Shloka 37
Āstīka-stuti at Janamejaya’s Sacrifice (आस्तीकस्तुतिः / यज्ञप्रशंसा)
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Janamejaya uvāca: “Bhaviṣyāmi prayatnapūrvakaṁ ko’pi upāyaṁ kṛtvā Takṣakaṁ etad-arthaṁ daṇḍayiṣyāmi. Kintu ekaṁ śrotum icchāmi—Nāgarāja-Takṣakasya Kāśyapa-brāhmaṇasya ca saṁvādaḥ nirjane vane abhavat. Tat sarvaṁ vṛttāntaṁ kena dṛṣṭaṁ śrutaṁ ca? Yuṣmākaṁ samīpaṁ eṣā kathā katham āgatā? Etat śrutvāhaṁ sarpāṇāṁ nāśaṁ prati cintayiṣyāmi.”
Janamejaya berkata: “Pada masa hadapan, dengan usaha yang bersungguh-sungguh, aku akan mencari suatu jalan untuk menghukum Takṣaka atas hal ini. Namun ada satu perkara yang ingin aku dengar. Perbualan antara Takṣaka, raja ular, dan Brahmana Kāśyapa tentu berlaku di rimba yang sunyi. Siapakah yang melihat dan mendengar seluruh kejadian itu? Bagaimanakah kisah itu sampai kepada kamu? Setelah mendengarnya, barulah aku akan memutuskan tentang pemusnahan para ular.”
जनमेजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights a dharmic tension between personal vengeance and responsible kingship: before acting destructively, a ruler should seek reliable testimony and understand how knowledge is transmitted. It implicitly warns that anger-driven collective punishment (destroying all serpents) demands careful inquiry and ethical restraint.
Janamejaya, still intent on punishing Takṣaka for Parīkṣit’s death, questions the credibility of the reported forest dialogue between Takṣaka and the brahmin Kāśyapa. He asks who witnessed it and how the story reached the narrators, and says he will decide about annihilating the serpents after hearing this.