Shloka 17

Śṛṅgī’s Curse on King Parikṣit

Parikṣit–Śṛṅgī–Takṣaka Causal Link

Devanagari script

त॑ गत्वा दशतां कश्चिद्‌ भुजड़: स मरिष्यति । तस्मिन्‌ मृते यज्ञकारे क्रतु:ः स न भविष्यति

Transliteration

taṁ gatvā daśatāṁ kaścid bhujaṅgaḥ sa mariṣyati | tasmin mṛte yajñakāre kratuḥ sa na bhaviṣyati ||

Translation

അവന്റെ അടുക്കൽ ചെന്നു ഏതെങ്കിലും സർപ്പം അവനെ കടിക്കട്ടെ; അവൻ മരിക്കും. ആ യാഗകർതൃ (ആചാര്യൻ) മരിച്ചാൽ ആ ക്രതു (യാഗം) ഇനി നടക്കുകയില്ല.

Word by Word

• {'taṁ': 'him (accusative singular)', 'gatvā': 'having gone (absolutive of √gam)', 'daśatām': 'let (him) be bitten

• optative/imperative sense from √daś ‘to bite’', 'kaścit': 'someone, some (indefinite pronoun)', 'bhujaṅgaḥ': 'serpent, snake', 'sa': 'he', 'mariṣyati': 'will die (future of √mṛ)', 'tasmin': 'when/while he (is so)

• in that case (locative absolute context)', 'mṛte': 'dead

• when (he is) dead (locative absolute of √mṛ)', 'yajñakāre': 'in/with the sacrificer or officiant

• the one who conducts the sacrifice', 'kratuḥ': 'sacrificial rite

• sacrifice (also ‘resolve/energy’ in other contexts)', 'na': 'not', 'bhaviṣyati': 'will be

Speaker

शेष उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Śeṣa
• serpent (bhujaṅga)
• yajñakāra (officiating priest/sacrificer)
• kratu (sacrifice/rite)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights the dependence of ritual action on competent human agency: when the knowledgeable officiant is removed, the rite collapses. Ethically, it also exposes a darker logic—seeking to end a feared or harmful enterprise by targeting its enabler—inviting reflection on means versus ends (dharma versus expediency).

What is happening in the narrative?

Śeṣa proposes a concrete countermeasure: have a serpent bite and kill the priest who is conducting (or will conduct) the sacrifice; once the yajñakāra dies, the kratu (sacrificial performance) cannot continue and will cease.