Shloka 7
लोमशजी कहते हैं--युधिष्ठिर! तब पुरोहितने राजा सोमकसे जन्तुकी बलि देकर किये जानेवाले यज्ञको प्रारम्भ करवाया। उस समय करुणामयी माताएँ अत्यन्त शोकसे व्याकुल हो “हाय! हम मारी गयीं” ऐसा कहकर रोती हुई अपने पुत्र जन्तुको बलपूर्वक अपनी ओर खींच रही थीं। वे करुण स्वरमें रोती हुई बालकके दाहिने हाथको पकड़कर खींचती थीं और पुरोहितजी उसके बायें हाथको पकड़कर अपनी ओर खींच रहे थे। सब रानियाँ शोकसे आतुर हो कुररी पक्षीकी भाँति विलाप कर रही थीं और पुरोहितने उस बालकको छीनकर उसके टुकड़े-टुकड़े कर डाले तथा विधिपूर्वक उसकी चर्बियोंकी आहुति दी। कुरुनन्दन! चर्बीकी आहुतिके समय बालककी माताएँ धूमकी गन्ध सूँघकर सहसा शोकपीडित हो पृथ्वीपर गिर पड़ीं। तदनन्तर वे सब सुन्दरी रानियाँ गर्भवती हो गयीं ।। २ -५ || ततो दशसु मासेषु सोमकस्य विशाम्पते । जज्ञे पुत्रशतं पूर्ण तासु सर्वासु भारत,युधिष्ठि!! तदनन्तर दस मास बीतनेपर उन सबके गर्भसे राजा सोमकके सौ पुत्र हुए
lomaśa uvāca— yudhiṣṭhira! tataḥ purohitena rājñaḥ somakasya jantor balidānena kartavyasya yajñasya prārambhaḥ kāritaḥ. tasmin kāle karuṇāmayyaḥ mātaraḥ śokavyākulāḥ “hā vayam hatāḥ” iti vilapantyaḥ rudantyaś ca taṃ bālaṃ jantuṃ balāt svāṃ diśaṃ karṣantyaḥ. tāḥ karuṇasvarā rudantyaḥ bālasya dakṣiṇaṃ hastaṃ gṛhītvā karṣanti sma, purohitas tu tasya vāmaṃ hastaṃ gṛhītvā svāṃ diśaṃ karṣati sma. sarvā rājñyaḥ śokārtāḥ kurarīpakṣivat vilapanti sma; purohitas tu taṃ bālaṃ apahṛtya vicchidyāvicchidya tasya medasaḥ vidhivat āhutīr juhāva. kurunandana! meda-āhuti-kāle dhūmagandhaṃ ghrātvā tasya mātaraḥ sahasā śokapīḍitā bhūmau nipetuḥ. tataḥ paraṃ tāḥ sarvāḥ sundaryo rājñyaḥ garbhiṇyo babhūvuḥ. tato daśasu māseṣu somakasya viśāmpate jaje putraśataṃ pūrṇaṃ tāsāṃ sarvāsāṃ bhārata.
Lomaśa said: “Yudhiṣṭhira, then the royal priest had King Somaka’s sacrifice begun—an offering that required the boy Jantu as the victim. At that moment the compassionate mothers, overwhelmed with grief, cried, ‘Alas, we are slain!’ and, weeping, tried by force to pull the child back toward themselves. Sobbing in piteous tones, they tugged at the boy’s right hand, while the priest seized his left and pulled him away. All the queens, stricken with sorrow, wailed like kurarī birds; yet the priest tore the child from them, cut him into pieces, and duly offered his fat into the fire according to rite. O descendant of Kuru, when the fat was being poured as oblation, the mothers, smelling the smoke, were suddenly crushed by grief and fell to the ground. Thereafter all those beautiful queens conceived. And when ten months had passed, O lord of the people, Somaka had a full hundred sons born from them all.”
लोगमश उवाच
Educational Q&A
The episode problematizes the idea that ritual success justifies any means: it highlights the ethical tension between sacrificial orthopraxy and compassion, suggesting that dharma cannot be reduced to procedure when innocent suffering is involved.
Lomaśa recounts how King Somaka’s priest begins a sacrifice requiring the boy Jantu as the victim; despite the mothers’ desperate resistance and lamentation, the priest kills the child and offers his fat into the fire. Afterward the queens conceive, and in due time Somaka gains a hundred sons.