Aum Gung Ganapathaye
Namah
Namo tassa
bhagavato arahato samma-sambuddhassa
Homage to The
Blessed One, Accomplished and Fully Enlightened
In the
name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful
Nagas
A Collection of Articles, Notes and References
References
(Revised: Saturday, October 21, 2006)
References
Edited by
An Indian Tantric
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By
any other name would smell as sweet.
- William
Shakespeare
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8
"... Freely you received, freely give”.
-
Matthew 10:8 :: New American Standard Bible (NASB)
1 “But mark this: There will be terrible times in
the last days.
2 People will be lovers of
themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient
to their parents, ungrateful, unholy,
3 without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without
self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good,
4 treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers
of pleasure rather than lovers of God—
5 having
a form of godliness but denying its power. Have
nothing to do with them.
6 They are the kind who
worm their way into homes and gain control over
weak-willed women, who are
loaded down with sins and are swayed
by all kinds of evil desires,
7 always learning but never able to acknowledge the truth.
8 Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so also these
men oppose the truth--men of depraved minds, who, as
far as the faith is concerned, are rejected.
9 But
they will not get very far because, as in the case of those men, their
folly will be clear to everyone.”
-
2 Timothy 3:1-9 :: New International Version (NIV)
6 As he saith also in another place, Thou art a priest
for ever after the order of Melchisedec.
-
Hebrews 5:6 :: King James Version (KJV)
Therefore, I say:
Know your
enemy and know yourself;
in a hundred battles,
you will never be defeated.
When you
are ignorant of the enemy but know yourself,
your chances of
winning or losing are equal.
If ignorant both of your
enemy and of yourself,
you are sure to be defeated in every battle.
-- Sun Tzu, The Art of War, c. 500bc
There are two ends not to be served by a wanderer.
What are these two? The pursuit of desires and of the
pleasure which springs from desire, which is base, common, leading to rebirth,
ignoble, and unprofitable; and the pursuit of pain and hardship,
which is grievous, ignoble, and unprofitable.
- The Blessed
One, Lord Buddha
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A Brief Word on Copyright
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References
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If the link is active, do cross-check/validate/confirm the
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References
Kamat's Potpourri. (
http://www.kamat.com/kalranga/prani/snakes/faq.htm
Ourania, Soror. Naga: The Serpent. Lodge Ramsey, QBLH
http://www.thelema.net/ramsey/naga.html
All About Nagas
http://www.cyberium.net/naga/facts.html
Mucalinda
http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mucilinda
Naga - From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naga
Nagaradja (Lhudjal) - The Serpent King and Master of Tantra
http://www.iol.ie/~taeger/tengabio/nagaraj1.html
Snake Worship.
http://www.gurjari.net/ico/Mystica/html/snake_worship.htm
The Lukhang:
A hidden temple in
http://asianart.com/articles/baker/1.html
http://www.templenet.com/Kerala/mannaarsaala.html
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Educational Copy of Some of the
References
FOR EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY
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Reference
Kamat's Potpourri. (
http://www.kamat.com/kalranga/prani/snakes/faq.htm
Q Are there snake charmers in
A Yes.
There are snake charmers all over
The snake charmers also exhibit other types of snakes like pythons, and sometimes arrange Snake Vs. Mongoose fights for the audience.
Q Why are snakes worshipped in
A Snakes have a very important role in Indian mythologies and beliefs (you can see their depiction in this section at Kamat's Potpourri).
Snakes are both feared and
revered in
Q Are the Indian snakes poisonous?
A There are both poisonous as well as non-poisonous snakes in India; the viper, the krait, the cobra, and the king cobra have venom and are deadly. The Indian children are taught to identify these snakes in the schools and also to provide first aid in the case of bites.
Q How does the snake charmer make the cobra dance?
A The snake charmer uses a blow horn to excite the cobra which opens its hood in its defense. The charmer then makes rhythmic, elegant motions with the horn, which is correspondingly followed by the hood of the cobra.
Interestingly, the cobra cannot hear the horn, and instead follows the motion of the horn. (so one could actually take a stick and move it rhythmically in front of the cobra and it would do the same!)
Q Why are cobras so fascinating?
