King Janamejaya Performs Sarpa Yaga (1)

 King Janamejaya Performs Sarpa Yaga -1

King Janamejaya is the son of King Parikshit, grandson of Abhimanyu and the great-grandson of Arjuna. King Parikshit was killed by Serpent King Takshaka in order to take revenge on Arjuna*, who was responsible for killing his tribe in Kandava Vana Firing. 

Uttanka Conducts the Yaga

King Janamejaya was not keen to avenge Takshaka, but Uttanka, the disciple of Sage Gouthama, instigated the King Janamejaya to punish Takshaka as both were victims. Since Uttanka couldn’t do it alone, he sought the help of the king. 

(Takshaka once tricked Uttanka when he was about to fulfill the wish of his Guru's wife). Uttanka agreed to perform Sarpa Yaga for the King, and in the process, serpents fell one after the other into the Homa kunda. Takshaka sought Indra's help, but Indra couldn't do much. 

Aruna Curses His Mother, Vinata

Kadru is the mother of 1000 powerful serpents. She had a sister, Vinata, and both were married to Sage Kashyapa. Vinata sought from her husband a boon that she be the mother of two eagles who must be more powerful than Kadru's sons.

Kadru’s 1000 eggs hatched, and serpents were born. Intolerant Vinata broke open one of her eggs, and to her dismay, a half born eagle, Aruna was born. 

Aruna curses his mother for his plight and said she would become a slave on whom she was jealous. He went to suryamandal and served as charioteer to Sun God. 

He also warned Vinata not to break open the second egg as the son born out of it would help her get rid of slavery. Garuda was born after 500 years and helped her get rid of slavery.  

Vinata is Tricked 

Once Kadru and Vinata went for a walk near the sea shore and saw Ucchishrava, a pure white divine horse. Both appreciated its beauty and colour. Kadru hatched a plan and wilfully declared the horse’s tail is black. Vinata disagreed with Sister and the casual talk between Sisters turned into a contest. 

Kadru Curses Her Sons

Kadru made a dishonest request to her sons to coil around the divine horse in order to win the contest. The snakes declined their mother's demand and in turn were cursed by Kadru - to become sacrificial victims during King Janamejaya’s Sarpa Yaga. To escape the consequences of the curse, one lone snake by name Karkotaka agreed to fulfill her wish. 

The next day, when Kadru and Vinata met at the prescribed time, the horse’s tail appeared black, and Vinata became slave to Kadru. Vinata faced lots of humiliation from her sister.

Sage Jagadkaru Meets His Ancestors

Sage Jagadkaru was a great tapasvi and remained brahmachari. He had no permanent place to live. His tapas were so powerful that he could see pitrudevatas in person. 

Once, to quench his thirst the Sage was in search of a well and on finding one looked deep within the well for water. Instead, he saw pitrudevas hanging upside down from tree roots. He questioned them about their identity. They said they were his ancestors and explained their predicament - owing to the want of progeny they were unable to move to heaven. 

Sage Jagadkaru Agrees to Marry

The Sage understood their plight and agreed to marry in order to beget a son. However, he put in some unique conditions for marrying. The sage sought for a bride who possessed good character, a matching name as his, said that he would take up tapas once a son is born, and also demanded that the bride should be given as part of Kanyadhan. Pitrudevatas agreed to his terms and agreed to facilitate the process.

Cont'd.,

Extracts From Mahabharatha - Adi Parva 

*Arjuna was protected by Srikrishna, and his son Abhimanyu was killed in the battlefield, and hence, Takshaka targeted Parikshit.