(Astika Parva continued)
Sauti said, "King Janamejaya having said so, his ministers expressed
their approbation. And the monarch then expressed his determination to
perform a snake-sacrifice. And that lord of the Earth--that tiger of the
Bharata race--the son of Parikshit, then called his priest and Ritwiks.
And accomplished in speech, he spake unto them these words relating to the
accomplishment of his great task. 'I must avenge myself on the wretch
Takshaka who killed my father. Tell me what I must do. Do you know any act
by which I may cast into the blazing fire the snake Takshaka with his
relatives? I desire to burn that wretch even as he burnt, of yore, by the
fire of his poison, my father.'
"The chief priest answered, 'There is, O king, a great sacrifice for thee
devised by the gods themselves. It is known as the snake-sacrifice, and is
read of in the Puranas. O king, thou alone canst accomplish it, and no one
else. Men versed in the Puranas have told us, there is such a sacrifice.'"
Sauti continued, "Thus addressed, the king, O excellent one, thought
Takshaka to be already burnt and thrown into the blazing mouth of Agni,
the eater of the sacrificial butter. The king then said unto those
Brahmanas versed in mantras, 'I shall make preparations for that sacrifice.
Tell me the things that are necessary.' And the king's Ritwiks, O
excellent Brahmana, versed in the Vedas and acquainted with the rites of
that sacrifice measured, according to the scriptures, the land for the
sacrificial platform. And the platform was decked with valuable articles
and with Brahmanas. And it was full of precious things and paddy. And the
Ritwika sat upon it at ease. And after the sacrificial platform had been
thus constructed according to rule and as desired, they installed the king
at the snake-sacrifice for the attainment of its object. And before the
commencement of the snake-sacrifice that was to come, there occurred this
very important incident foreboding obstruction to the sacrifice. For when
the sacrificial platform was being constructed, a professional builder of
great intelligence and well-versed in the knowledge of laying foundations,
a Suta by caste, well-acquainted with the Puranas, said, 'The soil upon
which and the time at which the measurement for the sacrificial platform
has been made, indicate that this sacrifice will not be completed, a
Brahmana becoming the reason thereof.' Hearing this, the king, before his
installation, gave orders to his gate-keepers not to admit anybody without
his knowledge."