Shloka 12
Takṣaka’s agency, Parīkṣit’s rites, and Janamejaya’s enthronement (वैयासिक परम्परा-प्रसङ्गः)
मृगान् विध्यन् वराहांश्व तरक्षून् महिषांस्तथा । अन््यांश्व विविधान् वन्यांश्वचार पृथिवीपति:,महाराज परीक्षित् वराह, तरक्षु (व्याप्रविशेष), महिष तथा दूसरे-दूसरे नाना प्रकारके वनके हिंसक पशुओंका शिकार खेलते हुए वनमें घूमते रहते थे
mṛgān vidhyan varāhāṁś ca tarakṣūn mahiṣāṁs tathā | anyāṁś ca vividhān vanyāṁś cacāra pṛthivīpatiḥ ||
Disse Śaunaka: O rei Parīkṣit, senhor da terra, vagava pela floresta entregue à caça—abatendo veados, javalis, tarakṣus, búfalos e outros variados animais selvagens. O verso o situa no meio kṣatriya do desporto régio e do poder, ao mesmo tempo que prenuncia a tensão ética que a caça e os encontros na mata podem desencadear no universo moral da epopeia.
शौनक उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights royal power expressed through hunting, while implicitly setting up the Mahābhārata’s recurring ethical question: how a ruler’s actions—even customary ones like the hunt—can lead to moral consequences when undertaken in heedlessness or excess.
Śaunaka describes King Parīkṣit moving about in the forest on a hunt, shooting various wild animals such as deer, boars, tarakṣus, and buffaloes.