Sampoorna Mahabharata • సంపూర్ణ శ్రీమహాభారతము • Episode 26

Elaputra’s opinion
Elaputra said, ‘None of your ideas will work. To convince Janmejaya is not easy. The yaga is inevitable. O king, he who is controlled by fate must seek recourse in fate only. None apart from it can save him. Our grief stems from destiny. Our fear arises due to destiny. Listen to what I say. When our mother Kadru was cursing us, I was resting in her lap pretending to be asleep. At that time, I overheard a conversation between Devatas and Brahma. Listen.
Devatas said, ‘O Lord, will any woman curse her children so harshly in your presence? Isn’t this horrifying? But you did not prevent her from cursing them. What is the reason?’
Brahma said, ‘Among the serpents there are many ferocious ones filled with deadly poison. They inherently possess the nature to harm others. Their poison comes not from their food. It is their nature. They have no compassion. As I seek the wellbeing of all entities, I did not stop Kadru’.
There is another truth about snakes. A female snake eats up ½ the eggs she lays. With this, their number is automatically controlled.
‘Only snakes that are sinful, which bite others and which are extremely poisonous will be destroyed in the yaga. Serpents that are dharmic will not be destroyed’.
These snakes bless mankind and hence we install their idols and worship them.
‘As part of sarpa yaga, some pious snakes will also obtain liberation. Now hear a secret. In the Yāyavara lineage, a great Rishi called Jaratkara will be born. He will have absolute sense-control. His son Astika will halt the sacrifice freeing the serpents from the curse’.
Devatas wanted to know about Jaratkara’s wife. Brahma said, ‘Only when Jaratkara marries a girl who has the same name as him, Astika will be born. Serpent-king Vasuki has a sister Jaratkaru. She will marry the saint and their son will halt the yaga and redeem them of the curse’.
Devatas said, ‘May it happen so!’
Therefore, O Vasuki now you give Jaratkaru in marriage to Jaratkara. The solution is in our hands. The serpent race will be saved’- said Elaputra.
The serpents rejoiced hearing these words. From then on, Vasuki took extra care of his sister.
Sometime elapsed. The Devatas and demons who were churning the ocean approached Vasuki and asked him to be the churning rope. He consented. After obtaining nectar, the Devatas did not forget Vasuki’s help. Taking him along they went to Brahma and prayed, ‘O Lord, Vasuki is deeply worried that serpent race will vanish due to Kadru’s curse. He seeks to protect his race. Vasuki always seeks our well-being; so please help him. Remove his mental grief’.
Brahma said, ‘Everything will happen exactly as how Elaputra told Vasuki in the past. At the right time, Vasuki will do the rightful actions. In Janmejaya’s yaga, only sinners will perish. The righteous will be saved. Jaratkara Maharishi is engaged in intense austerities. Finding an opportune time, Vasuki should get his sister married to him’.
After this, Vasuki said to the serpents, ‘Find the whereabouts of Maharishi Jaratkara. Please tell me when he decides to get married’.
Śounaka asked, ‘O revered one! How did Maharishi Jaratkara get that name? What is the meaning of that name?’
Ugrasravasa said, ‘Jara means decay. Kāru means fearful. Due to his intense austerities, his body shrivelled and hence he got this name’.
Shounaka said, ‘Please narrate Astika’s story’.
Ugrasravasa said, ‘Jaratkara Maharishi was totally engaged in penance accompanied by rigid vows. He had no fear. He wandered through earth and never desired marriage. Time went by and Parikshit became king. Like grandfather Pandu, he loved hunting. Frequently he went to forests to hunt.
Once he entered a dense forest and as he was hunting, he spotted a fierce animal. He hit it with his arrow. Despite this attack, it did not die. Instead it ran away quickly. Parikshit followed it and entered deeper forests. He was totally fatigued but did not give up.
At one place he saw a saint engaged in meditation. This saint consumed only the froth that flew from the lips of the calves as they drank milk. He was meditating in the cowshed. Parikshit who was tormented with hunger and thirst, said to him, ‘I am Parikshit, son of Abhimanyu. The animal I pierced with my arrow has escaped. I am determined to catch it. Did you by chance spot it? Did it come this way?’
The saint did not reply as he was in mouna vrata. His silence infuriated the king. His ego was hurt. Picking a dead snake, he flung it around the sage’s neck.