An Index to the Names in the Mahabharata, with Short Explanations and a Concordance to the Bombay and Calcutta Editions and P. C. Roy's Translation c5.s4.203

c5.s4.203

[Gautamī-lubdhaka-vyāla-Mṛtyu-Kāla-samvāda(h)] ("the conversation between Gautamī, the fowler, the serpent, Death, and Time"). § 719b (Ānuçāsanik.): Bhīṣma said: An old brahman lady named Gautamī found her son dead, bitten by a serpent; an angry fowler, Arjunaka, bound the serpent with a string and brought it before Gautamī; she told him to release it, as brahmans do not harbour resentment, and there is no good in tormenting and killing an enemy; the fowler mentioned how Indra killed Vṛtra and Mahādeva destroyed a sacrifice. The serpent said that Mṛtyu had sent him on this errand. Mṛtyu (masc.) appeared and said that Kāla (Time) was the real promoter; Sūrya, etc. (a) are created and destroyed by Kāla. Kāla came and said that it's the child's karman (deeds in the past) that was the cause; this was approved of by Gautamī and the fowler.