Snakes Are Drawn into and Perish in the Sacrificial Fire
The snake-sacrifice begins, its priests chanting mantras that exert a supernatural pull. From everywhere, snakes are drawn toward the ritual ground, terrified and helpless as they fall into the blazing fire. Countless serpents perish, fulfilling an old curse and advancing the king's revenge.
The snake-sacrifice started according to the prescribed norms. The officiating priests, learned in their respective duties, went about their prescribed tasks. They dressed themselves in black garments and their eyes became red from the smoke. Chanting mantras, they offered oblations into the sacrificial fire.
As they poured oblations into the mouth of the fire and uttered the names of the snakes, the hearts of the snakes trembled in fear. Thereafter, the snakes dropped into the blazing flames, wretched and screaming piteously at each other. They swelled, breathed hard and intertwined their heads and tails.
In large numbers, they fell into the blazing fire—white, black, blue, old and young. Crying out terrible screams, they fell into the lofty and blazing flames, in hundreds, thousands, millions and tens of millions. Many snakes perished powerless.
Among those which perished, some were small as rats, others large as trunks of elephants, or gigantic and immensely strong like mad elephants. Snakes of many colours, poisonous, terrible, like clubs and with immense strength, fell into the fire in large numbers, as a consequence of their mother’s curse.