Shloka 16
आस्तीक-वरप्रदानम् (Āstīka’s Boon and the Interruption of the Sarpa-satra)
यस्मिन् देशे च काले च मापनेयं प्रवर्तिता । ब्राह्मणं कारणं कृत्वा नायं संस्थास्यते क्रतु:,“जिस स्थान और समयमें यह यज्ञमण्डप मापनेकी क्रिया प्रारम्भ हुई है, उसे देखकर यह मालूम होता है कि एक ब्राह्मणको निमित्त बनाकर यह यज्ञ पूर्ण न हो सकेगा”
yasmin deśe ca kāle ca māpaneyaṃ pravartitā | brāhmaṇaṃ kāraṇaṃ kṛtvā nāyaṃ saṃsthāsyate kratuḥ ||
Janamejaya said: “From the very place and the very time at which the measuring of the sacrificial ground has been set in motion, the omen is plain: this sacrifice will not reach completion if a single brāhmaṇa is made the pretext or instrument. An undertaking begun under such inauspicious conditions cannot be brought to a successful end.”
जनमेजय उवाच