Page:The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa (1884).djvu/178

144 wretch that hath placed the dead snake upon my unoffending father!' And having said this, he went to where his father was. And seeing his father he told him of his curse. And that tiger among Rishis thereupon sent to thy father a disciple of his, named Gourmukha, of amiable manners and possessed of every virtue. And having rested awhile (after arrival at court) he told the king everything, saying in the words of his master, 'Thou hast, been cursed, O king, by my son. Takshaka shall burn thee with his poison: therefore, O king, be careful.' And, O Janamejaya, hearing those terrible words, thy father took every precaution against the powerful snake Takshaka.

And when the seventh day had arrived, the Brahmana Rishi, Kasyapa, desired to come to the vicinage of the monarch. But the snake Takshaka saw Kasyapa. And the prince of snakes spake unto Kasyapa without loss of time, saying,—Where dost thou go so quickly, and what is the business after which thou goest?—And Kasyapa replied, saying,—O Brahmana, I am going whither king Parikshita, the best of the Kurus, is. He shall to-day be burnt by the poison of the snake Takshaka. 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.—And Takshaka answered, saying,—Why dost thou seek to revive the king to be bitten by me? I am that Takshaka. O Brahmana, behold the wonderful power of my poison! Thou art incapable of reviving that monarch when bit by me.—And so saying, Takshaka, then and there, bit a lord of the forest (banian tree.) And the banian, as soon as bit by the snake, was converted into ashes. But Kasyapa, O king, revived the banian. And Takshaka thereupon tempted him, saying,—Tell me thy desire. And Kasyapa too, thus addressed, spake again unto Takshaka, saying,—I go there from desire of wealth. And Takshaka, thus addressed, then spake unto the high-souled Kasyapa in these soft words:—O sinless one, receive thou from me more wealth than what thou expectest from that monarch, and go back thy way.—And Kasyapa, the foremost of bipeds, thus addressed by the snake and receiving from Takshaka as much wealth as he desired, wended back his way.