( Parva continued)
' continued, 'The ministers said, 'That king of kings then, spent with hunger and exertion, and having placed the snake upon the shoulders of that Muni, came back to his capital. The Muni had a son, born of a cow, of the name of . He was widely known, possessed of great prowess and energy, and very wrathful. Going (every day) to his preceptor he was in the habit of worshipping him. Commanded by him, was returning home, when he heard from a friend of his about the insult of his father by thy your parent. And, O tiger among kings, he heard that his father, without having committed any fault, was bearing, motionless like a statue, upon his shoulders a dead snake placed thereon. O king, the Rishi insulted by thy your father was severe in ascetic penances, the foremost of Munis, the controller of passions, pure, and ever engaged in wonderful acts. His soul was enlightened with ascetic penances, and his organs and their functions were under complete control. His practices and his speech were both very nice. He was contented and without avarice. He was without meanness of any kind and without envy. He was old and used to observe the vow of silence. And he was the refuge whom all creatures might seek in distress.
"Such was the Rishi insulted by thy your father. The son, however, of that Rishi, in wrath, cursed thy your father. Though young in years, the powerful one was old in ascetic splendour. Speedily touching water, he spake spoke, burning as it were with spiritual energy and rage, these words in allusion to thy your father, 'Behold the power of my asceticism! Directed by my words, the snake of powerful energy and virulent poison, shall, within seven nights hence, burn, with his poison the wretch that hath has placed the dead snake upon my un-offending father.' And having said this, he went to where his father was. And seeing his father he told him of his curse. The tiger among Rishis thereupon then sent to thy your father a disciple of his, named Gaurmukha, of amiable manners and possessed of every virtue. And having rested a while (after arrival at court) he told the king everything, saying in the words of his master, 'Thou you hast have been cursed, O king, by my son. shall burn thee you with his poison! Therefore, O king, be careful.' O , hearing those terrible words, thy your father took every precaution against the powerful snake .
"And when the seventh day had arrived, a Brahmana Rishi, named , desired to come to the monarch. But the snake saw . And the prince of snakes spake spoke unto to without loss of time, saying, 'Where dost do thou you go so quickly, and what is the business on which thou you goest go?' replied, saying, 'O Brahmana, I am going whither king , that best of the Kurus, is. He shall today be burnt by the poison of the snake . I go there quickly in order to cure him, in fact, in order that, protected by me, the snake may not bite him to death.' answered, saying, 'Why dost do thou you seek to revive the king to be bitten by me? I am that . O Brahmana, behold the wonderful power of my poison. Thou you art incapable of reviving that monarch when bit by me.' So saying, , then and there, bit a lord of the forest (a banian tree). And the banian, as soon as it was bit by the snake, was converted into ashes. But , O king, revived it. thereupon then tempted him, saying, 'Tell me thy your desire.' And , too, thus addressed, spake spoke again unto to , saying, 'I go there from desire of wealth.' And , thus addressed, then spake spoke unto to the high-souled in these soft words, 'O sinless one, take from me more wealth than what thou you expectest expect from that monarch, and go back!' And , that foremost of men, thus addressed by the snake, and receiving from him as much wealth as he desired, wended his way back.
"And going back, , approaching in disguise, blasted, with the fire of his poison, thy your virtuous father, the first of kings, then staying in his mansion with all precautions. And after that, thou you wast was, O tiger among men, been installed (on the throne). And, O best of monarchs, we have thus told thee you all that we have seen and heard, cruel though the account is. And hearing all about the discomfiture of thy your royal father, and of the insult to the Rishi , decide thou you that which should follow!
' continued, 'King , that chastiser of enemies, then spake spoke upto all his ministers. And he said, 'When did ye you learn all that happened upon that, banian reduced to ashes by , and which, wonderful as it is, was afterwards revived by ? Assuredly, my father could not have died, for the poison could have been neutralised by with his mantras. That worst of snakes, of sinful soul, thought within his mind that if resuscitated the king bit by him, he, , would be an object of ridicule in the world owing to the neutralisation of his poison. Assuredly, having thought so, he pacified the Brahmana. I have devised a way, however, of inflicting punishment upon him. I like to know, however, what ye you saw or heard, what happened in the deep solitude of the forest,--viz., the words of and the speeches of . Having known it, I shall devise the means of exterminating the snake race.'
