Mahabharata · Chapter 1.12
kathaṃ hiṃsitavānsarpānsa rājā janamejayaḥ /
sarpā vā hiṃsitāstatra kimarthaṃ dvijasattama //
kimarthaṃ mokṣitāścaiva pannagāstena dhīmatā /
āstīkena dvijaśreṣṭha śrotumicchāmyaśeṣataḥ //
ṛṣiruvāca /
śroṣyasi tvaṃ ruro sarvamāstīkacaritaṃ mahat /
brāhmaṇānāṃ kathayatāṃ tvarāvāngamane hyaham //
sautiruvāca /
ityuktvāntarhite yogāttasminnṛṣivare prabhau / sambhramāviṣṭahṛdayo rururmene tadadbhutam //
balaṃ paramamāsthāya paryadhāvatsamantataḥ /
tamṛṣiṃ naṣṭamanvicchansaṃśrānto nyapatadbhuvi //
sa mohe paramaṃ gatvā naṣṭasañjña ivābhavat /
tadṛṣervacanaṃ tathyaṃ cintayānaḥ punaḥpunaḥ //
labdhasañjño ruruścāyāttadācakhyau pitustadā /
pitre tu sarvamākhyāya ḍuṇḍubhasya vaco'rthavat //
apṛcchatpitaraṃ bhūyaḥ sostīkasya vacastadā /
ākhyāpayattadā'khyānaṃ ḍuṇḍubhenātha kīrtitam //
tatkīrtyamānaṃ bhagavañśrotumicchāmi tattvataḥ / pitā cāsya tadākhyānaṃ pṛṣṭaḥ sarvaṃ nyavedayat //
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