Parikshit

Parikshit

Parikshit Maharaj was a descendant of the Pandavas of the Mahabharata epic, he came to be known as a very noble and great king loved by everyone in his kingdom. He was very fond of hunting and killing deer, one day while hunting, a deer got wounded and ran away in the forest. The king ran after the deer but he could not find it, but he came across an Ashram belonging to a sage called Shamika who was then in a deep meditation. The king asked him several times if he had seen any wounded deer, but the sage would not answer him as he was observing silence.

The king was upset as he thought he was being ignored by an ordinary hermit, and in a frivolous mood he picked up a dead snake and put it around the neck of Shamika, he then returned to his palace. In the meanwhile Shamika’s son, Shringi arrived and saw a dead snake around the neck of his father, he was furious, he uttered a powerful curse that whoever had placed such a dead snake around the neck of his father would die within seven days due to a deadly bite by a poisonous snake, the king of snakes, Takshika. But Shamika felt sorry at his son’s curse because he felt that the King Parikshit was a kind and noble person and acted innocently, he immediately sent information about his son’s curse to the king so that he may take the necessary precautions to avert it.

On hearing this, the king repented very much but it was too late, after consulting his ministers, the royal doctor, and other officials in his palace, he decided to live the next seven days in complete seclusion in a special building entirely surrounded by a pond full of water so that no snake could come close to him, he however was being supplied with regular food and water after careful inspection that no snake ever slipped into it. He had occasional visits from his advisors and relatives.

 

Thus, at the end of the seven days, the king thought he had escaped the danger of being bitten by any snake. However during the last minutes of his secluded position, with a feeling of absolute safety, he desired to eat some of the fruit brought to him by his admirers. Inside one of these fruits was a small worm with bright eyes which was nothing but the snake king Takshika in disguise, on opening the fruit the worm jumped on the king and killed him instantly. All present immediately realized what has happened because of the powerful curse of Shringi and prayed to God for the soul of the king to rest in peace.

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