Mahabharata – 59

by 

Sankar Mukherjee

&

Dr Ramesh Chandra Mukhopadhyaya
                                            AdiParva.

Parikshit goes ahunting

While such events were taking place in the realm of snakes & heaven, king Parikshit the son of Abhimanyu went ahunting.  Parikshit the king of Pandu race of Hastinapur was an ideal king.He was drawn into the deep forest by a woonded deer.Finally the deer vanished& the king reached a pasture where there was a sage plunged in meditation.The king asked the sage whether he had seen the fleeing deer. The king asked over & over again. But there was no reply. The king himself was very thirsty & hungry. But the sage did not entertained him. The king was angry. A dead snake was nearby. The king raised it with the end of his bow & put it around the neck of the sage. The sage remained composed & did not stir. The sage was actually observing the vow of silence. But the king although very great & benevolent did not understand the sage. Disgusted & dejected the king trotted towards his capital Hastinapur.

The sage around whose neck a garland of a dead snake dangled had a son named Sringi. He was also a great sage. When Parikshit visited the sage Sringi was not there .He was at that time busy in sublime conversation with Brahama the creator of the world. Brahma bade him good bye.Sringi was on his way to his father. A friend of Sringi informed Sringi as to the predicament into which his father was put for no fault of his. The friend of Sringi Jokingly undermined the ascetic power of Sringi. Sringi was very angry at the sight of his father dipped in unplumbed depth of silence. Sringi at once cursed the king Parikshit in Parikshit’s absence.

Sringi had cursed. King Parikshit should die bitten by a snake named Takshaka in seven days according to the curse. His father sage Shamika woke up from meditation & learnt every thing.He was sorry for the curse pronounced on the king.He rebuked his son. His son however stuck to his point. He avowed that he had never told a lie in his life. Hence whatever curse he had uttered must come true

Sringi further observed that the king’s duty is to help the ascetics in their penance. On the contrary here the King tried to humiliate an ascetic. We readers also are of the same opinion with Sringi. How can a king be called good if he does not recognise an ascetic keeping a vow of silence? Fine. His father said that the spiritual prowess should be held with great restraint. One must not cherish anger, jealousy & envy in the mind. Or else the spiritual prowess will wane. Presently the sage father sent emissaries to the king Parikshit Gaurmukha by name & informed him about the curse.