Jaratkaru Marries Vasuki's Sister Jaratkaru
The ascetic Jaratkaru roams the earth, unable to find a wife who meets his exacting conditions. In a forest, he begs for a woman, and the snake-king Vasuki appears with an offer: his sister, who is also named Jaratkaru, and whose destiny is to save his race.
Jaratkaru, a Brahmana rigid in his vows, had made a promise to his ancestors. He would marry, but only a woman who shared his name and was given to him as alms. He roamed the earth searching. He found no one.
One day, he entered a forest. Remembering the words of his ancestors, he called out three times in a faint voice, begging for a woman.
Vasuki, the king of the snakes, appeared before him. He offered his own sister to the ascetic as a wife.
Jaratkaru refused. He had resolved never to accept a wife who did not bear his name. He asked the snake-king, “Tell me truthfully, what is your sister’s name?”
Vasuki replied, “O Jaratkaru! My younger sister’s name is also Jaratkaru. Given by me, accept this slender-waisted one as your wife. O best of the Brahmanas! Till now, I have protected her for you. Therefore, take her.”
This was not a simple act of matchmaking. The snakes carried an ancient curse from their own mother: they would be destroyed in a future snake-sacrifice conducted by a king whose charioteer was the wind. Vasuki had been guarding his sister for this precise moment, to marry her to the great-souled rishi. The son born of this union was destined to pacify the curse and save the serpent race.
Jaratkaru accepted her in accordance with the prescribed rites. From her, he had a son named Astika — great-souled, an ascetic, learned in the Vedas and the Vedangas. He looked on all worlds impartially.
Years later, a king from the Pandava lineage, Janamejaya, conducted the great snake-sacrifice. As the fire blazed to destroy the serpents, Astika, now a sage of great fame, arrived and delivered his maternal uncles from the curse. By saving the snakes, he also secured the salvation of his own line. He later had a son through his own ascetic practices, finally delivering his father’s ancestors from their peril. Jaratkaru and his forefathers went to heaven.