25. Janamejaya Plans the Serpent Sacrifice

Parikshit having been bitten to death by Thaklshaka, his councilors had his last rites performed and crowned his eldest son Janamejaya the king. 

Janamejaya was only a boy when he was crowned the king. After sometime his ministers, intending to provide a strong support to the young monarch, approached Suvarnavarman, the King of Kasi and asked him to give his daughter Vapushtama in marriage to Janamejaya. 

The king accepted the proposal and got his daughter Vapushtama married to Janamejaya. After the marriage, Janamejaya travelled to many places along with his wife enjoying life in the company of his wife.

After sometime, Janamejaya asked his ministers about his father and his achievements. The ministers told him what a great virtuous and compassionate ruler Parikshit was. Then he asked them about the cause of his father’s death. They told him all the details including Thakshaka’s persuading Kasyapa to go back by giving him the wealth he wanted to get from the king.

Janamejaya asked them how they came to know of what transpired between Thakshaka and Kasyapa.They said that this was revealed by a man who was sitting on a dry branch of a banyan tree with the intention of cutting some wood to be used as a sacrificial fuel. He had overheard their conversation. He was also burnt to ashes when the tree was bitten by Thakshaka but was subsequently revived when Kasyapa brought the tree back to life.

On learning that his father was bitten by the serpent Thakshka using deception, Janamejaya decided to avenge the death of his father. His anger was directed at Thakshaka for having prevented Kasyapa from coming to the palace and bringing the king back to life after he was bitten by Thakshaka. He felt that Thakshaka should have done this because he would have become an object of ridicule if the king was brought back to life by Kasyapa after he was bitten by Thakshaka.

Janamejaya was also prodded by Sage Utanka to avenge his father’s death. He called the chief priest of his country and expressed his intention to burn Thakshaka and other snakes who had burnt his father through his poison. 

The priests told him that there was a sacrificial ritual called Sarpa Yaga (snake Sacrifice) through which the snakes can be offered to Agni, the God of Fire. The king ordered that arrangements be made to perform such a sacrifice by engaging the services of Brahmins well versed in the rites.

When the platform for the sacrifice was being built, a construction expert, by examining the soil on which the platform was being constructed, said that the type of soil and the time at which the measurement was made indicated that the sacrifice won’t be completed.

Next Post:  Sarpa Yaga
Previous Post:     The Story of Parikshit

24. The Story of Parikshit

There was a king by name Parikshit. He was the son of Abhimanyu and the grandson of Arjuna. 

After the Mahabharata war, Drona’s son Aswathama tried to decimate the entire Pandava race to avenge the killing of the Kauravas by the Pandavas in the Kurukshetra war using the most powerful Narayana Astra. Parikshit who was in the womb of Uthara, Abhimanyu’s wife was protected by Krishna using his Sudarsana Chakra.

Parikshit was a great warrior. He was also fond of hunting. Once while hunting in a forest, he pierced a deer with his arrow. The wounded deer ran away. 

Parikshit went in search of the deer. He walked a long distance in the forest but could not find the deer. Fatigued and thirsty, he came across 

Sage Samika was seated in a cow-pen drinking the froth oozing out of the mouths of calves after they had fed themselves of the cows.

Parikshit asked the sage, “Oh saint, I am King Parikshit, son of Abhimanyu. A deer pierced by me has been lost. Did you see it?'

Since the sage was observing a vow of silence, he didn’t reply. Angered by the sage’s silence, Parikshit picked up a dead snake with the end of his bow and placed it on the sage’s shoulder.  Even then, the sage didn’t react and suffered the insult silently.

Finding that the sage didn’t protest at the treatment meted out to him, Parikshit felt sorry for his act and returned to his place quietly. 

Sage Samika had a son by name Sringin who had gone out. He had great energy and observed severe austerities. He was severe in his vows, very wrathful, and difficult to be appeased. 

One of his friends told him that King Parikshit had insulted his father by placing a dead snake on his shoulder.

Sringin became very angry on hearing this and cursed Parikshit to be bitten by Thakshaka, the King of snakes within seven days. After throwing this curse, Sringin went to his father and found him sitting with the dead snake on his shoulder. He told his father that he had cursed Parikshit.

