Astika demands the snake sacrifice be stopped
As the snake king Takshaka plummets toward the sacrificial flames, King Janamejaya finally offers Astika the long-awaited boon. Astika asks for the one thing the king is determined not to give: an end to the sacrifice itself.
The moment had arrived. Takshaka, king of snakes, deprived of his senses by the priests' mantras, was falling from the sky toward the sacrificial fire. Janamejaya, seeing his father's killer about to be consumed, turned to the Brahmana boy who had waited so patiently.
He said, "O one who is beyond measure! You are so handsome and so childlike that I wish to grant you a worthy boon. Therefore, ask for the desire that is in your heart. I promise you that I will grant it to you, if it can be granted."
Astika spoke immediately. "O Janamejaya! If you wish to grant me a boon, I wish that this sacrifice should be stopped. Let no more snakes fall down."
The king was not happy. He tried to deflect. "O illustrious one! I will give you gold, silver, cows or whatever else you wish to possess. O Brahmana! I shall give you your boon. But let this sacrifice not be stopped."
Astika was unmoved. "O king! I do not ask you for gold, silver or cattle. Let this sacrifice be stopped, so that my mother's relatives are safe."
Janamejaya tried again, addressing him with every honorific he could muster. "O supreme among supreme Brahmanas! O fortunate one! O descendant of the Bhrigu lineage! Choose another boon."
Astika refused.
The impasse was broken by the sadasyas — the learned Brahmanas witnessing the sacrifice, experts in all the Vedas. They spoke unanimously to the king. "Let the Brahmana have his boon."
Their verdict was final. A king's promise, once given before such an assembly, could not be broken. The boon would be the stopping of the sacrifice.