The war of Mahabharata was the most devastating, in which thousands of people were dead. There were widows remaining in most of the empires and kingdoms.
At the war’s end,- ‘Yudhishthir’ became the king of the Hastinapur. Yudhishthir ruled the empire for about thirty-six years.
Yudhishthir and the Pandavas were then old. Hence, they decided to renounce the empire and started their journey towards the Himalayas to spend their last days of life.
Before leaving for the Himalayas, Parikshit became the king of Hastinapur. Parikshit was the son of Uttara and Abhimanue.
When Parikshit was in the womb of Uttara, Ashwathama tried to destroy the foetus and wanted to end the offspring of the Pandavas. But Krishna saved the unborn child from his attack by the ‘Bhrahmastra’.
Thus, Parikshit was a third-generation child of Pandavas.
He was a famous and mighty king, just like his ancestors. And he was fond of hunting.
One day, the king was on a hunting expedition. He ran after a wild animal who disappeared into the jungle. But he went deep into the jungle in search of the prey.
Accidentally, he reached to an Ashram.
But there was nobody in the ashram except a saga sitting in deep meditation. His eyes were closed, and he did not notice anything happening around him.
‘Hey, have you seen an animal passing around here?’ shouted Parikshit.
But there was no answer from the Rishi.
In fact, during meditation, he had vowed not to speak anything for days.
Thus, the king was angry. He looked around and found a dead snake near the ashram. He took it and threw it on the neck of the Rishi Shamik, who was in the ‘yoga-nidra’.
And Parikshit left the ashram.
After some time, Rishi’s son- ‘Rishi Shringi’ returned to the ashram. He saw a dead snake hanging on the shoulder of his father.
Rishi Shringi became furious and restless. He gave a curse to the culprit responsible for the deed.
‘Whoever has done this act will be bitten by the Naga Takshak within seven days.’ cried Rishi Shringi.
And, the king Parikshit was bitten- by the dreadful Nag Takshak on the seventh day.
Thus, the king Parikshit died because of the snakebite.
As a result, Janmejay -the son of the king Parikshit, became the king.
One day, a Rishi- ‘Uttank’ entered the court of the king Janmejay.
‘The death of your father, Parikshit was because of the bite of the Nag (snake) Takshak. The snakes–Nag are creating havoc on the earth. We must do something to eradicate Nag from the globe,’ said Rishi Uttank.
‘What is your plan, Rishi?’ enquired the King Janmejay.
‘You must perform the ritual of Sarpa Satra, which is snake sacrifice. We know this as Sarpa Yajna’ advised the Rishi Uttank.
Thus, it convinced Janmejay, and he also wanted revenge for his father’s death.
And Janmejay started preparing for the Sarpa Satra yajna.
Moreover, they invited many kings and Rishis to attend the ceremony. And, Ved Vyas was also present at the event.
The influence of the ritual was devastating. At the end of this ceremony, they wanted the death of all the snakes in the world.
As the process of the ritual, the snake sacrifice began. Snakes from around the earth came flying and fell into the fireplace.
However, as the chanting and the fire ritual progressed, the power of the ‘Yajna’ increased.
Hence, the dreadful snake, ‘Takshak’ became restless and powerless. And came flying through the sky. And fell into the fire. Thus, Takshak was now dead and converted to ash.
A Queer Incident
A Brahman boy entered the place of the ritual. He looked talented. He began to sing some songs in appreciation and praise of King Janmejay.
Janmejay was very happy to hear the rhymes.
‘Ask, what do you want? I shall give you anything that you want,’ promised the king.
‘ I want the end of this Sarpa Satra yajna. And the well-being of my family,’ said Astik.
Astik was the nephew of Vasuki. Vasuki was the king of the Nagas (Snakes). The boy’s mother was Jaratkaru.
Janmejay was shocked to hear this. He did not want to stop this yajna.
But all Rishes and the guests who were present there supported the boy for the survival of the remaining Nagas.
Because by this time, the evil Nagas were dead.
So, at last, Janmejay agreed.
‘So, let it be,’ said Janmejay.
And they closed Sarpa Satra yajna. And thus, Astik ensured the survival of the remaining Nagas.
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