The sage chided his son saying, “I am not happy about what you have done. Ascetics should observe restraint. We live in the country ruled by King Parikshit and we are protected by him. If he didn’t protect us, we wouldn’t be able to perform the penances peacefully.

"Parikshit was tired and thirsty when he came here. He was not aware of my vow of silence and had acted in haste. We should have forgiven him.. The king protects the sacrificial rites and these rites please the gods who give us rains which help the plants and trees that provide food to us grow. A country without a king will suffer. You have acted in haste and you have acted with immaturity.”

Sirgin replied, “Whether what I have done is right or not, the words I have uttered will come true and a curse can never be revoked.”

Sage Samika sent one of his disciples named Gurumukha to King Parikshit for apprising the king of the curse.  

Gurumukha went to the palace met the king and apprised him of the developments. 

Parikshit grieved not so much about the curse as about the fact that he had insulted the great sage without being aware of his vow of silence.

Parikshit then consulted his ministers and as per their advice had a mansion erected on a solitary column. The mansion was closely protected by guards and no one could enter the palace unseen. Brahmins sitting in the mansion were engaged in chanting mantras continuously.

On the seventh day, a Brahmin named Kasyapa decided to go to the palace with the intention of bringing the king back to life in case he was bitten by Thakshaka, the snake, thereby earning the goodwill of the king. 

On the way he was met by Thakshka in the guise of a Brahmin. After ascertaining the intention of Kasyapa, Thakshaka revealed his identity and told him that Kasyapa couldn’t bring the king back to life after he was bitten by him. But Kasyapa claimed that he had the power to revive the king, after he was bitten by the snake.

Thakshka said that he would bite a banyan tree that was on the side of the road and challenged Kasyapa to bring it back to life. Kasyapa accepted the challenge. 

Thakshaka bit the banyan tree. The poison released by the snake blazed like a fire and burnt the tree to ashes. But Kasyapa brought back the tree to life by first reviving its sprout, then making two leaves appear, then creating the stem, then the branches and so on.

Impressed by Kasyapa’s feat, Thakshaka asked Kasyapa why he wanted to save the king. When Kasyapa said that he wanted to get huge wealth from the king, Thakshaka offered to give him more wealth than the king would give. 

Tempted by this offer, Kasyapa sat in meditation and through his spiritual powers learnt that the king’s life span was coming to an end. So he accepted the large quantity of gold given by Thakshaka and went away.

Thakshaka then devised a deception to enter the mansion. He made some snakes take the form of ascetics and enter the palace with gifts of fruits for the king. 

Thakshaka took the form of a small insect and penetrated one of the fruits. The snakes, as per the plan, disguised themselves as ascetics and entered the mansion and met the king. 

The unsuspecting king accepted the gifts offered to him. After the ‘ascetics’ had left, King Parikshit, along with his ministers began to eat the fruits. 

As fate would have it, the fruit in which Thakshaka was hiding came to be eaten by the king. Parikshit  observed a small insect coming out of the fruit and took it in his hand.

Parikshit  told his ministers, “The sun is about to set. The deadline for the curse is about to end. Let this insect become Thakshaka and bite me so that my sin will be expiated by the words of the sage coming true.”  

This was seconded by all the wise men assembled there.

King Parkikshit placed the insect on his neck. Even as the King was smiling, Thakshaka assuming his real form coiled around the king's neck and bit him causing him to die instantly. The entire mansion blazed with the fire of Thakshaka’s poison making all  the ministers flee the scene. 

They saw Thakshaka coursing through the sky.

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Previous Post:    The Snakes Discover A Way Out

23. The snakes discover a way out

Vasuki, another son of Kadru pondering over the curse of his mother, reflected on how to overcome the curse. 

He held a consultation with all his brothers. Since, as per their mother’s curse, the snakes would be destroyed during King Janamejaya’s sacrifice, they should find a way to prevent the sacrifice itself, he said.

Several suggestions were offered.

One snake said that one of them should approach Janamejaya in the guise of a learned Brahmin and advice him against performing the sacrifice.

Another said that they should all become the king's favourite counsellors. Since  he would seek their advice on any issue, they could dissuade him from performing the sacrifice.

