Mahabharat Adi Parva C3.6

As Utaṅka stood worrying about how he could possibly return in ti, the radiant man spoke once more.

“Utaṅka,” he said, “mount this horse. It will carry you to your teacher's house in an instant.”

Without hesitation, Utaṅka obeyed. He climbed onto the horse, and before he knew it, the miraculous creature had carried him across the vast distance and brought him back to his preceptor's ho.

anwhile, his teacher's wife had completed her ritual bath and was seated before a mirror, arranging her hair. The sacred ti she had specified was rapidly passing. As she waited, she began to think grimly:

“If Utaṅka does not arrive soon, I shall have to curse him.”

At that very mont, Utaṅka entered the house.

He respectfully bowed before her and presented the earrings.

The woman's face brightened.

“Utaṅka,” she said, “you have arrived at exactly the right place and the right ti. Welco, my son. It is fortunate for you that I did not curse you. Great blessings now await you. May success be yours.”

Relieved, Utaṅka then approached his teacher and bowed before him.

The sage welcod him warmly.

“Welco, my son Utaṅka,” he said. “But tell , what delayed you for so long?”

Utaṅka sat before his teacher and recounted everything that had happened.

“Master,” he said, “Takshaka, king of the Nagas, created many obstacles in my path. Because of him, I was forced to journey into the realm of the serpents.

While I was there, I witnessed many strange and wondrous things.

I saw two won weaving a cloth upon a loom. The threads they used were black and white. What did that vision an?

I also saw a great wheel with twelve spokes, and six boys continually turning it. What was that?

Then I saw a magnificent man. Who was he?

And there was an enormous horse, unlike any horse I had ever seen. What was its true nature?

There is sothing else that troubles .

While traveling on the road, I t a man riding a bull. He spoke to respectfully and told to eat the bull's dung, saying that even my teacher had done so before . Trusting his words, I obeyed and ate it.

Master, who was that man? What did all these strange sights an? Please explain them to .”

The sage smiled, pleased by his disciple's curiosity.

“My son,” he replied, “the things you saw were not ordinary at all.

The two won were Dhata and Vidhata, the divine powers who shape and sustain creation.

The black and white threads they were weaving represented night and day, the endless cycle through which the world is woven.”

The sage continued his explanation.

“The wheel you saw with twelve spokes was the year itself. Its twelve spokes are the twelve months, and the six boys turning it are the six seasons that carry ti forward.

The man you saw was Parjanya, the divine lord of rain.

And the great horse was Agni, the god of fire.”

Utaṅka listened intently as the mysteries of the Naga world were gradually revealed.

His teacher continued:

“As for the bull you encountered on the road, that was no ordinary beast. It was Airavata, king of elephants.

The rider seated upon it was Indra himself.

And the dung you ate at his command was not truly dung. It was amrita, the nectar of immortality.”

Utaṅka's eyes widened in surprise.

“It was because of that divine nectar,” the sage explained, “that you survived in the realm of the Nagas. Otherwise, the dangers there might have destroyed you.

Indra is my friend. It was through his favor and protection that you were able to recover the earrings and return safely.”

The sage then placed a hand upon his disciple's shoulder.

“Now, my son, you have fulfilled your duty. You have my permission to depart. May good fortune always accompany you.”

Utaṅka bowed deeply before his teacher and took his leave.

Yet although his task had been completed successfully, his heart still burned with anger.

Takshaka's theft, his deception, and the many hardships he had caused remained fresh in Utaṅka's mind. The Brahmin could not forget the serpent king's actions. A desire for vengeance began to grow within him.

Determined to make Takshaka pay for what he had done, Utaṅka set out for Hastinapura.

After a swift journey, he reached the Kuru capital.

At that ti, King Janajaya had recently returned from a victorious campaign in Takshashila. The young king sat in his royal court, surrounded by ministers, counselors, and noblen.

Utaṅka entered the assembly and, according to custom, offered blessings for the king's continued victory and prosperity.

Then, choosing his words carefully, he addressed the ruler.

“O greatest of kings,” he said, “you are spending your ti on lesser concerns while a far more important duty awaits your attention. Like a youth distracted by trivial matters, you neglect a task that demands imdiate action.”

The court fell silent.

Janajaya did not take offense. Instead, he respectfully honored the Brahmin and replied in a calm and gracious voice.

“Revered sir, I fulfill the duty of my Kshatriya birth by protecting my subjects and governing my kingdom. But if there is sothing more that must be done, tell .

What do you wish of ? I stand ready to hear and obey your words.”

Pleased by the king's humility, Utaṅka spoke plainly.

“O king, there is indeed a duty that belongs both to you and to your royal house.

It was Takshaka, the serpent king, who caused the death of your father, King Parikshit.

That wicked serpent robbed you of your father and brought grief upon your kingdom.

Therefore, O lord of n, it is your duty to take vengeance upon Takshaka.”

With those words, Utaṅka planted the seed that would soon lead to one of the most terrible events in the history of the serpent race—the great Snake Sacrifice of King Janajaya.

Utaṅka continued, his voice firm and relentless.

“I believe the appointed ti has now arrived. Destiny itself has prepared the way for this deed. Go, O King, and avenge the death of your noble father.

Your father committed no cri. He had wronged no one. Yet that evil-hearted serpent struck him down. Like a mighty tree shattered by a thunderbolt, the king fell and returned to the five elents.

Takshaka, the vilest of serpents, was intoxicated by his own power and pride. In his arrogance, he committed a terrible sin when he bit your father, that godlike king.

Parikshit was no ordinary ruler. He was the protector of a glorious line of royal sages, a king equal to the immortals in greatness.

And Takshaka's wickedness did not end there. When the sage Kashyapa ca, possessing the power to save your father's life, Takshaka turned him back and prevented him from reaching the king.

Such a criminal deserves to be destroyed.

Therefore, O mighty king, you should cast that evil serpent into the blazing fires of a great Snake Sacrifice. Such an act would be righteous and just.

By doing so, you will fulfill your duty to your father and properly avenge his death.

And in doing this, you will also grant a great favor.

For it was this sa wicked Takshaka who obstructed while I was carrying out a sacred task for my teacher. He caused great suffering and hardship.”

Each word struck like fuel thrown into a fire.

As clarified butter feeds the flas of a sacrifice, Utaṅka's speech fed the anger growing within King Janajaya's heart.

The king's face darkened.

Until that mont, the wounds left by his father's death had remained buried beneath the duties of kingship. But Utaṅka's words reopened them.

Grief, anger, and the desire for vengeance surged within him.

Deeply troubled, Janajaya turned to the ministers gathered around him.

“Tell everything,” he commanded. “Tell exactly how my father t his end and how he departed from this world.”

The counselors glanced at one another.

In Utaṅka's presence, they began recounting the events surrounding King Parikshit's death.

And as Janajaya listened to the full tale, the sorrow he had long kept restrained overwheld him.

The mont he heard the complete story from Utaṅka, grief flooded his heart like a storm.

The victorious king who had conquered distant lands now sat in silence, weighed down by the mory of his father.

What had begun as Utaṅka's personal quest for vengeance was becoming sothing far greater.

The fire had been lit.

And soon it would grow into the terrible Snake Sacrifice that would shake the worlds of n and serpents alike.

A/N: its at this sacrifice ritual, that the king hears the tale of mahabharat that we are about to read