Shloka 9
Ādi-parva Adhyāya 3 — Janamejaya’s Rite, Dhaumya’s Parīkṣā, and Uttanka’s Kuṇḍala Quest (सर्पसत्रप्रस्तावना–गुरुपरीक्षा–उत्तङ्कोपाख्यान)
न किज्चिदुक्तवन्तस्ते सा तानुवाच यस्मादयमभिहतो5नपकारी तस्मादद्ष्टं त्वां भयमागमिष्यतीति,किंतु जनमेजय और उनके भाइयोंने इसका कुछ भी उत्तर नहीं दिया। तब सरमाने उनसे कहा, "मेरा पुत्र निरपराध था, तो भी तुमने इसे मारा है; अतः तुम्हारे ऊपर अकस्मात् ऐसा भय उपस्थित होगा, जिसकी पहलेसे कोई सम्भावना न रही हो”
na kiñcid uktavantas te sā tān uvāca yasmād ayam abhihato 'napakārī tasmād adṛṣṭaṃ tvāṃ bhayam āgamiṣyatīti
They gave no reply. Then Saramā said to them: “Because you have struck this one who had done no harm, an unforeseen fear will come upon you.” The episode underscores a moral warning: violence against the innocent, even when unopposed or ignored by those in power, ripens into consequences that arrive suddenly and without prior signs.
राम उवाच
Educational Q&A
Harming an innocent (anapakārī) is adharma and generates consequences that may appear suddenly and unexpectedly; power and silence do not erase moral accountability.
After Saramā’s harmless son is struck, those responsible (Janamejaya and his brothers) do not answer her. Saramā then warns them that, because they harmed one who had done no wrong, an unforeseen fear will befall them.