Adi Parvamu- The Death of Parikshit

When Udanka came and told Janamejaya that Takshaka was the one that killed his father Parikshit, Janamejaya was surprised and looked at his subjects and ministers for an answer. They replied saying " Yes Oh Mighty King!, it was Takshaka who killed our majesty Parikshit. When the Kauravas dynasty was destroyed, your father Parikshit was born to Abhimanyu and Uttara, hence the name Parikshit which means born around the time of destruction. He ruled the kingdom for sixty years and treated his people like his own kids. He was a nightmare to all the other kings because of his bravery. He also enjoyed hunting like your great grand father Pandu. One day while hunting he hit a deer with hit arrow, the deer ran away along with the arrow. Like Lord Shiva going after an animal which has to be sacrificed for a Yagna, Parikshit chased the deer for a long time and was very tired after a while. He went in search of water and found Sage Samika sitting in penance. He asked Samika " Oh great sage, have you seen a deer hit by an arrow around here? Can you point me in the direction where it went?", Samika was in Mouna Vratam( A ritual to maintain silence for a period of time) and did not reply to Parikshit . The King got angry and lifted a dead snake nearby with an arrow and threw it around the sages neck and he then left to Hastinapura.

Srungi, the son of Samika came to the place where his father was doing penance. He learnt from Sage Krusa that the snake has been thrown in his father's neck by Parikshit . He became furious and said " What is this horrible act? My father is a senior person who is doing penance in this forest without harming anyone. He is only feeding on the milk that is left in a cow after the calves have it, how can someone insult this great person." and immediately took water in his hands to give a curse and said " Parikshit shall die on the seventh day from today by being bitten by Takshaka, this is my curse". He then ran to his father Samika. Samika was not aware of the fact that the dead snake was on his neck, Srungi removed the snake and threw it away.

Samika opened his eyes after Srungi came there, Srungi was in tears and he bowed and greeted his father. He explained everything that had happened to his father. Samika was hurt by what happened and broke his Mouna Vratam ritual and said " Oh, you have done a mistake. Anger is not a good thing for us. Anger causes hindrance in attaining AshtaSiddhis, it causes harm to penance. Anger is like a termite to all the great Dharmas, we are sages who do penance and we should not have anger, instead we should have forgiveness. A sage who sans forgiveness, a rich person who sans charity, a King who sans righteousness will all go waste like the water in a broken pot. You forgot the noble quality of forgiveness and took up Anger. You forgot what is good and what is bad and cursed a great noble king. Its all because of the Emperor that

we are able to perform penance and live our lives peacefully. It is a great sin to curse our ruler, He is a great king and is one among the best. Parikshit must have been tired from hunting and may have been very thirsty, in such a situation he must have committed a small mistake. You gave him a big curse for a small mistake, I bore his action in peace, why did you have to react? You can't change the past now, go ahead and take your curse back".

Srungi felt ashamed for his act and said " I told something out of rage but I cannot take back my curse. Takshaka must be getting ready, what can I do now?" Samika did not know what to do, he called Gauramukha and asked him to go to Parikshit and explain what all happened and asked him to warn Parikshit about Takshaka. Parikshit listened to everything and called in a conference with his ministers, he appointed thousands of craftsmen and sculptors and built a tall one pillar building. It was guarded with hundreds of security guards, he lived in there with doctors capable of treating venom and with close friends and relatives. Takshaka wandered the streets of Hastinapura to find a way to get in to the building, six days passed by. But the disaster happened on the seventh day. A person was returning to his place after completing his work in a distant land. Takshaka saw him and went to meet that person in the disguise of an Old Brahmin and asked him " Sir, who are you? where are you going now?". He replied saying " I am a doctor who can treat bites caused by snakes, I am also adept in Mantras. I am on my way to Hastinapura, today Takshaka is going to bite Parikshit. I can save him from this problem, Lord Brahma taught Kashyapa the Mantras that can remove the venom of snakes when bitten. I have learnt these Mantras from Kashyapa himself and I shall put all my knowledge in par to save the King".

Takshaka laughed at him and said " I have not seen a fool like you, there can be a remedy for any calamity but not for my bite. You cannot do anything, so go back to your place. If you insist to stay back then here is a challenge. I will bite this Banyan tree, you will understand my power. Now If you are able to bring the tree back to life then I will believe that you are capable of saving Parikshit's life". He then bit the tree beside him, a healthy green tree burnt down in to ashes. The person brought together the ashes and uttered a Mantra and the tree stood tall and green again. Takshaka was surprised and said" You are a great person, Hail to you. But the curse of Srungi should not go waste. All you need is money right? I will give you as much as you want, please go back."

The person thought " I can only remove the poison but cannot remove the curse" and so he took the money from Takshaka and returned back. You all must be wondering how we know this part of the story when the forest had no inhabitants. There was a Brahmin sitting on the tree trying to cut some branches for his living, when the tree was bitten he too turned in to ashes, but later was brought back to life along with the tree. After the person left, Takshaka called his fellow serpents and said " You all should take the form of Brahmins and go to Parikshit and offer him fruits and flowers" and he himself disguised and disappeared among them. They all took the guise of Brahmins and went to Parikshit chanting Vedas and went to the one pillar building, the king honoured them and took all their offerings. In the evening, the sun was almost going to set and the king felt like eating the fruits that the Brahmins had offered him. Nobody can change the fate and destiny. He called his relatives and said, the sunset is almost there and the curse has been relieved, so lets have some fruits. As he started eating a fruit, he saw a small black insect. It soon turned red in color and grew two times in size and then four times in size and then turned in to a full size snake, it was Takshaka. He started hissing and spitting venom and bit the King Parikshit and disappeared. Everyone in the building ran for their lives. The whole building along with Parikshit turned in to ashes. The last rights were performed by the priests. You (Janamejaya) had to take up the responsibility at a small age. All this happened because of the curse of a Brahmin, Takshaka should be punished for this along with his whole race. Sarpa Yagam is the right thing to do, all of the serpents will be destroyed forever".