Kāla-sarpa
Kāla-sarpa · kāla-sarpa, “the snake of death”
Grammar: masculine noun, a compound of kāla (death, time) and sarpa (snake). Also Kāla-nāga. One bitten by it is kāla-sarpa-dashṭa.
Meaning: a snake whose bite brings death.
In the scriptures: Sumantu Muni tells King Śatānīka how Kaśyapa Prajāpati taught Gautama on Meru. Kaśyapa gives the marks of one bitten by a Kāla-sarpa.
The first marks. The tongue goes numb, and in the heart it is as if a śūla were thrust in. The eyes cease to see. The bitten place looks burnt, like a ripe nēreḍu fruit. The teeth change colour, the whole body turns the colour of a monkey, and all limbs go slack. Stools pass. Shoulders, waist and neck droop. The face turns down yet he looks up. He trembles as if burning and faints. A cut brings no blood and a blow of a stick leaves no mark. A black mark like a crow’s foot forms, swollen like a nēreḍu fruit and thickly wet with blood. The channels are blocked, hiccups come, the throat feels seized, the skin turns yellow and the limbs dry up.
The fierce bite. The bitten place swells greatly with a ring of deep blue. The whole body sweats heavily and blood flows from the wound. He speaks through the nose, the mouth stays open, the heart beats fast and breath is sharply obstructed.
Further marks. Teeth touch teeth, the gaze breaks, blood flows where the bite is large, one eye slips aside, vaidyas refuse him, he drools, breathes heavily and speaks through the nose, pities himself, and everyone says pāpam. He trembles and suffers, his eyes redden, his neck sags and his navel moves. He cannot see his reflection in a mirror or in water, takes mild sun to be sharp, and sees Sūrya as without brightness. Of one who, unable to bear the pain, trembles in fear with reddened eyes, Kaśyapa says that he is bitten by a Kāla-sarpa and will die (Bhavishya Purāṇa, Brahma Parva, Chapter 34).
Kaśyapa teaches that the medicine Mṛta-sañjīvinī, which Rudra himself told, makes even one bitten by a Kāla-sarpa free of poison at once (Brahma Parva, Chapter 35).
Related terms: Sarpa · Mṛta-sañjīvinī · Kālarātrī (Fang)
Sources
- Bhavishya Purāṇa, Brahma Parva, Chapters 34–35