Nāgas in the Bhavishya Purāṇa

Nāga · nāga, “the serpent being”

Kapilā has other meanings too: see all meanings of Kapilā. Dhṛtarāshṭra has other meanings too: see all meanings of Dhṛtarāshṭra.

The Nāgas, also called sarpas, pannagas and uragas, are the serpent beings, the sons of Kadrū. The Bhavishya Purāṇa gives them one of its fullest teachings in the Pañcamī Kalpa of its Brahma Parva, where Sumantu Muni tells King Śatānīka how they received their mother’s śāpa, how Brahmā promised them Āstīka, and why the pañcamī, the fifth lunar day, is dear to them. It then gives the teaching that Kaśyapa Prajāpati spoke to Gautama on Meru: the birth of snakes, their fangs and the eight reasons they bite, the marks of the bitten and of the messenger, the seven speeds of poison, the medicine for each stage, and Rudra‘s own medicine, the Mṛta-sañjīvinī, for one who lies as good as dead.

The great nāgas stand in many lists of this Purāṇa: the eight who give freedom from fear, Vāsuki, Takshaka, Kāliya, Maṇibhadra, Airāvata, Dhṛtarāshṭra, Karkoṭaka and Dhanañjaya; the twelve worshipped in the twelve months; the rulers of the directions; and those who go with Bhagavān Sūrya in each pair of months. Nāgas guard Bhagavān Sūrya with weapons in their hands, dwell in the pātālas, honour Bhagavān Śiva on Kailāsa, and receive milk, bali, tarpaṇa and pūjā in the rites of the Brahma, Madhyama and Uttara Parvas. They give safety to those who honour them, and the families of such people have no fear of serpents.

Source: Bhavishya Purāṇa, Brahma Parva, Chapters 32–36

Their creation and their place in the worlds

The Virāṭ-purusha created the human, nāga and kinnara races and the pitṛ-gaṇa. Among the beings born of the womb-covering are the races of serpents, with elephants, wild animals and cattle. Kaśyapa, telling the birth of the sarpas as Śiva told it, says that in former times Brahmā created the grahas and the nāgas, many of each.

The pannagas are one of the eight jātis of devayonis, with the devas, dānavas, gandharvas, yakshas, rākshasas, bhūtagaṇas and vidyādharas.

The Madhyama Parva says that Vāsuki dwells in the pātālas with Kālanemi, Vainateya, Namuci, Śaṅkukarṇa and many nāgas. In the Uttara Parva Śrī Kṛshṇa tells Yudhishṭhira that nāgas such as Vāsuki live in the seven pātāla-lokas with dānavas such as Hiraṇyāksha, and that the whole moving and unmoving world, with its suras, humans, kinnaras, nāgas, yakshas and siddhas, abides in the belly of Nārāyaṇa.

Source: Bhavishya Purāṇa, Brahma Parva, Chapters 2, 34, 125; Madhyama Parva, Bhāga 1, Chapters 2–3; Uttara Parva, Chapter 2

The śāpa of Kadrū and the promise of Āstīka

King Śatānīka asked Sumantu Muni how the nāgas received their mother’s śāpa, why it was given, and by whose grace they were freed from it.

Sumantu Muni said that when the devas and dānavas churned the ocean, a white jewel of horses named Uccaiḥśravas arose along with the amṛta. Seeing it, Kadrū, the mother of the nāgas, said to her co-wife Vinatā that the hairs of its tail were black. Vinatā answered that this king of horses was white all over. Kadrū said, “With just one eye I see this horse with a black tail. Do you with two eyes not see it? Then make a wager.” Vinatā said that if Kadrū showed black hairs in the tail she would be her dāsī, and if not, Kadrū must be hers. So they wagered, and in anger each went to her own place.

When Vinatā was sleeping, Kadrū thought of a deceitful plan. She called her sons and told them to take the form of black hairs in the tail of the white horse, so that she could defeat Vinatā. The nāgas understood the deceit and said, “This is adharma. We cannot obey your word.”