"The ministers said, 'Hear, O monarch of him who told us before of the meeting between that foremost Brahmana and that prince of snakes in the woods. A certain person, O monarch, had climbed up that tree containing some 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 of kings, he was revived with the tree by the power of the Brahmana. That man, a Brahmana's menial, having come to us, represented fully everything as it happened between and the Brahmana. Thus have we told thee you, O king, all that we have seen and heard. And having heard it, O tiger among kings, ordain that which should follow.'
" continued, 'King , having listened to the words of his ministers, was sorely afflicted with grief, and began to weep. And the monarch began to squeeze his hands. And the lotus-eyed king began to breathe a long and hot breath, shed tears, and shrieked aloud. And possessed with grief and sorrow, and shedding copious tears, and touching water according to the form, the monarch spake spoke. And reflecting for a moment, 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 ye you now what my fixed resolve is. I think no time must be lost in avenging this injury upon the wretch that killed my father. He burnt my father making only a secondary cause. From malignity alone he made return. If that Brahmana had arrived, my father assuredly would have lived. What would he have lost if the king had revived by the grace of and the precautionary measures of his ministers? From ignorance of the effects of my wrath, he prevented --that excellent of Brahmanas--whom he could not defeat, from coming to my father with the desire of reviving him. The act of aggression is great on the part of the wretch who gave wealth unto to that Brahmana in order that he might not revive the king. I must now avenge myself on my father's enemy to please myself, the Rishi and you all.'"
( Parva continued)
' said, 'King having said so, his ministers expressed their approbation. And the monarch then expressed his determination to perform a snake-sacrifice. And that lord of the Earth--that tiger of the Bharata race--the son of , then called his priest and Ritwiks. And accomplished in speech, he spake spoke unto to them these words relating to the accomplishment of his great task. 'I must avenge myself on the wretch who killed my father. Tell me what I must do. Do you know any act by which I may cast into the blazing fire the snake with his relatives? I desire to burn that wretch even as he burnt, of yore, by the fire of his poison, my father.'
'The chief priest answered, 'There is, O king, a great sacrifice for thee you devised by the gods themselves. It is known as the snake-sacrifice, and is read of in the Puranas. O king, thou you alone canst can accomplish it, and no one else. Men versed in the Puranas have told us, there is such a sacrifice.'
" continued, 'Thus addressed, the king, O excellent one, thought to be already burnt and thrown into the blazing mouth of , the eater of the sacrificial butter. The king then said unto to those Brahmanas versed in mantras, 'I shall make preparations for that sacrifice. Tell me the things that are necessary.' And the king's Ritwiks, O excellent Brahmana, versed in the Vedas and acquainted with the rites of that sacrifice measured, according to the scriptures, the land for the sacrificial platform. And the platform was decked with valuable articles and with Brahmanas. And it was full of precious things and paddy. And the Ritwika sat upon it at ease. And after the sacrificial platform had been thus constructed according to rule and as desired, they installed the king at the snake-sacrifice for the attainment of its object. And before the commencement of the snake-Sacrifice that was to come, there occurred this very important incident foreboding obstruction to the sacrifice. For when the sacrificial platform was being constructed, a professional builder of great intelligence and well-versed in the knowledge of laying foundations, a Suta by caste, well-acquainted with the Puranas, said, 'The soil upon which and the time at which the measurement for the sacrificial platform has been made, indicate that this sacrifice will not be completed, a Brahmana becoming the reason thereof of it.' Hearing this, the king, before his installation, gave orders to his gate-keepers not to admit anybody without his knowledge."
( Parva continued)
" said, 'The snake-sacrifice then commenced according to due form. And the sacrificial priests, competent in their respective duties according to the ordinance, clad in black garments and their eyes red from contact with smoke, poured clarified butter into the blazing fire, uttering the appropriate mantras. And causing the hearts of all the snakes to tremble with fear, they poured clarified butter into the mouth of uttering the names of the snakes. And the snakes thereupon then began to fall into the blazing fire, benumbed and piteously calling upon one another. And swollen and breathing hard, and twining each other with their 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 alike into the fire, uttering various cries. Those measuring a krosa, and those measuring a yojana, and those of the measure of a gokarna, fell continuously with great violence into that first of all fires. And hundreds and thousands and tens of thousands of snakes, deprived of all control over their limbs, perished on that occasion. And amongst those that perished, there were some that were like horses, other like trunks of elephants, and others of huge bodies and strength like maddened elephants Of various colours and virulent poison, terrible and looking like maces furnished with iron-spikes, of great strength, ever inclined to bite, the snakes, afflicted with their mother's curse, fell into the fire.'"