Another snake said that one of them could bite the priest conducting the sacrifice, thereby aborting the event.

Yet anothr snake said that they could together become clouds and extinguish the sacrificial fire by causing heavy downpours.

Another said that they should bite everyone around and spread terror.

One more suggestion was to steal the vessel of Soma juice and thereby disturb the rite.

Another suggestion was that they should bite King Janamejaya himself and preempt the event.

Vasuki dismissed all these suggestions and said that only the grace of their father Kasyapa could save them.

A snake by name Elapatra began to address them:

“That sacrifice is not one that can be prevented. Nor can king Janamejaya of the Pandava race be stopped in his tracks. Our fear is rooted in fate. Therefore, fate alone must be our refuge.“

“When that  curse was uttered by our mother, I was lying on her lap. From that place, I heard the words some gods spoke to Brahma. 

"The gods said, 'Oh Brahma, who but the cruel Kadru could curse her own children like this? You have also endorsed her curse by saying 'Thadhastu (So be it).' We wish to know why you didn’t prevent her from throwing this curse.' 

"Brahma replied, 'The snakes have proliferated. They are cruel, terrible in form and highly poisonous. I did not prevent Kadru from uttering the curse because I wanted those poisonous serpents that are sinful and and have a habit of biting others for no reason to be destroyed, but not those that are harmless and virtuous. 

"And when the hour comes, the snakes may escape this dreadful calamity. There shall be born in the race of the Yayavaras a great sage by name Jaratkaru. That Jaratkaru shall have a son by name Astika. He will put a stop to that sacrifice. And those snakes that are virtuous shall escape from death.’"


“The gods asked Brahma through whom would Jaratkaru beget that illustrious son. Brahma said ‘He will beget a son possessed of great energy on a wife of the same name as his. Vasuki, the king of the snakes, has a sister by name Jaratkaru. Astika will be born of her. He will liberate the snakes.’ ”

Elapatra advised Vasuki to give his sister Jaratkaru in marriage to Sage Jaratkaru.

Hearing Elapatra’s words, the serpents were delighted. From that time, Vasuki took great care in bringing up his sister Jaratkaru.

Soon after this, the gods and the demons churned the ocean.  And Vasuki was used as the churning cord. 

After the event was over, Vasuki went to Brahma along with the gods. The gods told Brahma that Vasuki had been living in fear of his mother’s curse and requested Brahma to assuage his fears considering the help he had rendered in the churning of the ocean.

Brahma advised Vasuki to follow the advice of Elapatra. 

He added, “Only the wicked snakes will be destroyed. The virtuous ones will be saved. Sage Jaratkaru is engaged in ascetic penances. Vasuki can offer his sister in marriage to Jaratkaru at the proper time.”

Vasuki asked the serpents to keep a watch on Sage Jaratkaru and to inform him when Jaratkaru would ask for a wife.

“The very survival of our race depends upon it,” Vauki told the serpents.

The serpents kept their watch on Jaratkaru but for a long time to come, Jaratkaru was engaged in penance and he didn’t think of getting married.

Next Post:            The Story of Parikshit
Previous Post:    Sesha, the Virtuous Snake

22. Sesha, the Virtuous Snake

We have seen earlier how the snakes were cursed by their mother Kadru. Sesha was the eldest of her sons. Vasuki, Airavata, Takshaka, Karkotaka, Dhananjaya, Kalakeya and others ere born after him.

With a view to overcoming the effects of the curse, Sesha left his mother and  went to the forest of Pushkara located at the foot of the Himalaya. There he practiced hard penances, living upon air and rigidly observing vows. 

Pleased by his penance, Brahma appeared before Sesha and asked him what he wanted. 

Sesha said, “My brothers are all of wicked hearts. They are jealous of one another. They have been unkind to Vinata and her illustrious son Garuda. I don’t like to live in their company. So I would like to cast off this body of mine so that I may avoid companionship with them, even in another state of life. Please bless me that my heart always delight in virtue and in blessed ascetic penances.”

Brahma said, "O Sesha, I am exceedingly gratified with your self-denial and love of peace. The Earth is unsteady with her mountains and forests, her seas and towns and retreats. Hold the earth on your head so that she may be steady.”

