Takshaka and Parikshit

Sauti continued this tale.
In the land there was a sage who knew how to combat snakes. Seeing this as an opportunity to earn wealth, he decided to go and meet the king.
On the way, he met an old man. This old man was actually Takshaka, in disguise. The old man asked the sage where he was coming from. The sage said he was going to protect the king from Takshaka. The old man said Takshaka was very powerful and it would not be possible to combat him. The sage said, he knew mantras that would not let Takshaka come close. He also said if Takshaka did somehow bite, he had a way to counter that.
The old man disclosed his identity. He was angry at the audacity of the sage. He asked the sage to go home, as he would be unsuccessful. To prove himself, Takshak bit a tree nearby. The tree was reduced to ashes. The sage uttered some mantras. The ashes transformed into a sapling. The sapling began growing till it reached the same height as the tree.
Takshaka told the sage, Parikshita had to die because of the curse on him. If it was wealth that the sage, Takshaka promised him more than what he could expect from the king.
The sage said he was poor and needed  wealth. If he would get that, then he did not need to go to the king.
Going to the king, he saw the house on the pedestal and saw people going to the king, with gifts of fruits.
Takshaka disguised himself as a worm and hid himself inside a fruit, thereby he was able to avoid the herbs that would repel snakes.
The king took that fruit in hand, incidentally and saw a small worm. He said he had no worry. This was the evening of the seventh day. If he passed this evening, he would be free from the curse.

The worm suddenly changed itself into Takshak and dug his fangs into the king's body. The king died. Takshak vanished.

Sorrow engulfed Hastinapur. The ministers decided to crown Janmajeya, Parikshit's son as the king of Hastinapur.

Curse of Parikshit

In the clan of Pandavas was born a king called Parikshit. One when out hunting he lost his way., Tired and thirsty he kept roaming around. He suddenly saw a person sitting on the ground. 'I was hunting and a deer escaped from me. Do you know where the animal went', the king asked this person.
This person was a sage who had taken a vow of silence, something which was not known to the king. The king was offended. He saw a dead snake lying on the ground. Picking that by his bow, he placed it on the sage and left.
The sage had a son called Sringi. Sringi had a friend called Kusha. Kusha pointed out to Sringi the antics of the king. Sringi in anger, took some water in his hand and cursed the king. 'Within seven days from today, the naga Takshaka will bite you and will die'.
The sage breaking his vow got up and said what the king did was out of ignorance. You have cursed a great king and thus you have also lost all the virtue that you had attained so far through your prayers and meditation.
The sage then called a disciple of his and asked him to go and inform the king about the curse.
The king asked the disciple to convey to the sage, that he was very hurt by his own actions.

He then called his ministers to see if there was a way to avoid this curse. The ministers told the king to create a house on the top of a tall pillar. When the house was built, the ministers had those herbs placed all around the house that would repel snakes.