Takshaka- Hindu CreatureCreature"King of the Nagas"

The Burning of Khandava

Takshaka's enmity toward the Pandava line was born in fire. The fire god Agni had long hungered to consume the Khandava forest but was thwarted each time by Indra, who sent rain to protect Takshaka and his Naga kin within. When Arjuna and Krishna stood guard at the forest's edge and held back Indra's storms, Khandava burned unchecked. Countless Nagas perished. Takshaka was away, but his wife and many of his kin died in the flames.

The Death of Parikshit

King Parikshit, grandson of Arjuna and ruler of Hastinapura, insulted the sage Shamika by draping a dead snake around his neck during a hunt. The sage's son Shringi cursed Parikshit to die of a snakebite within seven days. Takshaka saw his chance. He sent agents disguised as ascetics bearing gifts of fruit to the king's guarded tower. He took the form of a tiny insect and hid inside one of the fruits. When Parikshit opened it, the Naga king resumed his true shape and struck. The venom was so potent that the king's body burst into flames on the throne.

The Sarpa Satra

Parikshit's son Janamejaya, enraged by his father's death, initiated the Sarpa Satra, a sacrificial ritual designed to summon and destroy every serpent in existence. Thousands of Nagas were drawn into the fire. Takshaka fled to Indra for protection, but even the king of the gods was being pulled toward the flames. The young sage Astika, whose mother was a Naga, arrived at the ceremony and persuaded Janamejaya to stop. Takshaka survived. It was at this sacrifice, with the fire still warm, that Vaishampayana first recited the Mahabharata to Janamejaya.