Sesha said, “I will hold the Earth steady as per your command. Please place her on my head."

Brahma said, "O best of snakes, go underneath the Earth. She will herself give you a crevice to pass through. By holding the Earth, you will be doing something that will be prized by me very greatly."

As instructed by Brahma, Sesha, entering a hole, passed to the other side of the Earth, and supported the earth on his head.

Pleased by Sesha’s act, Brahma said, “You are are the embodiment of Dharma (Virtues), by virtue of your supporting this huge earth with everything contained in it, a feat only Indra and I are capable of.”

Sesha who came to be called Ananta, meaning one of unlimited powers, lives underneath the Earth, supporting the world, at the command of Brahma. 

Next Post:  The Snakes Discover A Way Out
Previous Post:  Garuda Frees His Mother From Slavery

21. Garuda frees his mother from slavery

Garuda said, "Let there be friendship between you and me as per your wish. You have asked me to spell out the limit of my strength. As you know, good people do not speak highly of their own strength or of their other merits. 

"Since you have made me your friend and asked me the question, I have to give you an answer. I can bear, on a single feather of mine, this Earth, with her mountains and forests and with the waters of the ocean, and with you also stationed thereon. 

"I can bear without fatigue even all the worlds put together, with their mobile and immobile objects."

Hearing this, Garuda said,”Please accept my friendship and if you don’t need the Amrita, return it to me. People to whom you intend to give this will always be inimical to us."

Garuda said, "I am taking this Amrita for a purpose. I shall not let anyone drink the Amrita. After I put it down, you can take it back immediately.”

Pleased by this assurance from Garuda, Indra  offered to grant Garuda any boon that he asked for. 

Recollecting the slavery imposed on his mother by the deception carried out by the snakes, Garuda asked for the boon that the mighty snakes be his food. Indra granted it and also got it ratified by Vishnu, the God of gods.

Garuda then went to the snakes carrying the pot of Amrita and told them, "I will place the pot of Amrita on this Kusa grass. You can drink of it after you perform your ablutions and religious rites. Please release my mother from slavery as promised by you."

The snakes released Vinata from slavery and then went to perform their ablutions. 

Meanwhile Indra took the form of a bird and flew away with the pot of Amrita. The snakes, returning after performing their ablutions found that the Amrita has been taken away. 

Expecting that some Amrita might have spilled on the place where the pot of Amrita was kept, licked the Kusa grass. The sharp blades of the grass cut the tongues of the snakes and their tongues became split.

The Kusa grass became sacred because of its coming into contact with the pot of Amrita.

Garuda, delighted by his mother having been freed from slavery due to his efforts, went to the woods along with his mother and enjoyed himself. 

Revered by all birds, garuda gratified his mother by devouring the snakes.

Next Post:  Sesha, the Virtuous Snake
Previous Post:  Garuda Frees His Mother From Slavery

20. Garuda Grants A Boon To Vishnu!

Garuda descended on the heaven in pursuit of the Amrita and was resisted by Indra’s men guarding it. Many of them were unable to face Garuda’s onslaught and got killed. The immortals who guarded the Amrita were blinded by the dust raised by Garuda’s feet and wings and hence could not see him.

Indra commanded Vayu (the God of wind) to dispel the shower of dust. Accordingly, Vayu  drove away that dust. With the dust cleared off and their vision restored, the celestials resumed their attack on Garuda.  

Roaring like a cloud appearing on the sky at the end of  the Yuga, Garuda rose on his wings and attacked them on all sides. He overpowered his adversaries and went to the place where the Amrita was kept.

Seeing that the pot of Amrita was surrounded on all sides by fire, Garuda assumed hundreds of mouths and filled them with waters of many rivers. Returning with great speed, he extinguished the fire with that water. After extinguishing the fire, he assumed a tiny form with the intention of entering into the place where the Amrita was kept.

As Garuda entered the place, he saw that a wheel of sharp steel razors revolving incessantly near the pot of Amrita. The instrument had been devised by the gods for cutting into pieces all intruders attempting to take away the Amrita.

Garuda, seeing a passage through the wheel, stopped for a moment and diminishing his body, instantly passed through the spokes of that wheel. Having passed through the wheel, he saw two large snakes guarding the Amrita. 

