Shloka 23
Āstīka Stops the Sarpa-satra; Royal Closure and Protective Phalaśruti (आस्तीकः सर्पसत्रनिवर्तनम्)
पारिक्षितस्य यज्ञोडसौ वर्तते5स्मज्जिघांसया । व्यक्त मयापि गन्तव्यं प्रेतराजनिवेशनम्,“जनमेजयका वह यज्ञ हमलोगोंकी हिंसाके लिये ही हो रहा है। निश्चय ही अब मुझे भी यमलोक जाना पड़ेगा
śaunaka uvāca |
pārīkṣitasya yajño 'sau vartate 'smad-jighāṃsayā |
vyaktam mayāpi gantavyaṃ pretarāja-niveśanam ||
Śaunaka said: “This sacrifice of Parīkṣit’s descendant is being carried on with the intent to destroy us. Clearly, even I must now go to the abode of the Lord of the Dead.”
शौनक उवाच
Educational Q&A
A ritual driven by vengeance and the intent to harm becomes ethically tainted; even revered figures sense the moral danger and the karmic consequence, symbolized by the prospect of going to Yama’s abode.
Śaunaka observes that the ongoing sacrifice initiated by Parīkṣit’s line (Janamejaya) is aimed at killing ‘us’—in context, the targets of the rite—and he foresees imminent death, saying he too must go to the realm of Yama.