A One must study the elegance and fiery lifestyles of cobras (biological name Naga naja) and king cobras (Naja hannah), to understand the royal and divine status attributed to this animal. The cobras lead an extremely strong family oriented life, with the males taking an unusually large role in the raising of the newborn. The king cobras can make love for hours together, making them among the most potent of the entire male-kind. The fearsome defense of the male cobra can scare away any animal and an venomous attack surely will kill the enemy.
The Indians attributed these
qualities of the king cobras to a leader or emperor, and in
Q What are some of myths and
stories involving snakes in
A A cobra decorates the the beehive of Lord Shiva
A snake decorates the stomach of Shiva's son Ganapati
Lord Vishnu uses a snake as a vehicle, bed and a sofa!
A large serpent was used to churn the ocean to produce ambrosia (Samudra Mathana)
Parikhit, a descendant of the Pandava kings was very afraid of the snakes and took great pains to avoid them. However, Takshaka the snake took the from of a worm in a fruit and killed the king. Parikshit's son Janamejaya, then undertook a mass sacrifice of the snakes (Naaga-Yajna) and wanted to eliminate all the snakes from the earth. At this juncture, the divine forces intervened and stopped the destruction of the species.
The Naga's
are a tribe living prominently in the State of
When an evil serpent Kaliya troubled the village cows,
(Reference: Kamat's Potpourri. (
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Reference
Ourania, Soror. Naga: The Serpent. Lodge Ramsey, QBLH
http://www.thelema.net/ramsey/naga.html
The word Naga is rooted in Sanskrit and means
"Serpent". In the East Indian pantheon it is connected with the
Serpent Spirit and the Dragon Spirit. It has an equivalency to the Burmese Nats, or god-serpents. In the Esoteric Tradition it is
synonymous for Adepts, or Initiates. In
Nagarjuna of
India, for example, is shown with an aura, or halo,
of seven serpents which is an indication of a very high degree of Initiation. The
symbolism of the seven serpents, usually cobras, are
also on Masonic aprons of certain systems in the Buddhistic
ruins of
In the Western traditions we find the sae ubiquity for the Naga, or
Serpent. One simple example is the Ancient Greek Goddess, Athena. She is known
as a warrior Goddess as well as the Goddess of Wisdom; her symbol being the
Serpent as displayed on her personal shield. Of course, in Genesis the Serpent is a Naga
who instructs the new infant (humanity) in what is called the Knowledge of Good
and Evil. The Christian church has, unfortunately transformed the
Initiate-Teacher into a tempting and negative demon-character. An apocryphal
tradition says that Apollonius of Tyana, while on a
visit to
Naga is one of a handful of rare words surviving the loss of the first universal language. In Buddhism, Wisdom has always been ties, symbollically, to the figure of the Serpent. In the Western Tradition it can be found as used by the Christ in the Gospel of Saint Matthew (x.16), "Be ye therefore as serpents, and harmless as doves."
In all mythological language the snake is also an emblem of immortality. Its endless representation with its tail in its mouth (Ouroboros), and the constant renewal of its skin and vigor, enliven teh symbols of continued youth and eternity.
The Serpent's reputation for positive medicinal and/or life-preserving qualities have also contributed to the honors of the Serpent as STILL seen by the employment of the Caduceus. To this very day, the Hindus are taught that the end of every Universal Manifestation (Kalpa) all things are re-absorbed into Deity and the the interval between "creations." He reposes upon the Serpant Sesha (Duration) who is called Ananta, or, Endlessness. (See Ophiolatreiaby Hargrave Jennings)
(Reference: Ourania, Soror. Naga: The Serpent.
Lodge Ramsey, QBLH.)
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All About Nagas
http://www.cyberium.net/naga/facts.html
This is what the Clairvision Books webpage has to say about nagas:
In Hindu mythology, the Nagas are snake-shaped beings who live in the underworlds
and are the keepers of mighty powers of
consciousness.
Grandpa (No relation) discribes us as:
Human-headed
snakes that appear frequently in myth and legend. They sprung from Kadru, wife of Kasyapa. They lived
in the underworld where they rule as semi-devine beings. The Naga
and Nagina are genii kings and queens. Naga women can marry humans. The
Nagas are enemies of the Garuda bird (a mythical symbolic bird in the
Hindu religion).