The snakes had a fierce appearance with eyes blazing like fire, tongues shining like a flash of lightning, and mouths emitting fire. Their eyes were inflamed with rage and anyone coming under their gaze would instantly be reduced to ashes.

Garuda instantly covered their eyes with dust and attacked them from all sides. After crushing them to pieces, he approached the pot of Amrita without loss of time. He lifted the pot from the place where it was kept and rose on his wings with great speed, breaking into pieces the machine that had been placed there. 

Garuda then came out, taking the Amrita but without drinking it himself. He then wended his way without the least fatigue, darkening the splendour of the Sun by covering its rays with his giant wings.

On the way, he met Lord Vishnu. Lord Visnu was gratified at Garuda’s act of self denial in not drinking the Amrita and offered to grant him a boon. 

Garuda asked for two boons, “I should be above you. I should be immortal again and free from any disease even without drinking Amrita."

Vishnu granted him the two boons. Garuda told Vishnu that he would also like to grant a boon to Vishnu. Vishnu asked him to be his carrier. He made Garuda sit on the flagstaff of his car so that he would stay above Vishnu, thereby fulfilling his first boon! Garuda then took leave of Vishnu and resumed his flight.

Trying to stop Garuda from taking away the Amrita, Indra hurled his Vajrayudha (a deadly weapon made with the hardened bone of a sage named Dadhichi) at Garuda. 

Struck by this weapon which was like a thunderbolt, Garuda laughed and told Indra, “Your Vajrayudha has not caused me even a slight pain. But I will respect the sage from whose backbone this weapon was made. I will also respect you and the Vajra. So, I will let the weapon cut away this feather of mine.” 

He then cast one of his several  feathers

All creatures were amazed at Garuda’s invulnerability to the Vajrayudha. Looking at the  golden color of the feathers, they  gave him the name Suparna (having fair feathers).

Indra was also fascinated by what he witnessed and told Garuda, “I desire to know the limit of your strength. I also desire eternal friendship with you.”

Next Post: Garuda Frees His Mother From Slavery
Previous Post: The Genesis of Garuda's Birth

19. The Genesis of Garuda's Birth

Once upon a time, Prajapati* Kasyapa, (the Lord of Creation) was performing a sacrificial rite with the objective of begetting a child. The Rishis (sages), the Devas, and the Gandharvas (celestial beings) extended their help in his performing the sacrifice. Kasyaa assigned the task of bringing the sacrificial fuel to Indra. Various ascetics like the Valakhilyas, also engaged themselves in this task.

Indra carried a mountain-like object without experiencing any strain or fatigue. On the way he saw some Rishis, having bodies of the size of a thumb, together carrying one single stalk of a Palasa (Jackfruit) leaf. Those Rishis, due to their abstemious way of life were very lean. They were so weak that they had great difficulty in walking through the water collected in a tiny pit on the road produced by the hoof of a cow.

Indra, feeling proud of his strength, mocked at the Rishis and walked over their heads. 

Those Rishis were aggrieved and outraged by this insult. Soon afterwards they performed a sacrifice praying that there be anther Indra that would become the nightmare of the present Indra.

Learning of this, Indra sought the protection of Kasyapa. Kasyapa asked the Valakhilyas who had performed the sacrifice whether their sacrifice was successful. They said, “Let it be as you say!”

Kasyapa, the Prajapati*, who had the responsibility of protecting all creatures, said, “Indra has been made the Lord of the three worlds by the word of Brahma, the Creator.  Your seeking to create another Indra will amount to falsifying the word of Brahma. However, you can have your wish fulfilled by having another kind of Indra – the Lord of Winged Creatures.”

The Valakhilyas accepted the Prajapati’s word and left the matter to be decided by him.

In the meanwhile, Vinata approached her husband Kasyapa seeking to be blessed with children. Kasyapa told her that she would beget two heroic children. As a result of the penance of the Valakhilyas, these two sons would be of exceedingly good fortune and would be worshiped in the three worlds, he added. He also said that the two would be capable of assuming any form at will and would be respected in all the three worlds.

Kasyapa then told Indra that he would have two brothers of great energy and prowess, who would be his helpmates and that they would cause him no harm.

