Ananta

Ananta · an-anta, “endless”

Ananta is a name used for more than one being or place in the Purāṇas and Itihāsas. Each is listed below with where it is told; choose the one you are looking for.

Devatās

• Śesha: Ananta or Anantaśesha, the great serpent who bears the Earth on his hood and is Bhagavān Vishṇu’s couch. Mahābhārata, Ādi Parva, Āstīka Parva, Chapter 36; Gaṇeśa Purāṇa, Upāsanā Khaṇḍa, Chapters 90–91; Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapters 11–12, 17, 19, 30, 32, 34, 59; Vāmana Purāṇa, Saro Māhātmya, Chapters 9, 26

People

• Ananta Muni: the brāhmaṇa who saw Vishṇumāyā as a whole second life lived inside one sea-bath. Kalki Purāṇa, Dvitīyāṃśa, Chapters 4–5

Named in passing

• Ananta the naraka: the last naraka named to Sukeśī in the list of the narakas, told on Naraka. Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapter 11
• Ananta the pramatha: one of the fifteen chief gaṇas the Yakshas gave to Skanda at his abhisheka, told on Kārttikeya’s Birth and Abhisheka. Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapter 31