On the What Is A Dragon? page they say:
These are pseudo-dragons who are
usually portrayed as having a human head and serpentine body, and no wings. The
history of these creatures seem to come from
This Naga page says:
The Naga are thought to be semi-divine snakes with human faces and serpents tales. It is in the Patala, a watery region under the earth that they reside.
And last but not least The Collation of Theosophical Glossaries, Compiled by Scott J. Osterhage, has all of this on nagas:
TG Naga
(Sk). Literally
"Serpent". The name in the Indian Pantheon
of the Serpent or Dragon Spirits, and of the inhabitants of Patala,
hell. But as Patala means the antipodes, and
was the name given to America by the ancients, who knew and visited that
continent before Europe had ever heard of it, the term is probably akin to the
Mexican Nagals the (now) sorcerers and medicine men.
The Nagas are the Burmese Nats,
serpent-gods, or "dragon demons". In
Esotericism, however, and as already stated, this is a nick-name for the
"wise men" or adepts. In
WG Naga,
a serpent; a tree; a mountain; the sun; the number seven; a symbol of wisdom;
an Initiate. GH Naga The
word means a snake, especially a cobra; but in the Mahabharata it refers to a
race of beings inhabiting Patala, the daughter of
whose king, Ulupi married Arjuna.
"But as Patala means the antipodes, and was the
name given to America by the ancients, who knew and visited that continent
before Europe had ever heard of it, the term is probably akin to the Mexican Nagals the (now) sorcerers and medicine men."
(Theosophical Glossary, H. P. Blavatsky, p. 222) One
myth relates that the Nagas were the offspring of the
Rishi Kasyapa (the son of Marichi q.v.). Regarding this H. P. Blavatsky
wrote: "What is the fable, the genealogy and origin of Kasyapa,
with his twelve wives, by whom he had a numerous and diversified progeny of nagas (serpents), reptiles, birds, and all kinds of living
things, and who was thus the father of all kinds of animals, but a veiled
record of the order of evolution in this round?" (Secret Doctrine, II, p.
253) Another tale represents the Nagas as a
semi-divine race (the race of Kadru) inhabiting the
waters, or the city of
(Reference: All
About Nagas.)
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXReference
Mucalinda
http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mucilinda
(Redirected from Mucilinda)
In Hinduism and Buddhism, Mucalinda is a naga, a snake-man, who protected the Buddha from the elements before his enlightenment.
(Reference: Mucalinda.)
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Reference
Naga - From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naga
In Hinduism, the nagas ("snake") are an ancient race of
snake-humans that brought fertility to their venerators; they were especially
popular in southern
(Reference: Naga - From Wikipedia, the
free encyclopedia.)
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Reference
Nagaradja (Lhudjal) - The Serpent King and Master of Tantra
http://www.iol.ie/~taeger/tengabio/nagaraj1.html
- Phu -
The Nagaradja's
are mythological serpent kings which rule the various cosmic oceans.
Traditionally there are 10 major Nagaradjas ruling
the 4 main directions (east, west, south, north), the
4 sub-directions (east-west, north-east etc.) as well as zenith and nadir.
According to the elements (east=water=blue, north=air=green etc.) and mixing of
the elements (bluegreen, yellowred
etc.) they have a different color. Their main attributes are precious stones
which they wear in their crowns and which symbolize their vast magic potential.
Their mythological enemies are the garudas
(primordial birds) which try to steal those stones. Because of their strong
magical powers (siddhis), their great tantric knowledge, and to keep
them in a peaceful mood (they quickly can change into wrathful emanations,
called Nagarakshas),
some tantric rituals start with inviting the 10 big naga-kings by the intonation of the so-called 10 long Phu's. PHU is the seed-syllable
for all nagaradjas. The short mantra is
(Reference: Nagaradja
(Lhudjal) - The Serpent King and Master of Tantra.)
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXReference
Snake Worship.
http://www.gurjari.net/ico/Mystica/html/snake_worship.htm
The snake ranks sacred second only to the cow. Because of its swift and gliding movement, scaly skin, hypnotic eyes and poisonous bite, it is feared and therefore the subject of myth and legend.
…
Snake worship forms an important part of mythology, especially in southern India, and the Atharva Veda speaks of this practice.
Snakes or nagas are usually represented as gigantic cobras with several hoods, or with a human head and serpent body. They are considered the kings of all other snakes, capable of assuming beguiling human forms. They live in Patala loka and their capital city, Bhogvati, is the richest and the most beautiful city in the whole universe.
