Adhyaya 181

This chapter extols the glory of the Bhagavad Gītā’s seventh chapter, declaring its hearing to be nectar-like. It tells of Śaṃkukarṇa, a brāhmaṇa of Pāṭaliputra, who pursued wealth while neglecting rites for the ancestors and the Divine; after dying from a snakebite, he is reborn as a serpent guarding hidden treasure. His sons learn the truth through dreams and confrontation—one driven by greed to attack, others moved by filial concern to rescue. The serpent-father teaches that ordinary tīrthas, gifts, austerities, and sacrifices cannot free him; liberation comes only by honoring the Gītā’s seventh chapter, especially by feeding with faith a brāhmaṇa learned in the “seven chapters” on his śrāddha day. The sons comply, Śaṃkukarṇa attains a divine form, and the wealth is redistributed and used for public works of dharma.