Shloka 7
सर्पसत्रे हुतानां नागानां नामपरिगणनम् | Enumeration of Nāgas Consumed in the Sarpasatra Fire
क्रोशयोजनमात्रा हि गोकर्णस्य प्रमाणत: । पतन्त्यजस्त्रं वेगेन वह्लावग्निमतां वर,कोई एक कोस लम्बे थे, तो कोई चार कोस और किन्हीं-किन्हींकी लम्बाई तो केवल गायके कानके बराबर थी। अनिनिहोत्रियोंमें श्रेष्ठ शौनक! वे छोटे-बड़े सभी सर्प बड़े वेगसे आगकी ज्वालामें निरन्तर आहुति बन रहे थे
janamejaya uvāca |
krośayojanamātrā hi gokarṇasya pramāṇataḥ |
patanty ajastraṃ vegeṇa vahlāv agnimatāṃ vara ||
Janamejaya said: “Some (serpents) were only a krośa or a yojana in length, while others were no larger than a cow’s ear by measure. O best of the fire-ritualists, they kept falling unceasingly and with great speed into the blazing fire, becoming continual offerings.”
जनमेजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores how a ritual driven by vengeance can become indiscriminate: beings of every size are swept into destruction. It invites reflection on dharma—whether an act remains righteous when its force harms broadly and relentlessly.
During Janamejaya’s sarpa-satra (snake-sacrifice), serpents of various sizes—some huge, some tiny—are irresistibly drawn and fall continuously into the blazing sacrificial fire, becoming offerings, as the account is narrated to/through Śaunaka.