Shloka 11
आस्तीक-वरप्रदानम् (Āstīka’s Boon and the Interruption of the Sarpa-satra)
यथावद् वेदविद्वांस: सर्वे बुद्धेः परं गता: । ऋद्धया परमया युक्तमिष्टं द्विजगणैर्युतम्,वे सभी ऋत्विज् वेदोंके यथावत् विद्वान् तथा परम बुद्धिमान थे। उन्होंने विधिपूर्वक मनके अनुरूप एक यज्ञ-मण्डप बनाया, जो परम समृद्धिसे सम्पन्न, उत्तम द्विजोंके समुदायसे सुशोभित, प्रचुर धनधान्यसे परिपूर्ण तथा ऋत्विजोंसे सुसेवित था। उस यज्ञमण्डपका निर्माण कराकर ऋत्विजोंने सर्पयज्ञकी सिद्धिके लिये उस समय राजा जनमेजयको दीक्षा दी। इसी समय जब कि सर्पसत्र अभी प्रारम्भ होनेवाला था, वहाँ पहले ही यह घटना घटित हुई
yathāvad vedavidvāṃsaḥ sarve buddheḥ paraṃ gatāḥ | ṛddhyā paramayā yuktam iṣṭaṃ dvijagaṇair yutam ||
Janamejaya said: “All those learned in the Vedas were fully accomplished—having gone beyond ordinary understanding. The sacrificial arena was properly arranged, endowed with supreme prosperity, and graced by an assembly of excellent twice-born priests.”
जनमेजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse foregrounds the Mahābhārata’s ideal of ritual and governance being grounded in proper procedure (yathāvat) and genuine learning: a king’s great undertaking should be guided by competent Vedic experts and conducted with disciplined order, not mere impulse.
Janamejaya describes the learned Vedic priests and the well-appointed sacrificial setting, establishing the solemn, authoritative atmosphere in which the serpent-sacrifice (sarpa-satra) is about to proceed.