Shloka 22
Ādi Parva, Adhyāya 47 — Janamejaya’s Sarpa-satra: Vow, Preparation, and the Onset of the Serpent Offering
संध्यामुपास्स्व भगवन्नप: स्पृष्टवा यतव्रतः । प्रादुष्कृताग्निहोत्रो5यं मुहूर्तो रम्यदारुण:
sandhyām upāssva bhagavann apaḥ spṛṣṭvā yatavrataḥ | prāduṣkṛtāgnihotro ’yaṁ muhūrto ramya-dāruṇaḥ ||
Takṣaka said: “O venerable one, perform your twilight worship. Having touched water and restraining yourself by vow, complete the Agnihotra that has now become due. This moment is at once pleasing in its outward calm and dreadful in what it is about to bring.”
तक्षक उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the dharmic ideal of disciplined daily worship—Sandhyā and Agnihotra—while also warning that outwardly auspicious times can conceal grave danger; ethical vigilance must accompany ritual correctness.
Takṣaka addresses a revered person and urges him to begin the twilight rites—touching water for purification and performing the Agnihotra—while hinting ominously that the present moment, though seemingly pleasant, is perilous.