King Parikshit Dies from Takshaka's Bite and Janamejaya Succeeds
King Parikshit is found dead, ensnared by the serpent Takshaka, his palace ablaze from the snake's venom. His ministers perform the funeral rites, and the citizens place his young son, Janamejaya, on the vacant throne.
The ministers found their king in the coils of Takshaka, the king of snakes. Their faces paled and they wept in great grief. Hearing the king's roars, they began to flee. As they ran, they saw the serpent himself — a wonderful, terrifying sight — flying through the sky like a streak the colour of a lotus, parting heaven's hair. The palace where the king had lived was already set on fire by the snake's poison and blazed fiercely. In panic, they abandoned it and fled in all directions.
King Parikshit fell, as if struck by lightning.
When the king was struck down by Takshaka's energy, the royal priest, the pure Brahmanas, and all the king's advisers performed the funeral rites. The citizens then assembled. They placed on the throne the king's young son. The people called him Janamejaya — the slayer of enemies, a hero of the Kuru lineage. Though only a child, that best of kings, the eldest bull among the Kurus, was wise. Together with his ministers and priest, he ruled over the kingdom, just as his brave great-grandfather once had.