23.21
tam mopayatam pratiyantu vipra
dvijopasrstah kuhakas taksako va
SYNONYMS
tam—him; ma—me; upayatam—surrendered; pratiyantu—you may know; viprah—O brahmanas; ganga—mother Ganges; ca—and; devi—the demigoddess; dhrta—offered; cittam—whose mind; ise—unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead; dvija-upasrstah—created by the brahmana; kuhakah—some trickery; taksakah—snake-bird; va—or; dasatu—let it bite; alam—never mind; gayata—chant; visnu-gathah—the holy names of Lord Visnu.’
" ’O brahmanas, just accept me as a completely surrendered soul, and let mother Ganges, the representative of the Lord, also accept me in that way, for I have already taken the lotus feet of the Lord into my heart.
Let the snakebird-or whatever magical thing the brahmana created-bite me at once.
I only desire that you all continue singing the deeds of Lord Visnu.’
PURPORT
This is a verse from Srimad-Bhagavatam (1.19.15) spoken by Maharaja Pariksit while he was sitting on the bank of the Ganges expecting to be bitten by a snakebird summoned by the curse of a brahmana boy named Srngi, who was the son of a great sage named Samika.
News of the curse was conveyed to the King, who prepared for his imminent death.
Many great saintly persons, sages, brahmanas, kings and demigods came to see him in his last days.
Maharaja Pariksit, however, was not at all afraid of being bitten by the snake-bird.
Indeed, he requested all the great personalities assembled to continue chanting the holy name of Lord Visnu.