…
Eight pre-eminent snakes from mythology are:
Each snake is worshipped on a particular day at different times of the year.
…
Indeed snakes are extremely
popular objects of veneration in south
The fifth day of any lunar month is considered auspicious for snake worship. According to the Bhavishya Purana, Kadru cursed her serpent-sons to be consumed by fire for disobeying her. Brahma, however, softened the curse and sent them to live in the nether regions. This happened on the fifth of the month. Since their lives were spared on the fifth of the month, this day is considered auspicious for snake worship.
Snake festivals are held at various times of the year, depending on local customs. The main features of snake worship are bathing idols of snakes in milk and sometimes blood, offering milk to the idols, or pouring milk into snake holes.
Nagapanchami,
on the fifth day of Craven, is an important snake festival. On this day, snakes
are worshipped to gain knowledge, wealth, and fame. Snakes are drawn on wooden
boards with red sandalwood paste. These depictions are worshipped, and milk is
offered to them. Manasadevi is also worshipped on this day. Incense, flowers,
milk, and ghee are offered to her, and neem leaves are
eaten by the worshipper, as a guard against snakebite.
(Reference:
Snake
Worship.)
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Reference
The Lukhang: A hidden temple in
http://asianart.com/articles/baker/1.html
Lu, Nagas,
are serpent-like, aquatic spirits believed to be the guardians of earthly
treasure as well as spiritual knowledge. This female Naga
holds a flaming norbu, or wish-fulfilling jewel - a symbol of the untapped
powers of the human mind.
(Reference: The Lukhang:
A hidden temple in Tibet.)
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Reference
http://www.templenet.com/Kerala/mannaarsaala.html
The word Sarpa
Kaavu - meaning 'Abode of the snake' is a common phrase in Kerala. Many ancient homes have a small corner of their
yard set aside as an abode for serpents. Evidence of earlier forms of nature worship that
existed in this part of this world is seen in the form of these sarpa kaavus.
Mannaarsaala, near Haripad,
near
The Mannaarsaala temple
dedicated to Naga Devatas
is located in the middle of a large grove dedicated to serpents. There are
several hundred granite images of snakes covering this area. The central temple
contains images of Nagaraja the king of serpents and
his consort Sarpayakshi. Some of the
many images are said to have been brought and left here by families who were
unable to maintain the snake groves within their homes.
Worship services are performed by a female priest
who resides within the confines of the grove.The priestess adheres to austere
lifestyle. From the
moment of assuming priesthood, the priestess is considered to be a bride of the
snake king Nagaraja. Her very residence is considered
to be a temple,
and it is believed that a guardian serpent dwells in the cellar of the home.
Legend has it that when Parasurama
reclaimed Kerala, the new inhabitants of the land waged
a war with the then
inhabitants Nagas. Parasuraama intervened
and decreed that a small corner of each yard be dedicated to the original Naga inhabitants of the land and hence the concept of a Sarpa Kaavu.
Interestingly, it is believed that the priests at Mannarsaala are descendants of a family that escaped the
ravaging fire at the Khandava forest set by the Pandava princes. It is also believed that all of the
serpents that escaped the fire settled down in the grove at Mannaarsaala. (The fire at the Khandava forest is enacted at the Aranmula
temple).
Festivals: The annual festival here is celebrated in
the month of Libra on the Ayilyam asterism. This
festival witnesses a procession of images of serpent Gods to the residence of
the priest.
Beliefs: It is believed that childless couples are blessed with
progeny upon the completion of a form of worship where a small bell metal
vessel offered to the temple.
(Reference: http://www.templenet.com/Kerala/mannaarsaala.html
)
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“Thou belongest to That Which Is Undying, and not
merely to time alone,” murmured the Sphinx, breaking its
muteness at last. “Thou art eternal, and not
merely of the vanishing flesh. The soul in man cannot be killed, cannot
die. It waits, shroud-wrapped, in thy heart, as I
waited, sand-wrapped, in thy world. Know thyself, O mortal! For
there is One within
thee, as in all men, that comes and stands at the bar and bears
witness that there IS a God!”
(Reference: Brunton, Paul. (1962) A Search in Secret
Amen