmin bhaviṣyati ||
Śeṣa said: “Let us quickly seize him and bite him; thus the matter will be accomplished. When that king is dead, the very root of our calamities will be cut off.” The verse reflects a counsel of expedient violence—treating the death of Janamejaya as a strategic solution to the serpents’ fear—thereby foregrounding the ethical tension between self-preservation and adharma.
शेष उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse illustrates how fear and perceived threat can drive counsel toward immediate, violent expedients—framing a moral problem where ‘ending the enemy’ is presented as uprooting future harm, even though such action deepens cycles of retaliation.
Among the nāgas, a proposal is voiced (attributed here to Śeṣa) to capture Janamejaya and bite him, reasoning that the king’s death would eliminate the source of their impending troubles.