Shloka 51
Āstīka-stuti at Janamejaya’s Sacrifice (आस्तीकस्तुतिः / यज्ञप्रशंसा)
परिहीयेत कि तस्य यदि जीवेत् स पार्थिव: । काश्यपस्य प्रसादेन मन्त्रिणां विनयेन च,यदि मन्त्रियोंके विनय और काश्यपके कृपाप्रसादसे महाराज जीवित हो जाते तो इसमें उस दुष्टकी क्या हानि हो जाती?
parihīyet ki tasya yadi jīvet sa pārthivaḥ | kāśyapasya prasādena mantriṇāṁ vinayena ca ||
Janamejaya said: “What loss would that wicked man have suffered if the king had remained alive—saved through the gracious favor of Kāśyapa and through the respectful, conciliatory conduct of the ministers? If the ruler could have been preserved by such rightful means, why should the offender have been spared any real harm?”
जनमेजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse probes ethical reasoning in governance: if a king’s life can be preserved through legitimate compassion (a sage’s grace) and proper political conduct (ministers’ vinaya), then the wrongdoer’s interests should not override the higher duty to protect life and uphold righteous order.
Janamejaya challenges the situation by asking why the offender would be ‘harmed’ if the king were allowed to live—especially when survival could occur through Kāśyapa’s favor and the ministers’ respectful intervention—implying that saving the king should have been the preferable course.