He grew up in the care of his grandparents, being the sole heir to the throne. He was a great warrior, skilled with the Bow like his grandfather, Arjun and the sword like his father, Abhimanyu. The Raaj Guru Kripacharya trained him in warfare. His mother, Uttara, told him stories of the father he never knew, how valiant a warrior he was and how their struggle for this kingdom was the greatest battle ever fought. He loved to hunt and often indulged in hunting expeditions encouraged by his grandparents. At 35, he was made the king while his Grandfather and his brothers retired from the cycle of responsibilities and decided to live in a hermitage. His mother and grandmother stayed back to help him rule the vast kingdom.
The first king of the new era was thus crowned. As king, he started his peaceful reign. He called upon the sages and the Kul Guru Vyas Dev to start the new yug with something very important.
" Guruji, I want you to rearrange and rewrite the great texts that are lost due to the vast destruction. Revive the Vedas, Puranas and Upanishads and rearrange them so that people can read and learn from them once again."
" This is a very good initiative on your part, Maharaj Parikshit. As a learned man, you can preside over the process, and I will be honoured to do this noble work for you, Vatsya."
" Take help from all the sages and Rishis you need, sir. Revive the texts."
The process of reviving the Hindu texts we read today started in his era. It was continued by his eldest son from his chief queen, Janmejaya. Vyas Dev completed dividing the Vedas into the current four parts, and the Puranas were divided and rewritten by the Great Sage and his students. He is mentioned in the Brahmana and the Atharva Veda as the Righteous king, like the Ikshvaku of Ayodhya.
Parikshit, while on one of his hunting expeditions, fell in love with a Putrika clan woman, the daughter of a Naga. Their union resulted in the birth of the firstborn to him, Sringin. Sringin accompanies him on many hunting expeditions. He later marries a princess, Madravati, according to his mother's wish and four sons were born to them. When the time came to choose his heir, he chose his second son over his first, citing that a non-Kshatriya cannot be a king. This angered the Nagas.
One day, Parikshit was out hunting, and he moved away from his team while chasing a boar. Tired and thirsty, he reached a crossroad where Rishi Samika sat in meditation. He called the Rishi, not recognising him as Rishi Samika and asked for the direction to the nearest water body. Deep in the meditation, the Rishi did not reply to him. Parikshit, tired and thirsty, lost his cool. He saw a dead snake lying on the road, picked it up and flung it at the Rishi. At that moment, Rishi's son came and witnessed this incident. He was angered at how the vain king insulted his father. He cursed Parikshit,
" You will die of snake bite in a week from now."
Scared at this, Parikshit returned to his palace like a madman and locked himself up in a tower with no windows and high security. The Nagas planned their revenge. The Naga King Takshak was a great enemy to the Pandavas, and especially Parikshit's grandfather, Arjun. He disguised himself as a Brahmin to reach Hastinapur. Parikshit, in the meantime, had called upon Rishi Kashyap, who alone knew the cure for a snakebite.
Takshak knew that if Kashyap helped, he could never kill Parikshit, and his revenge would never be fulfilled. Kashyap was resting underneath a tree on the outskirts of Hastinapur when Takshak reached him as a Brahmin. He at first told him the story of how Parikshit had wronged his first wife, depriving her son of the throne, which did not impress Kashyap. Next, Takshak told him about Rishi Samika's incident and how he needed to fulfil the curse. Kashyap then shared his problem.
" I need money for my basic needs. Maharaj Parikshit will give me 100 gold coins if I save him. I need to do this."
" Here, take a 1000 Gold mohur from me and leave."
Kashyap took the money and turned his back on Hastinapur.
For six days, Parikshit lay in solitude, not even meeting his family. The buzz went around the country that the king had turned lunatic. Janmejaya took care of the court affairs for his father, clueless about why he was acting this way. On the seventh day, Parikshit ordered his servants to bring him the fruit. Seizing this opportunity, Takshak disguised himself as a worm and entered the fruit. When Parikshit ate a bite, Takshak came out, took the form of a Naga and killed him. Parikshit's cry made people rush to his room, where he lay cold as a stone, poisoned to death! At 60, the King suffered an untimely death, and the country mourned.
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| Snake Sacrifice Yagna |
Angry at the loss, Janmejaya sent spies to probe who was responsible. The tree under which Kashyap and Takshak conversed spoke to the spies about the incident. Janmejaya decided to avenge the death of his father by killing not only Takshak but the whole Naga clan. He decided to perform the Yagna, which no king ever dared to perform. Sages from all over the country, and people from all over Aryavarta came to witness the biggest Yagna ever performed, the Sarpayagna meant to kill the snake clans.
It is here at this Yagna where, for the first time in his life, Janmejaya hears of his great forefathers, the origin of the Nagas and the Kurukshetra war and stops the Yagna from realising that hatred destroyed all and forgiveness gave life a new meaning. It is here that the first recitations of the epic were performed by Vyas Dev, who later decided to write this history down for all who sought war over peace as a lesson of life.
