Suta said: "Having heard from his mother of that curse, the best of serpents, Vasuki, fell to pondering how it might be averted. And he took counsel with all his brothers -- Airavata and the rest -- who were devoted to dharma. Vasuki said: 'This curse, as it was pronounced, is known to you, O sinless ones. Let us take counsel and strive to find deliverance from that curse. Against all [other] curses there is protection; but for those cursed by their mother, O serpents, there is, it seems, no release. Hearing that we are cursed before the imperishable, immeasurable [god] and before Truth itself, I feel a trembling in my heart. Surely our total destruction has been proclaimed: for the imperishable god (Brahma) did not stop her from cursing. Therefore let us take counsel for the well-being of the serpents -- that it might come to all of us, and let us not miss this hour. In counsel, perhaps we shall find a means of deliverance -- as the gods once [found] the hidden fire that had gone into a cave; let us think how to bring it about that Janamejaya's sacrifice, undertaken for the destruction of the serpents, not take place, or be thwarted.'"