Parikshit is renowned for his righteous reign and gains reputation as a royal sage, a raja rishi. He places faith in Krishna and never takes to heart the previous prophecy that he would die of snake bite as per the curse of a Brahmin boy. But such is the power of Kali and the efficacy of the prophecy that the king is led into a situation that he misreads inadvertently which brings about the curse leading to his death, pointed out Sri K. Srinivasan in a discourse.
Once Parikshit goes hunting and finds that his arrow has pierced a deer which runs away. So as he chases the deer he enters the ashram of a sage who is steeped in meditation. The king asks for water and when he does not get a response, he becomes angry.
Here Parikshit does not realise that the sage is in meditation. He fails to respect the sage, and gives in to his ego that he is a king. Though a wise and kind ruler, he forgets the truth that it is wrong to disturb anyone in penance and that such transgressions can bring about curses. At the moment when he is tired and thirsty, he feels he deserves to be attended immediately.
So the great Parikshit who had subdued Kali is unable to escape its clutches. Getting deluded and indulging in wrong acts is common in Kali Yuga. He picks up a dead serpent and flings it across at the sage very casually and returns to his palace. The sage is not aware of the dead serpent that has landed on his neck.
The sage's son Shringi who was playing nearby is told about this insult to his father. The boy though young has inherent spiritual fervour and in a moment of anger curses that the serpent Takshaka should bite and kill the king who has disgraced his father.
