Shloka 15
Jaradkāru Encounters the Pitṛs
Jaratkāru-Pitṛdarśana
सौतिरुवाच इति शतप्त्वातिसंक्रुद्ध: शृंगी पितरमभ्यगात् । आसीनं गोव्रजे तस्मिन् वहन्तं शवपन्नगम्,उग्रश्रवाजी कहते हैं--इस प्रकार अत्यन्त क्रोधपूर्वक शाप देकर शृंगी अपने पिताके पास आया, जो उस गोष्ठमें कंधेपर मृतक सर्प धारण किये बैठे थे
Sautir uvāca: iti śaptvā ati-saṁkruddhaḥ Śṛṅgī pitaram abhyagāt | āsīnaṁ govraje tasmin vahantaṁ skandhe mṛta-pannagam ||
Sauti said: Having thus pronounced the curse in a fit of intense anger, Śṛṅgī went to his father. There, in that cow-pen settlement, he saw him seated, bearing upon his shoulder a dead serpent.
कृश उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the ethical danger of krodha (anger) joined with vāg-daṇḍa (punitive speech): when a person with spiritual potency speaks rashly, the harm can exceed the original offense. It implicitly commends restraint, discernment, and proportional response as aspects of dharma.
After uttering a curse in great anger, the sage-boy Śṛṅgī goes to his father and finds him seated in the cow-pen area, with a dead snake resting on his shoulder—an image that connects to the preceding insult and sets up the chain of events leading toward the famous serpent-related catastrophe.