Shloka 22
Śṛṅgī’s Curse on King Parikṣit
Parikṣit–Śṛṅgī–Takṣaka Causal Link
खुग्भाण्डं निशि गत्वा च अपरे भुजगोत्तमा: । प्रमत्तानां हरन्त्वाशु विघ्न एवं भविष्यति,“दूसरे श्रेष्ठ नाग रातमें वहाँ जाकर असावधानीसे सोये हुए ऋत्विजोंके खुकू, खुवा और यज्ञपात्र आदि शीघ्र चुरा लावें। इस प्रकार उसमें विघ्न पड़ जायगा
khugbhāṇḍaṃ niśi gatvā ca apare bhujagottamāḥ | pramattānāṃ harantvāśu vighna evaṃ bhaviṣyati ||
Dijo Śeṣa: «Que otras serpientes eminentes vayan allí de noche y, mientras los sacerdotes duermen descuidados, roben con presteza los implementos del rito—como el khugū, el khuvā y los vasos sacrificiales. Así se levantará un obstáculo en el sacrificio.»
शेष उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights an ethically negative strategy: creating a ritual ‘vighna’ by theft and stealth. It implicitly contrasts dharmic conduct (protecting sacred rites) with adharmic means (sabotage, exploiting others’ negligence), showing how moral lapses become tools in conflict.
Śeṣa instructs other leading serpents to go at night and steal the priests’ sacrificial implements while they are asleep and careless, so that the sacrifice is disrupted by a deliberate obstacle.