Shloka 11
Āstīka Stops the Sarpa-satra; Royal Closure and Protective Phalaśruti (आस्तीकः सर्पसत्रनिवर्तनम्)
जुद्वत्स्वृत्विक्ष्वथ तदा सर्पसत्रे महाक्रतौ । अहय: प्रापतंस्तत्र घोरा: प्राणिभयावहा:,उस समय उस महान् यज्ञ सर्पसत्रमें ज्यों-ज्यों ऋत्विजू लोग आहुतियाँ डालते, त्यों-त्यों प्राणिमात्रको भय देनेवाले घोर सर्प वहाँ आ-आकर गिरते थे
judvatsvṛtvijṣv atha tadā sarpasatre mahākratau | ahayaḥ prāpatans tatra ghorāḥ prāṇibhayāvahāḥ ||
Śaunaka said: Then, at that great sacrificial rite—the serpent-sacrifice—whenever the officiating priests poured the oblations into the fire, terrifying serpents, bringers of fear to all living beings, kept falling there one after another.
शौनक उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the potency of Vedic ritual and simultaneously raises an ethical warning: when sacred power is harnessed for revenge, it can become a mechanism of mass harm, endangering life broadly rather than restoring dharma.
During the great serpent-sacrifice, as the priests offer oblations, dreadful serpents are compelled to come and fall into the sacrificial area/fire, indicating the ritual’s force drawing them in and the escalating destruction at the rite.