[Nagas] The word Naga comes from the Sanskrit, and nag is still the word for snake, especially the cobra, in most of the languages of India. In mythology, the category naga comprises all kinds of serpentine beings. Under this rubric are snakes, usually of the python kind and deities of the primal ocean; also spirits of earth and the realm beneath it, and finally, dragons. In Hindu mythology, nagas are serpent-beings living under the sea. Here we see the king and queen of water nagas worshipping Parshva, the Jain Tirthankara of the era before this one. All nagas are considered the offspring of the Rishi or sage, Kasyapa, the son of Marichi. Kasyapa is said to have had, by his twelve wives, diverse progeny besides nagas, including reptiles, birds, and all sorts of living beings. They are denizens of the netherworld city called Bhogavati. It is believed that ant-hills mark its entrance. Now the maternal naga ancestor, Kadru, once enslaved Vinata, mother of birds. To ransom her, the Garuda stole amrita, the elixir of immortality, from the gods. But before the serpents could even have a taste, Indra stole it back again. However, a few drops of amrita fell to earth. The serpents slid through it which is why their skin now has the capacity of renewal. Vasuki [also Basuki], the naga king, has the gem, Nagamani, on his head. It is a universal panacea [able to cure any disease] and is a bestower of fortune. Manasa Devi, the serpent goddess, is Vasuki's sister. She is mostly identified with the cobra, but she can cure any snakebite; indeed any adversity. A popular Indian film shows Manasa coming to visit a man in his prison cell. She drinks his offering of milk, then leaves, opening the cell for him on her way out. Important Serpents A serpent, Karkotaka, is worn like a necklace around Shiva's neck. Vishnu sleeps on the coils of the serpent Shesha (Duration) who is also called Ananta [Endless] on whose hoods rests the earth. Nagas were said to have raised their hoods to protect the Buddha, and other jinas [spiritual victors] like the saints of the Jain religion such as Parshva, pictured at the top of this page, who is the Jina before Mahavira. Because of its shape and its association with renewal, the serpent is a phallic symbol. This powerful emblem of fertility is thought to bring plentiful harvests and many children, images of nagas adorn houses and shrines and temples. It is said that when a king once banned snake worship, his kingdom suffered a drought, but the rains returned once the king himself placated Vasuki. At least 1500 years before Buddha Shakyamuni's enlightenment when Ananta or Muchilinda with his many heads sheltered him, the mythic image of nagas doing homage to a great yogi was well-known. Nagarjuna, the champion of Buddhist philosophy of India is traditionally portrayed with an umbrella or halo of a multi-headed serpent. This 'Second Buddha' who established the Madhyamika school of philosophy [not materialist/not nihilist/not idealist which teaches a process of co-dependant origination a.k.a. mutual arising of phenomena], the Indian mahasiddha, Nagarjuna, received his illuminating insights and tantric empowerment with the help of the nagas in the lake by which he meditated. In the Ch'an [Zen] tradition, Nagarjuna is considered the 14th Buddhist patriarch, and believed to have visited China. [Bodhidharma is the 28th]. Named after Acharya [master-teacher] Nagarjuna, Nagarjuna Sagar is a place 150 kms. from Hyderabad in Andhra Pradesh [state] in India. This is where Mahachaitya, the most sacred of stupas [Tib. cheurten] is located. The Brahmi inscription states that it contains relics of the Buddha. Many examples of the naga association with Buddha appear on the walls and along an avenue leading to the temple of Ankhor Wat in Kampuchea [Cambodia] and also in Buddhist temples in Shri Lanka [Ceylon]. There are serpents in Tibet, and nagas play a role in the symbolism of Tibetan Buddhism and in Tibetan mythology. They are called Lu, and so Nagarjuna is known as Lu-trub. The traditional life-story [Tibetan: namthar] of Niguma, wife of Naropa, begins during the time of one of the earliest Buddhas in a region covered by water ruled by a great Naga King. This Naga was an accomplished and compassionate disciple of that Buddha and gave his permission for the miraculous drying up the water for the purpose of erecting a great temple and monastery. A bustling city grew up around these which acquired a certain reputation, and came to be called The Land of Great Magic. This is the place that Niguma was born. Niguma developed the powerful tantric techniques referred to as the Five Dharmas of Niguma. The best known is called the Dream Yoga of Niguma. Her disciple, Naljor, is considered the head of the Shangpa Kagyu denomination of Tibetan Buddhism. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Interestingly, the Mayan [Mexican] language uses the same word, nagual or nahual to refer to the shaman or the initiatory spirit. The nahual first appeared publicly in Carlos Casteneda's Don Juan: A Yaqui Way of Knowledge where Mexican esoteric knowledge was purported to be introduced for the first time to the world. