Chapter 50

‘Sauti continued, ‘The ministers said, ‘That king of kings then, spentwith hunger and exertion, and having placed the snake upon the shouldersof that Muni, came back to his capital.

The Muni had a son, born of acow, of the name of Sringin. He was widely known, possessed of greatprowess and energy, and very wrathful. Going (every day) to his preceptorhe was in the habit of worshipping him. Commanded by him, Sringin wasreturning home, when he heard from a friend of his about the insult ofhis father by thy parent. And, O tiger among kings, he heard that hisfather, without having committed any fault, was bearing, motionless likea statue, upon his shoulders a dead snake placed thereon. O king, theRishi insulted by thy father was severe in ascetic penances, the foremostof Munis, the controller of passions, pure, and ever engaged in wonderfulacts. His soul was enlightened with ascetic penances, and his organs andtheir functions were under complete control. His practices and his speechwere both very nice. He was contented and without avarice. He was withoutmeanness of any kind and without envy. He was old and used to observe thevow of silence. And he was the refuge whom all creatures might seek indistress.

“Such was the Rishi insulted by thy father. The son, however, of thatRishi, in wrath, cursed thy father. Though young in years, the powerfulone was old in ascetic splendour. Speedily touching water, he spake,burning as it were with spiritual energy and rage, these words inallusion to thy father, ‘Behold the power of my asceticism! Directed bymy words, the snake Takshaka of powerful energy and virulent poison,shall, within seven nights hence, burn, with his poison the wretch thathath placed the dead snake upon my un-offending father.’ And having saidthis, he went to where his father was. And seeing his father he told himof his curse. The tiger among Rishis thereupon sent to thy father adisciple of his, named Gaurmukha, of amiable manners and possessed ofevery virtue. And having rested a while (after arrival at court) he toldthe king everything, saying in the words of his master, ‘Thou hast beencursed, O king, by my son. Takshaka shall burn thee with his poison!Therefore, O king, be careful.’ O Janamejaya, hearing those terriblewords, thy father took every precaution against the powerful snakeTakshaka.

“And when the seventh day had arrived, a Brahmana Rishi, named Kasyapa,desired to come to the monarch. But the snake Takshaka saw Kasyapa. Andthe prince of snakes spake unto Kasyapa without loss of time, saying,’Where dost thou go so quickly, and what is the business on which thougoest?’ Kasyapa replied, saying, ‘O Brahmana, I am going whither kingParikshit, that best of the Kurus, is. He shall today be burnt by thepoison of the snake Takshaka. I go there quickly in order to cure him, infact, in order that, protected by me, the snake may not bite him todeath.’ Takshaka answered, saying, ‘Why dost thou seek to revive the kingto be bitten by me? I am that Takshaka. O Brahmana, behold the wonderfulpower of my poison. Thou art incapable of reviving that monarch when bitby me.’ So saying, Takshaka, then and there, bit a lord of the forest (abanian tree). And the banian, as soon as it was bit by the snake, wasconverted into ashes. But Kasyapa, O king, revived it. Takshaka thereupontempted him, saying, ‘Tell me thy desire.’ And Kasyapa, too, thusaddressed, spake again unto Takshaka, saying, ‘I go there from desire ofwealth.’ And Takshaka, thus addressed, then spake unto the high-souledKasyapa in these soft words, ‘O sinless one, take from me more wealththan what thou expectest from that monarch, and go back!’ And Kasyapa,that foremost of men, thus addressed by the snake, and receiving from himas much wealth as he desired, wended his way back.

“And Kasyapa going back, Takshaka, approaching in disguise, blasted, withthe fire of his poison, thy virtuous father, the first of kings, thenstaying in his mansion with all precautions. And after that, thou wast, Otiger among men, been installed (on the throne). And, O best of monarchs,we have thus told thee all that we have seen and heard, cruel though theaccount is. And hearing all about the discomfiture of thy royal father,and of the insult to the Rishi Utanka, decide thou that which shouldfollow!

‘Sauti continued, ‘King Janamejaya, that chastiser of enemies, then spakeupto all his ministers. And he said, ‘When did ye learn all that happenedupon that, banian reduced to ashes by Takshaka, and which, wonderful asit is, was afterwards revived by Kasyapa? Assuredly, my father could nothave died, for the poison could have been neutralised by Kasyapa with hismantras. That worst of snakes, of sinful soul, thought within his mindthat if Kasyapa resuscitated the king bit by him, he, Takshaka, would bean object of ridicule in the world owing to the neutralisation of hispoison. Assuredly, having thought so, he pacified the Brahmana. I havedevised a way, however, of inflicting punishment upon him. I like toknow, however, what ye saw or heard, what happened in the deep solitudeof the forest,–viz., the words of Takshaka and the speeches of Kasyapa.Having known it, I shall devise the means of exterminating the snakerace.’

“The ministers said, ‘Hear, O monarch of him who told us before of themeeting between that foremost Brahmana and that prince of snakes in thewoods. A certain person, O monarch, had climbed up that tree containingsome dry branches with the object of breaking them for sacrificial fuel.He was not perceived either by the snake or by the Brahmana. And, O king,that man was reduced to ashes along with the tree itself. And, O king ofkings, he was revived with the tree by the power of the Brahmana. Thatman, a Brahmana’s menial, having come to us, represented fully everythingas it happened between Takshaka and the Brahmana. Thus have we told thee,O king, all that we have seen and heard. And having heard it, O tigeramong kings, ordain that which should follow.’

“Sauti continued, ‘King Janamejaya, having listened to the words of hisministers, was sorely afflicted with grief, and began to weep. And themonarch began to squeeze his hands. And the lotus-eyed king began tobreathe a long and hot breath, shed tears, and shrieked aloud. Andpossessed with grief and sorrow, and shedding copious tears, and touchingwater according to the form, the monarch spake. And reflecting for amoment, as if settling something in his mind, the angry monarch,addressing all ministers, said these words.

‘I have heard your account of my father’s ascension to heaven. Know yenow what my fixed resolve is. I think no time must be lost in avengingthis injury upon the wretch Takshaka that killed my father. He burnt myfather making Sringin only a secondary cause. From malignity alone hemade Kasyapa return. If that Brahmana had arrived, my father assuredlywould have lived. What would he have lost if the king had revived by thegrace of Kasyapa and the precautionary measures of his ministers? Fromignorance of the effects of my wrath, he prevented Kasyapa–thatexcellent of Brahmanas–whom he could not defeat, from coming to myfather with the desire of reviving him. The act of aggression is great onthe part of the wretch Takshaka who gave wealth unto that Brahmana inorder that he might not revive the king. I must now avenge myself on myfather’s enemy to please myself, the Rishi Utanka and you all.'”