Shloka 10
सर्पसत्रे ऋत्विजः सदस्याश्च — Officiants and Assembly at Janamejaya’s Serpent-Sacrifice
जरत्कारुस्वाच पृष्टो मयापत्यहेतो: स महात्मा महातपा: । अस्तीत्युत्तरमुद्दिश्य ममेदं गतवांश्ष सः,जरत्कारुने कहा--भाई! मैंने संतानके लिये उन महातपस्वी महात्मासे पूछा था। मेरे गर्भके विषयमें “अस्ति' (तुम्हारे गर्भमें पुत्र है) इतना ही कहकर वे चले गये
jaratkāruḥ uvāca—pṛṣṭo mayā apaty-hetoḥ sa mahātmā mahā-tapāḥ | astīti uttarām uddiśya mama idaṃ gatavān saḥ ||
Jaratkāru said: “When I questioned that great-souled, highly austere sage for the sake of offspring, he gave only this reply, indicating my wife: ‘There is (a child).’ Having said just that about her pregnancy, he departed.”
तक्षक उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage highlights the dharmic urgency of continuing the lineage (apatya) and the restrained speech of ascetics: a decisive truth is given without embellishment, emphasizing responsibility over curiosity.
Jaratkāru reports that he asked a powerful ascetic about the prospect of a child. The ascetic merely indicated the pregnancy—saying ‘there is (a child)’—and then left, moving the story forward toward the birth that will affect the serpent lineage.