Shloka 1
Āstīka-janma: Vāsuki’s Consolation and the Birth/Naming of Āstīka (अस्तीकोत्पत्तिः)
अफड-ए क्र चतुश्नत्वारिशो< ध्याय: जनमेजयका राज्याभिषेक और विवाह सौतिरुवाच ते तथा मन्त्रिणो दृष्टवा भोगेन परिवेष्टितम् । विषण्णवदना: सर्वे रुरुदुर्भशदु:खिता:,उग्रश्रवाजी कहते हैं--शौनकजी! मन्त्रीगण राजा परीक्षित्को तक्षक नागसे जकड़ा हुआ देख अत्यन्त दुःखी हो गये। उनके मुखपर विषाद छा गया और वे सब-के-सब रोने लगे
Sautir uvāca—te tathā mantriṇo dṛṣṭvā bhogena pariveṣṭitam | viṣaṇṇavadanāḥ sarve rurudur bhṛśaduḥkhitāḥ ||
Sauti said: Seeing the king thus tightly coiled and bound by the serpent’s body, the ministers were overwhelmed with grief. Their faces fell into deep dejection, and all of them wept, stricken with intense sorrow. The scene underscores the fragility of royal power before fate and the moral weight of a ruler’s actions that can invite calamity upon the realm.
तक्षक उवाच