Shloka 16
Śṛṅgī’s Curse on King Parikṣit
Parikṣit–Śṛṅgī–Takṣaka Causal Link
अथवा य उपाध्याय: क्रतोस्तस्य भविष्यति । सर्पसत्रविधानज्ञो राजकार्यहिते रत:
athavā ya upādhyāyaḥ kratos tasya bhaviṣyati | sarpasatravidhānajño rājakāryahite rataḥ ||
又或者，那场祭祀的主祭导师——通晓蛇祭之仪轨，且一心为王事与王利者——可被一条蛇咬中而死。主祭之婆罗门一旦身亡，祭仪便会自行崩解而止。
शेष उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how power can reside in specialized ritual knowledge: removing the expert who sustains an unjust or dangerous undertaking can cause it to fail without direct confrontation. It raises ethical tension between protecting the many and harming an individual, pointing to the moral complexity of countering destructive actions.
Śeṣa proposes an alternative way to halt the serpent-sacrifice: if the officiating priest—skilled in the rite and committed to the king’s interests—were killed by a serpent’s bite, the sacrifice would naturally come to a stop because its guiding authority and technical competence would be gone.