Page:The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa (1884).djvu/179

Rh And on Kasyapa wending back his way, Takshaka, approaching in disguise, burnt with the fire of his poison thy virtuous father, that first of kings, then staying in his mansion with all precautions. And after that, thou hast, O tiger among men, been installed (on the throne.) And, O best of monarchs, we have thus told thee all that we have seen and heard, cruel though the account be. And hearing all about the discomfiture of the monarch thy father, and of the insult to the Rishi Utanka, appoint thou that which should follow.

Sauti continued, "And king Janamejaya, that punisher of enemies, then spake unto all his ministers. And he said, 'Whence have ye learned all that happened unto that banian reduced to ashes by Takshaka, wonderful as it is, which was subsequently revived by Kasyapa? Assuredly, my father could not have died, for the poison could have been neutralised by Kasyapa with his mantras. The worst of snakes, of sinful soul, thought within his mind that if Kasyapa would revive the king bit by him, he, Takshaka, 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, how have ye seen or heard what happened in the deep solitude of the forest,—the words of Takshaka and the speeches of Kasyapa. Having known it, I shall devise the means of exterminating the snake race.'

"And the ministers said, 'Hear, O monarch, of him who told us before of that meeting between the foremost of Brahmanas and the prince of snakes in the woods. A certain person, O monarch, had climbed on that tree containing some dry branches with the object of breaking them for sacrificial fuel. He was not perceived by both of the snake and 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 if happened between Takshaka and the Brahmana. Thus have we told thee, O king, all that we have seen and heard. And