Chapter 52

“Sauti said, ‘The snake-sacrifice then commenced according to due form.And the sacrificial priests, competent in their respective dutiesaccording to the ordinance, clad in black garments and their eyes redfrom contact with smoke, poured clarified butter into the blazing fire,uttering the appropriate mantras.

And causing the hearts of all thesnakes to tremble with fear, they poured clarified butter into the mouthof Agni uttering the names of the snakes. And the snakes thereupon beganto fall into the blazing fire, benumbed and piteously calling upon oneanother. And swollen and breathing hard, and twining each other withtheir heads and tails, they came in large numbers and fell into the fire.The white, the black, the blue, the old and the young–all fell alikeinto the fire, uttering various cries. Those measuring a krosa, and thosemeasuring a yojana, and those of the measure of a gokarna, fellcontinuously with great violence into that first of all fires. Andhundreds and thousands and tens of thousands of snakes, deprived of allcontrol over their limbs, perished on that occasion. And amongst thosethat perished, there were some that were like horses, other like trunksof elephants, and others of huge bodies and strength like maddenedelephants Of various colours and virulent poison, terrible and lookinglike maces furnished with iron-spikes, of great strength, ever inclinedto bite, the snakes, afflicted with their mother’s curse, fell into thefire.'”