Shloka 3
आस्तीक-उपाख्यान-प्रस्तावः | Introduction to the Āstīka Narrative
मोक्षयामास भुजगानू् प्रदीप्तादू वसुरेतस: । कस्य पुत्र: स राजासीत् सर्पसत्रं य आहरत्
Śaunaka uvāca |
mokṣayāmāsa bhujagān pradīptād vasuretasaḥ | kasya putraḥ sa rājāsīt sarpasatraṃ ya āharat ||
Śaunaka asked: “That king—born of the fiery seed of Vasu—who released the serpents from the blazing peril: whose son was he? And who was the one that instituted the serpent-sacrifice (sarpasatra)?”
शौनक उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames an ethical tension central to the Ādi Parva: acts of rescue and acts of retribution are both remembered and questioned. By asking about the king who saved serpents and about the one who launched the serpent-sacrifice, the text invites reflection on lineage, responsibility, and how dharma is negotiated between protection of life and punitive ritual action.
Śaunaka, listening to the Mahābhārata narration, asks the storyteller to identify (1) the king described as ‘Vasu-seeded’ who freed serpents from a blazing danger, and (2) the person who instituted the sarpasatra, the famous serpent-sacrifice. The question signals a transition into genealogical and causal background for later events connected with serpents and royal ritual.