Adhyaya 96

Upa-parva: Aśvamedha-yajña Anuśaṅga (Explanatory Episodes during the Horse Sacrifice)

Janamejaya asks Vaiśaṃpāyana to identify a being seen in nakula-form with a golden head who speaks in human speech. Vaiśaṃpāyana explains that this account had not been previously narrated and then recounts an earlier incident: Jamadagni once arranged a śrāddha and obtained milk from a sacrificial cow, storing it in a new, clean, sturdy vessel. Krodha (Wrath), taking a tangible form, overturns the container and disturbs the milk, testing how the sage will respond to an offense. Jamadagni recognizes Krodha but does not become angry; Krodha, standing with joined palms, admits fear of the sage’s tapas and requests favor, noting the reputational implication that he has been ‘defeated’ by Jamadagni’s forbearance. Jamadagni dismisses Krodha without hostility and directs him toward the Pitṛs for whom the ritual intention was made. Krodha disappears, but due to the Pitṛs’ involvement becomes associated with nakula-hood; he propitiates them seeking an end to the curse, and is told release will occur when he reviles Dharma. Guided to sacrificial and dharma-associated regions, he later throws a measure of parched grain at Dharmaputra; since Yudhiṣṭhira embodies Dharma, this act fulfills the condition, freeing Krodha from the curse. The chapter closes by stating that this is what occurred at the great sacrifice and that the nakula then vanished in the observers’ presence.