Shloka 16
Takṣaka’s agency, Parīkṣit’s rites, and Janamejaya’s enthronement (वैयासिक परम्परा-प्रसङ्गः)
परिक्षितो नरेन्द्रस्य विद्धो यन्नष्टवान् मृग: । दूरं चापहतस्तेन मृूगेण स महीपति:,उनके द्वारा घायल किया हुआ मृग कभी वनमें जीवित बचकर नहीं जाता था; परंतु आज जो महाराज परीक्षितका घायल किया हुआ मृग तत्काल अदृश्य हो गया था, वह वास्तवमें उनके स्वर्गवासका मूर्तिमान् कारण था। उस मृगके साथ राजा परीक्षित् बहुत दूरतक खिंचे चले गये
parīkṣito narendrasya viddho yan naṣṭavān mṛgaḥ | dūraṃ cāpahatas tena mṛgeṇa sa mahīpatiḥ |
绍那迦说道：“帕利克希特王所射中的那头鹿——按常理，受此重伤的兽类不可能在林中活着逃脱——却顷刻消失无踪。实则正是那头鹿，化作有形之因，导向国王升天离世（其死）。在追逐它时，帕利克希特王被引至极远之处。”
शौनक उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage highlights how a seemingly ordinary act—hunting and wounding a deer—can become the decisive link in a chain of consequences. It underscores the ethical weight of a ruler’s actions and the way karma and circumstance can converge to bring about an inevitable outcome.
Śaunaka narrates that King Parīkṣit’s wounded deer unexpectedly disappears instead of dying nearby. The king pursues it and is drawn far into the forest; this pursuit becomes the immediate narrative trigger that will lead to the events culminating in his death.