Indra then went to heaven, his fears dispelled. Eventually, Vinata gave birth to Aruna and Garuda. And Aruna, of undeveloped body, became the fore-runner of the Sun. And Garuda was vested with the lordship over the birds. 

*Prajapati meaning ('leader of all creatures') is a post held by different people at different times. Kasyapa was holding this post at this particular time.

Next Post:   Garuda's Boon To Vishnu

Previous Post:   Garuda In Quest Of Amrita

18. Garuda in Quest of Amrita

Even at the touch of the tree by Garuda’s feet, the branch of the tree broke. He noticed that some sages known as Valakhilya Rishis were hanging from the tree with heads downwards, doing penance.

Fearing that if the branch broke away, the sages would have a fatal fall, Garuda held the broken branch of the tree with the sages hanging from it on his beak, even while holding the elephant  and the tortoise still more firmly with his claws and rose on his wings.

The sages were struck with wonder at this feat and gave him the name Garuda meaning bearer of heavy weight. (It has to be presumed that he was not christened till then. Garuda had another  name Vainatheya, meaning son of Vinata.) 

Shaking the mountains by his wings, Garuda rose on the sky holding the branch in his beak and the two animals in his claws. 

Not finding any spot to rest on, he travelled long and went to the mountain called Gandhamadana. 

There he saw his father Kasyapa engaged in ascetic rituals. Kasyapa also saw his son and advised him against landing on the mountain lest the sages should get hurt and curse him. 

Kasyapa then appealed to the Valakhilyas to help Garuda. The sages abandoned the tree branch and went to the sacred Himavat  mountain to continue their penance. 

Garuda asked his father where he should drop the branch of the tree. Kasyapa directed him to a mountain always covered with snow and beyond the reach of ordinary creatures. 

Garuda travelled a long distance to reach the place and let the giant branch fall. And it fell with a great noise. 

Garuda then sat on the summit of that mountain, ate both the elephant  and the tortoise, and rose on his wings with great speed from the top of the mountain. 

Various omens began to appear among the Devas foreboding danger. Indra asked his Guru Brihaspati about the significance of these omens. 

Brihasati  said that the son of Kasyapa and Vinata, a bird with immense strength and having the blessings of Valakhilyas was coming to take away the Soma (Amrita) from Indra and that Garuda was capable of achieving his goal. 

Hearing this Indra cautioned those who guarded the Amrita to be wary of Garuda’s plan to take away the Amrita by force. The guards tightened the security by arming themselves with powerful weapons. 

Next Post:   The Genesis of Garuda's Birth
Previous Post:   Vibhasu and Supritika

17. Vibhasu and Supritika

There was a great saint by name Vibhavasu. He was known for his short temper. He had a younger brother by name Supritika. 

Supritika did not like the idea of the joint ownership of (ancestral) wealth with his brother. He had been asking for a partition. 

Vibhavasu was against the idea of partition and told his brother that people who desired partition had a blind love for wealth and that even after partition the fight would continue. The estrangement and resulting feud would ultimately lead to absolute ruin of everyone involved, he said. But Supritika persisted with his demand for partition.

Angered by Supritika’s intransigence, Vibhavasu cursed him to become an elephant. In retaliation, Supritika cursed his elder brother to become a tortoise moving in the the waters.

In their next birth, the brothers were born an elephant and a tortoise.

Kasyapa showed pointed to Garuda the elephant and the tortoise engaged in a tussle in the lake and told him that those two were the reincarnation of the two foolish brothers.

He then blessed Garuda that when he entered a combat with the Devas for getting the Amrita, he would be blessed by the Brahmins and other people with divine powers and that he would gain the needed strength from the four Vedas and the Upanishads.

Garuda took leave of his father and, taking a cue from the story narrated to him, went to the lake in pursuit of his food. He seized the elephant and the tortoise, one in each claw and soared high into the air. He came upon a sacred place called Alamva. The place had many divine trees which were struck by the wind raised by Garuda's wings and began to tremble with fear.

Considering that these trees capable of granting every wish, Garuda left them undisturbed and went for a group of giant trees. There was a large Banian tree among them. It requested Garuda to sit on its large branch. Garuda accordingly alighted on a huge branch of that tree.

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