Mahabharata 1.35.13

1.35.13

jaratkāruryadā bhāryāmicchedvarayituṃ prabhuḥ |
śīghrametya mamākhyeyaṃ tannaḥ śreyo bhaviṣyati || 13 ||

"Sauti continued, 'Then the king of the snakes, Vasuki, afflicted with the curse of his mother, hearing these words of the Grandsire, and intending to bestow his sister of the Rishi Jaratkaru, commanded all the serpents, a large numbers of whom were ever attentive to their duties, to watch the Rishi Jaratkaru, saying, 'When the lord Jaratkaru will ask for a wife, come immediately and inform me of it. The weal of our race depends upon it.'"