Utanka

To repay his debt to his preceptor, Utanka is sent to fetch a queen's earrings. He succeeds, but on the journey home they are stolen by Takshaka, the king of the nagas. Utanka pursues the serpent into the underworld, using divine power to threaten his realm until the earrings are returned.

Utanka, a Brahmin seething with a personal grudge against the serpent-king Takshaka, arrives at the court of the victorious young King Janamejaya. He rebukes the king for his idle pleasures and demands he perform his most urgent duty: avenging his father's murder by burning Takshaka alive in a snake sacrifice.