(Astika Parva continued)
Sauti said, "Then the councillors beholding the king in the coils of
Takshaka, became pale with fear and wept in exceeding grief. And hearing
the roar of Takshaka, the ministers all fled. And as they were flying away
in great grief, they saw Takshaka, the king of snakes, that wonderful
serpent, coursing through the blue sky like a streak of the hue of the
lotus, and looking very much like the vermilion-coloured line on a woman's
crown dividing the dark masses of her hair in the middle.
"And the mansion in which the king was living blazed up with Takshaka's
poison. And the king's councillors, on beholding it, fled away in all
directions. And the king himself fell down, as if struck by lightning.
"And when the king was laid low by Takshaka's poison, his councillors with
the royal priest--a holy Brahmana--performed all his last rites. All the
citizens, assembling together, made the minor son of the deceased monarch
their king. And the people called their new king, that slayer of all
enemies, that hero of the Kuru race, by the name of Janamejaya. And that
best of monarchs, Janamejaya, though a child, was wise in mind. And with
his councillors and priest, the eldest son Parikshita, that bull amongst
the Kurus, ruled the kingdom like his heroic great-grand-father
(Yudhishthira). And the ministers of the youthful monarch, beholding that
he could now keep his enemies in check, went to Suvarnavarman, the king of
Kasi, and asked him his daughter Vapushtama for a bride. And the king of
Kasi, after due inquiries, bestowed with ordained rites, his daughter
Vapushtama on that mighty hero of Kuru race. And the latter, receiving his
bride, became exceedingly glad. And he gave not his heart at any time to
any other woman. And gifted with great energy, he wandered in pursuit of
pleasure, with a cheerful heart, on expanses of water and amid woods and
flowery fields. And that first of monarchs passed his time in pleasure as
Pururavas of old did, on receiving the celestial damsel Urvasi. Herself
fairest of the fair, the damsel Vapushtama too, devoted to her lord and
celebrated for her beauty having gained a desirable husband, pleased him
by the excess of her affection during the period he spent in the pursuit
of pleasure."