Shloka 1
अध्याय ५७ — राजोपरिचरवसोः धर्मोपदेशः, सत्यवत्याः उत्पत्तिः, व्यासजन्म च
Adhyāya 57: Indra’s Counsel to King Vasu; Origin of Satyavatī; Birth of Vyāsa
ऑपनआक्रात बछ। अर: सप्तपजञ्चाशत्तमो<ध्याय: सर्पयज्ञमें दग्ध हुए प्रधान-प्रधान सर्पोके नाम शौनक उवाच ये सर्पाः सर्पसत्रेडस्मिन् पतिता हव्यवाहने । तेषां नामानि सर्वेषां श्रोतुमिच्छामि सूतज,शौनकजीने पूछा--सूतनन्दन! इस सर्पसत्रकी धधकती हुई आगमें जो-जो सर्प गिरे थे, उन सबके नाम मैं सुनना चाहता हूँ
Śaunaka uvāca: ye sarpāḥ sarpasatre 'smin patitā havyavāhane | teṣāṁ nāmāni sarveṣāṁ śrotum icchāmi sūtaja ||
Śaunaka said: “O son of the Sūta, I wish to hear the names of all those serpents who fell into the sacrificial rite for serpents, consumed by the blazing fire. Tell me who they were.”
शौनक उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse foregrounds responsible inquiry into acts of mass destruction performed under ritual authority. By asking for the names of those destroyed, the narrative invites ethical reflection: ritual power and royal vengeance have real victims, and remembering them is part of moral accountability.
Within the Naimiṣāraṇya storytelling frame, the sage Śaunaka questions the narrator Sauti (Ugraśravas) about Janamejaya’s serpent-sacrifice, specifically requesting the names of the principal serpents that were drawn into and burned in the sacrificial fire.