Mahabharata · Chapter 1.11
sakhā babhūva me pūrvaṃ khagamo nāma vai dvijaḥ /
bhṛśaṃ saṃśitavāktāta tapobalasamanvitaḥ //
sa mayā krīḍatā bālye kṛtvā tārṇaṃ bhujangamam /
agnihotre prasaktastu bhīṣitaḥ pramumoha vai //
labdhvā sa ca punaḥ sañjñāṃ māmuvāca tapodhanaḥ /
nardahanniva kopena satyavāksaṃśitavrataḥ //
yathāvīryastvayā sarpaḥ kṛto'yaṃ madbibhīṣayā /
tathāvīryo bhujangastvaṃ mama śāpādbhaviṣyasi //
tasyāhaṃ tapaso vīryaṃ jānannāsaṃ tapodhana /
bhṛśamudvignahṛdayastamavocamahaṃ tadā //
praṇataḥ sambhramāccaiva prāñjaliḥ purataḥ sthitaḥ /
sakheti hasatedaṃ te narmārthaṃ vai kṛtaṃ mayā //
kṣantumarhasi me brahmañśāpo'yaṃ vinivartyatām /
so'tha māmabravīddṛṣṭvā bhṛśamudvignacetasam //
muhuruṣṇaṃ viniḥśvasya susambhrāntastapodhanaḥ /
nānṛtaṃ vai mayā proktaṃ bhavitedaṃ kathañcana //
yattu vakṣyāmi te vākyaṃ śṛṇu tanme tapodhana /
śrutvā ca hṛdi te vākyamidamastu sadā'nagha //
utpatsyati rururnāma pramaterātmajaḥ śuciḥ / taṃ dṛṣṭvā śāpamokṣaste bhavitā nacirādiva /
evamuktastu tenāhamuragatvamavāptavān //
sa tvaṃ rururiti khyātaḥ pramaterātmajo'pi ca /
svarūpaṃ pratipadyāhamadya vakṣyāmi te hitam //
sautiruvāca /
sa ḍauṇḍubhaṃ parityajya rūpaṃ viprarṣabhastadā /
svarūpaṃ bhāsvaraṃ bhūyaḥ pratipede mahāyaśāḥ //
idaṃ covāca vacanaṃ rurumapratimaujasam /
ahiṃsā paramo dharmaḥ sarvaprāṇabhṛtāṃ vara //
tasmātprāṇabhṛtaḥ sarvānna hiṃsyādbrāhmaṇaḥ kvacit /
brāhmaṇaḥ saumya eveha bhavatīti parā śrutiḥ //
vedavedāṅgavinnāma sarvabhūtābhayapradaḥ /
ahiṃsā satyavacanaṃ kṣamā ceti viniścitam //
brāhmaṇasya paro dharmo vedānāṃ dhāraṇāpi ca /
kṣatriyasya hi yo dharmaḥ sa neheṣyeta vai tava //
daṇḍadhāraṇamugratvaṃ prajānāṃ paripālanam /
tadidaṃ kṣatriyasyāsītkarma vai śṛṇu me ruro //
janamejayasya yajñe'sminsarpāṇāṃ hiṃsanaṃ purā /
paritrāṇaṃ ca bhītānāṃ sarpāṇāṃ brāhmaṇādapi //
tapovīryabalopetādvedavedāṅgapāragāt /
āstīkāddvijamukhyādvai sarpasatre dvijottama //
Original text: Mahābhārata (southern recension) · Edition: Śrīman Mahābhāratam, ed. T. R. Krishnacharya and T. R. Vyasacharya, Nirnaya Sagar Press, Bombay 1906–1910; e-text by SARIT (Shrinivasa Varakhedi and others) · SARIT: Search and Retrieval of Indic Texts · SARIT (e-text) via Internet Archive · CC BY-SA 3.0