Shloka 1
Āstīka-śravaṇa-prastāvaḥ
Prelude to the Account of Āstīka) | Chapter 12 (Ādi Parva
अपर बक। है २ >> द्वादशोड् ध्याय: जनमेजयके सर्पसत्रके विषयमें रुरुकी जिज्ञासा और पिताद्वारा उसकी पूर्ति रुस्स्वाच कथं हिंसितवान् सर्पानू स राजा जनमेजय: । सर्पा वा हिंसितास्तत्र किमर्थ द्विजसत्तम,रुरुने पूछा-<द्धिजश्रेष्ठ] राजा जनमेजयने सर्पोंकी हिंसा कैसे की? अथवा उन्होंने किसलिये यज्ञमें सर्पोंकी हिंसा करवायी?
rurur uvāca—kathaṁ hiṁsitavān sarpān sa rājā janamejayaḥ? sarpā vā hiṁsitās tatra kimarthaṁ dvijasattama?
Ruru asked: “How did King Janamejaya cause the serpents to be harmed? Or for what reason were the serpents harmed there, O best of Brahmins?” The question frames the moral tension of the serpent-sacrifice: whether violence was carried out as royal retribution and ritual duty, and what justification—if any—can ethically support such harm.
डुण्ड्रुभ उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse foregrounds ethical inquiry: before accepting ritual or royal action as justified, one must ask the cause, purpose, and moral grounds of violence—especially when it targets an entire class of beings (the serpents).
Ruru questions a Brahmin sage about Janamejaya’s serpent-sacrifice, asking how the king harmed the serpents and why the harm was undertaken, setting up the explanation of the sacrifice’s origin and motive.