Page:The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa (1884).djvu/181

Rh the son of Parikshita, then called his priest and Ritwijas; and accomplished in speech, he spake unto them these words relative to the accomplishment of his great task:—'I must avenge on the wretch Takshaka who hath slain my father. Tell me what must I do. Do ye know any act by which I may cast into the blazing fire the snake Takshaka with his relatives? I desire to burn that wretch even as he of yore had burnt by the fire of his poison my father.'

"And the chief priests answered, 'There is, O king, a great sacrifice for thee devised by the gods themselves. It is known as the snake-sacrifice, and is read of in the Purana. O king, thou art alone the accomplisher of it, and no one else. Men versed in the Puranas have told us, there is such a sacrifice.

Sauti continued, "Thus addressed, the king, O excellent one, thought Takshaka to be already burnt and thrown into the blazing mouth of the eater of the sacrificial butter. The king then spake unto those Brahmanas versed in mantras, 'I shall make preparations for that sacrifice. Tell me the things that are necessary.' And the king's Ritwijas then, O excellent Brahmana, versed in the Vedas and wise in knowledge, measured, according to the shastras, the land for the sacrificial platform. And the platform was decked with much valuable wealth and with Brahmanas. And it was full of wealth and paddy. And the Ritwijas sat upon it at their ease. And after the sacrificial platform had been thus constructed according to the rule and as desired, they then installed the king in 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 and acquainted with the Puranas, said, 'The soil upon which and the time at which the measurement for the sacrificial platform hath been made, indicate that this sacrifice will not be completed, a Brahmana becoming the reason thereof.' Hearing this, the king, before his installation, gave