Puranic Encyclopaedia: A Comprehensive Dictionary with Special Reference to the Epic and Puranic Literature c7.1308

c7.1308

5) *Sarpasatra.* (*Serpent yajña*). Janamejaya sought the advice of priests and Ṛtviks as to how best revenge could be taken against the serpents, and they advised him to perform the great Yajña called Sarpasatra. And, accordingly all necessary arrangements for the Satra were made, and the King began dīkṣā (Initiation) for it (to live for a few days under severe routine to prepare the author of the yajña for it). But the priest who made the arrangements looked into signs about the successful conclusion of the yajña and opined that it would be obstructed by a brahmin, and, the King, therefore, ordered strict steps to be taken against the entry of strangers into the Yāgaśālā.