In the Bible, the serpent represents the Devil. That it is scaly and crawls on its belly makes it something negative. It is a symbol of temptation, something that brings you down from the noble path laid down by God.
In the Bible, the serpent represents the Devil.u00a0 That it is scaly and crawls on its belly makes it something negative. It is a symbol of temptation, something that brings you down from the noble path laid down by God.
However, in the Indian tradition, the serpent takes an altogether different form.u00a0 The hooded serpent or Naga is an important creature in the mythological landscape. It is associated with fertility and wisdom. People visit serpent shrines seeking good harvest (fertility of the land) and children (fertility of the womb).
Illustration/ Devdutt Pattanaik
Nagas reside in a sub-terranean realm known as Bhogawati; bhog means pleasure and wati means land, indicating the land of the serpent is the land of the pleasure.u00a0 The entrance to the land of serpent is usually through a termite hill.u00a0 It is said to be made of gold and gems, perhaps leading to the folklore where the treasures are usually protected by hooded serpents. The king of the serpents is called Vasuki. There are many folktales of Vasuki falling in love with human women and vice versa, leading to complications both in the human world and the serpent world.
There are stories that Vasuki has a sister called Mansa. In Bengal, Mansa-devi is worshipped as the one who protects devotees from snakebite. Her husband, Jaratkaru, was a sage and from him, she had a son called Astika, who was half Naga and half human.u00a0 Astika plays a very important role in the epic Mahabharata.
The Nagas once lived in the forest known as Khanadvaprastha.u00a0 This land was a dense forest which was then given to the Pandavas as inheritance. On the instructions of Krishna this forest was burnt and destroyed to make way for the city of Indraprastha.u00a0 The Nagas never forgave the Pandavas for destroying the habitat. This was why the serpent killed Parikshit.
This epic story has led to the folk belief that serpents have great memory; even today, it is said if you kill a Cobra, its mate, male or female, will strike and kill you or a descendent in the family. This theme has been highlighted in many Hindi movies. Cobras are often cremated after being killed so that there is no trace of them left, preventing any possibility of a vendetta with other Nagas.
Folklore says after the destruction of the Khandava forest located in the North, the serpent came to the south, which is why serpent shrines are found across South India. In Kerala, there are temples cared for by traditional families of priestesses who are believed to have access to secret serpent lore. In Karnataka, they perform the Nagamandala ritual where the image of the serpent that is coiled is drawn on the floor and wiped out at the end of the ritual. This is done to bring in good luck and ward off malevolent spirits.
Although there are many varieties of snakes in India, the snake that is particularly worshipped is the Cobra.u00a0 The reason for this has to do with its hood, that enables it to be easily distinguished in its still and moving form. The hood is raised only when the Cobra is still and coiled.
In art, stillness is always represented by the hooded serpent. Movement is typically depicted showing two copulating serpents because unless a serpent moves, it cannot copulate. Thus, the serpent in its two forms -- hooded and copulating -- allows itself to be used to represent stillness and movement, the two fundamental principles of Indian philosophy.u00a0 The former represents the spirit and the later represents the matter. The former represents the other world of divinity, the latter the mundane everyday world.
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The author is Chief Belief Officer of the Future Group, and can be reached at devdutt@devdutt.com
The views expressed in this column are the individual's and don't represent those of the paper.
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