Shloka 6
Vyāsa’s Arrival at Janamejaya’s Sarpasatra; Commissioning of Vaiśaṃpāyana’s Recital (व्यासागमनम्)
उच्चै:श्रवा: सो5श्वराजो यन्मिथ्या न कृतो मम । विनतार्थाय पणिते दासी भावाय पुत्रका:
Āstīka uvāca | uccaiḥśravāḥ so 'śvarājo yan mithyā na kṛto mama | vinatārthāya paṇite dāsī-bhāvāya putrakāḥ ||
彼女は言った。「わが子らよ。カドゥルーがヴィナターのために、馬王ウッチャイヒシュラヴァの尾の色をめぐって賭けをし、敗者は勝者の婢となると定めたとき、そなたたちは私の命に従わず、あの馬の尾を黒くしてヴィナターの言を偽りにすることをしなかった。ゆえに、ジャナメージャヤ王の祭祀において、祭火はそなたたちを灰に焼き尽くすであろう。そなたたちは皆死に、亡者の界へ赴くのだ。」
आस्तीक उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage highlights the moral tension between truth and deceit: refusing to commit fraud may be ethically sound, yet within the narrative it triggers a curse and sets in motion karmic consequences culminating in Janamejaya’s snake-sacrifice. It underscores how rash vows and manipulative wagers can generate long chains of suffering.
Āstīka recounts the episode where a wager about Uccaiḥśravā’s tail leads to a demand for deception. The serpent-sons do not comply with altering the horse’s tail to make Vinatā lose, and as a result they are cursed—foretelling their destruction in King Janamejaya’s sacrificial rite.