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Nagas link heaven, earth and water The winged naga is an ancient Egyptian form. This is Uazet or Wadjet. Visit her at All About Serpents The Creator-goddess of ancient China, Neu-kwa [Nu Kua or Nu Gua], is depicted in this typical naga form: Her upper-body is that of a woman, but it melts into her serpent lower-half. After creation, during which she made humans, she put down a rebellion against heavenly order. When the dying rebel chief shook the heavenly pillars, she restored the sky by melting turquoises. Nu Kua or HuaShi also used the toes of the cosmic tortoise as markers for the compass' directions. She restored the land at the time of the Flood with the ash from burnt reeds. Since she is credited with establishing the custom of marriage, she is considered the source of human order, too. The queen of all nagas, she combines and embodies creativity, cosmic order, water, earth and sky. In the great Indian epic, Mahabharata, the nagas inhabit Patala. Ulupi, daughter of their king, married Arjuna, the hero and leader of the Pandava brothers whose charioteer is Krishna. The nagas fought on the side of the ashuras in the Great War. In the area of Pakistan that is the Uddyana of legend, a version of the story has consequences for farmers. The champion, Apulala [cf. Apsu of Mesopotamia] of the nagas in Patala, a watery region under the earth, are generally able to keep the wicked dragons [cf. Tiamat of Mesopotamia] from overdoing the seasonal rains. Thanks to his moderating capabilities, the farmers prospered. In gratitude each family offered him a bit of grain as tribute. After some time several of the inhabitants of the place began to forego the yearly offering. The Naga became angry and prayed that he might become a poisonous dragon so that he could drench the countryside in rain and wind. So it is that at the end of his life he became the dragon of that country. To this day Rajas (local princes) in the Hindu Kush are said to be able to control the elements ... . http://sorrel.humboldt.edu/~geog309i/ideas/dragons/naga.html In Tibetan Buddhism, these water nagas are keepers of secret books of wisdom. They can be generous, but also have the ability to let loose diseases and epidemics. They may be propitiated with suitable offerings. See a pair of naginis; one bears jewels, the other, a bodhi leaf which may represent sacred writings. Offerings are at the bottom foreground of the painting. The type of European dragon known as the guivre is one of this type of naga. It can cause disease with its breath, but it has the curious characteristic of being so embarrassed by nudity that it will flee from the sight. Of the five guardians of the cardinal points, the Lord of the West is the naga king, Virupaksha. Nagas are also thought to guard the five lakes and four oceans of the world. In Myanmar [Burma], a serpent-tailed spirit is known as a nat. Nats are nature spirits associated with trees and other sacred places. Also in Burma, the West is the direction of the Nat who is the naga-master of fortune. There is a water spirit of the Baltic known as a Nak. One wonders whether the name is a simple case of a linguistic transposition. According to the Puranas, source of much of Indian mythology, Nagadvipa [some translate this, Dragon Island] is one of the seven sectors of Bharatavarsha, that is, India. Mme. H. P. Blavatsky [fl.1900] co-founder of the founder of Theosophical movement, thought: When the Brahmans invaded India they "found a race of wise men, half-gods, half-demons", says the legend, men who were the teachers of other races and became likewise the instructors of the Hindus and the Brahmans themselves. Nagpur is justly believed to be the surviving relic of Nagadwipa. Now Nagpur is virtually in Rajputana, near Oodeypore [Udaypur], Ajmere, etc. And is it not well known that there was a time when Brahmans went to learn Secret Wisdom from the Rajputs? Moreover a tradition states that Apollonius of Tyana was instructed in magic by the Nagas of Kashmir. http://www.theosophy-nw.org/theosnw/ctg/n-nh.htm ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Naga as Mentor and Guru There is some similarity between the role played by centaurs in classical [Greco-Roman] mythology and that of the nagas. For example, the wisest and kindest of the half-man half-horse centaurs, Chiron, tutors Achilles in the art of music and Asclepius in the healing arts. Similarly, it is believed that the coming Buddha, Maitreya, is currently a bodhisattva perfecting himself in the Tushita heavens, sitting in or near a naga tree, and studying with naga teachers to prepare for his full enlightenment on earth which will take place under a tree guarded, just as it was in the days of Buddha Shakyamuni, by a naga. Tradition has it that Buddha Shakyamuni took rebirth in the naga realm just before his last incarnation on earth. Bodhisattvas of the 9th and 10th levels are reborn there in order to obtain empowerments and hidden teachings. By extension, someone reborn in any of the naga realms has the potential of reaching buddhahood in a short time without the need for any intervening rebirth. These so-called naga-buddhas are invoked by practitioners to grant special insight and siddhis [abilities]. We are often blinded to the meaning of Biblical mythology, since the interpretation has been done for us for a very long time in such a way as to accord with very particular views. Consider the encouragement offered the Mother of Life in her quest for enlightenment, by the naga inhabiting the Tree in the Garden of Eden. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Miscellaneous References to Nagas In the first century CE, the kingdom known as Funan, though at the time it was called Tepnoni, was founded in what is now Kampuchea [Cambodia] by Kaundinya, a Hindu. Legend tells how he met and married Soma, daughter of the naga king, introducing the Sanskrit language and Hindu customs and laws. This is said to be the oldest state in southeast Asia. It is important to realize, though, that the designation Naga is given to certain aboriginal tribes of the area. For example, the Naga tribal people of the foothills of the Himalayas. Since legend has it that nagas washed Gautama Buddha at his birth, protected him in life and guarded his relics after death, some believe that this points to the term 'Naga' as referring to, if not the hill people, than a class of adepts or yogis. And there are many tales of the conversion of Nagas to Buddhism, including the account of a naga of a lake in a forest near Rajagriha who was convinced of the benefit of Buddha-dharma. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A female naga is called nagini. The word is often used, though, for images of women, or a goddess, sheltered or wrapped in the coils of serpents. This Madhubani folk painting, however, is of a true nagini. www.people.virginia.edu/~pm9k/tasvir/painting.html