Brāhmaṇa-māhātmya: Tārkṣya’s instruction on tapas, satya, and svadharma
Chapter 182
कृतं कार्य महाराज त्वया मम परंतप । क्षीण:शाप: सुकृच्छो मे त्वया सम्भाष्य साधुना,परंतप महाराज! आज तुमने मेरा बहुत बड़ा कार्य किया। इस समय तुम-जैसे श्रेष्ठ पुरुषसे वार्तालाप करनेके कारण मेरा वह अत्यन्त कष्टदायक शाप निवृत्त हो गया
kṛtaṃ kārya mahārāja tvayā mama parantapa | kṣīṇaḥ śāpaḥ sukṛcchro me tvayā sambhāṣya sādhunā ||
Змей сказал: «О великий царь, сокрушитель врагов! Ты совершил для меня великое дело. От беседы с тобой — поистине добродетельным мужем — моя тяжкая, долго меня гнетущая кара ныне иссякла и прекратилась».
सर्प उवाच
The verse highlights the ethical power of sādhusaṅga—contact and conversation with a virtuous person. Right speech and righteous association can relieve deep suffering and even bring an inherited or imposed affliction (a curse) to its end.
A serpent addresses a king with gratitude, declaring that the king has fulfilled an important purpose for him. Because the serpent has spoken with this righteous king, the serpent’s intensely painful curse has been exhausted and is now lifted.