Mahabharatha episode - 27

 

The Suta said: “That radiant Sringi, hearing that his teacher had taken on a dead body, was filled with rage and was filled with anger. Then he put aside all the soft words and asked in a stern voice, "Why is my father carrying a dead body today?"

Krisha said: “King Parikshit, who came hunting, put a dead snake on your father’s shoulder.”

Shringi said: “What evil deed did my father do to that evil king? Krisha! Tell me and then see the power of my penance.” Krisha said: "Abhimanyu's son, King Parikshit, came alone in search of a deer that had disappeared after being hit by his arrow.

While searching for that deer in this great forest, he found your father and asked him. Exhausted by hunger, thirst, and fatigue, he asked your father, who was still standing in his place, about the lost deer. But when he, who was observing a vow of silence, did not answer, the king lifted a snake from the tip of his bow and placed onto his shoulder.

"Sringi! Your father, who is on a fast, is still in the same state. The king has gone to his city, Hastinapura." The Suta said: “Hearing this, the sage’s son stood still like a pillar in the sky. His eyes became red with anger and he was about to burst into flames with rage.

Enraged, and driven by the swift forces of anger, that radiant shringi touched the water and cursed that wicked man.

Shringi said: “That wicked king, who has insulted the two people and ruined the success of the Kurus by placing a dead snake on the shoulders of my old and emaciated father, will be carried to the palace of Yama within seven nights from today by the extremely poisonous and radiant Pannagottama Taksaka, inspired by my power of speech.”

The Suta said: "Sringi, who had thus cursed the king in anger, returned and saw his father sitting in the cowshed carrying the corpse of a snake. He was once again consumed with anger when he saw the dead body of the snake still on his father's shoulders.

Tearing in sorrow, he said to his father: "Father! Hearing of the insult inflicted on you by that evil spirit, I became angry and cursed that king Parikshit. That Kurukuladhama Nrupa deserves this fierce curse of mine."

"In seven days from today, Pannagottama Takshaka will take that sinner to the abode of Vaivasvata, the Supreme Lord." Then his father said to the angry Brahmin: “My son! I do not like what you have done. This is not befitting for ascetics. We live within the boundaries of that king. He is protecting us with justice, we should not think ill of him.

We should forgive the present king completely. Son! If we destroy the Dharma, the Dharma will destroy us. If the king does not protect us, we will have to suffer many great sufferings. Son! We would not have been able to walk in the Dharma with such happiness.

Son! Having received protection from the king, we live according to the scriptures and acquire abundant dharma, and a portion of it also goes to him. Especially Parikshit, like his grandfather, is protecting us, just as a king should protect his subjects.

"It is certain that the ascetic king, exhausted by thirst and fatigue, did not know that I was performing this fast. Therefore, this act that you, a boy, have done in haste is a wicked deed. Son! That king does not deserve to receive this curse from us at all."