Shloka 1
Jaratkāru’s Marital Compact and Departure (जरत्कारु–जरत्कारुणी संवादः)
भीकम (2 अमान त्रिचत्वारिशो<् ध्याय: तक्षकका धन देकर काश्यपको लौटा देना और छलसे राजा परीक्षित्के समीप पहुँचकर उन्हें डँसना तक्षक उवाच यदि दष्टं मयेह त्वं शक्त: किंचिच्चिकित्सितुम् । ततो वृक्ष मया दष्टमिमं जीवय काश्यप,तक्षक बोला--काश्यप! यदि इस जगतमें मेरे डँसे हुए रोगीकी कुछ भी चिकित्सा करनेमें तुम समर्थ हो तो मेरे डँसे हुए इस वृक्षको जीवित कर दो
takṣaka uvāca | yadi daṣṭaṁ mayeha tvaṁ śaktaḥ kiṁcic cikitsitum | tato vṛkṣa mayā daṣṭam imaṁ jīvaya kāśyapa ||
Takṣaka sprach: „Wenn du in dieser Welt wahrhaft fähig bist, irgendein Heilmittel auf den anzuwenden, den ich gebissen habe, dann, o Kāśyapa, erwecke diesen Baum wieder zum Leben — eben diesen, den ich gebissen habe.“
तक्षक उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames a moral and philosophical tension between human skill and the seeming inevitability of destined outcomes: Takṣaka demands a concrete test of Kāśyapa’s healing claims, implying that true capability must withstand the most extreme case. It also foreshadows how power, pride, and ulterior motives can distort dharmic action—knowledge and medicine are tested not only by efficacy but by the ethical context in which they are used.
On his way to bite King Parīkṣit, Takṣaka encounters the healer-sage Kāśyapa, who is reputed to be able to counteract snake venom. Takṣaka challenges him by biting a tree and ordering him to revive it, using the tree as a demonstrative test of whether Kāśyapa can truly neutralize Takṣaka’s lethal venom.