Kadrū in anger pronounced the śāpa: “May Agni burn you.” After much time, she said, Janamejaya of the Pāṇḍava line would perform on earth the Sarpa-yāga, which is hard to do, and in that yāga Agni Deva of long flames would swallow them. Then she fell silent. The nāgas did not know what to do and were in grief.

Seeing Vāsuki‘s grief, Brahmā consoled him. He said that a brāhmaṇa named Jaratkāru, born in the Yāyāvara kula, radiant and a treasury of tapas, would marry Vāsuki’s sister, who bore the same name. They would have a renowned son named Āstīka, who with his skill in speech would stop the Sarpa-yāga and receive praise. Vāsuki must give her without hesitation, and whatever the brāhmaṇa wanted in that forest must be done. Vāsuki bowed to Brahmā and did as he was told. All the serpents, hearing Brahmā’s words, opened their eyes wide with joy and felt they had been born again.

Sumantu reminded the king that his own father Janamejaya began that great yāga. Śrī Kṛshṇa had told Dharmarāja long before that the terrible Sarpa-yāga would take place after a hundred years, that the poison-filled serpents who ignored their mother’s word and did adharma would fall by crores, night and day, into the homa kuṇḍas, and that Āstīka would come like a boat for the nāgas sinking in that blazing ocean of fire. By his wisdom Āstīka would turn away Agni, the yajamāna Janamejaya and then the ṛtvijas from their undertaking.

It was on pañcamī that Brahmā told the serpents about Āstīka. So this tithi is very dear to them, and Brahmā gave it as Nāga Pañcamī, which gives joy to the nāgas. By their mother’s śāpa the serpents burn day and night, and when they are bathed with water mixed with cow’s milk their burning is relieved.

Source: Bhavishya Purāṇa, Brahma Parva, Chapter 32

The great nāgas

The eight who give abhaya

Vāsuki, Takshaka, Kāliya, Maṇibhadra, Airāvata, Dhṛtarāshṭra, Karkoṭaka and Dhanañjaya are great serpents who give abhaya (freedom from fear) to living beings.

The twelve of the months

Twelve best of nāgas are worshipped in order in the twelve months: Ananta, Vāsuki, Śaṅkha, Padma, Kambala, Karkoṭaka, Aśvatara, Dhṛtarāshṭra, Śaṅkhapāla, Kāliya, Takshaka and Piṅgala.

The nāgas and the grahas

Kaśyapa pairs the nāgas with the grahas: Ananta with Sūrya, Vāsuki with Candra, Takshaka with Kuja, Karkoṭaka with Budha, Padma with Bṛhaspati, Mahāpadma with Śukra, and the two, Kulika and Śaṅkhapāla, with Śanaiścara. So that each day and night has its divisions, the first pāda is Śaṅkhapāla and the second pāda is Kulika.

Their gaze, direction and sign

Kaśyapa tells how each great nāga appears. Ananta looks forward, Vāsuki to the left, Takshaka to the right and Karkoṭaka behind. Padma keeps turning this way and that. Mahāpadma is bathing. Śaṅkhapāla keeps making signs again and again. Kulika, the best of serpents, does all of these.

Their varṇa, colour and origin

Ananta and Kapila are Brāhmaṇas, Śaṅkha and Vāsuki are Kshatriyas, Mahāpadma and Takshaka are Vaiśyas, and Padma and Karkoṭaka are Śūdras.

Ananta and Kulika are white and born of Brahmā. Vāsuki and Śaṅkhapāla are red and born of Agni. Takshaka and Mahāpadma are slightly yellow and born of Indra. Padma and Karkoṭaka are black and born of Yama.

Source: Bhavishya Purāṇa, Brahma Parva, Chapters 32, 34, 36

With Bhagavān Sūrya

The Brahma Parva shows the nāgas above all in the service of Bhagavān Sūrya. He stays with gandharvas, apsarās, serpents and rākshasas, two months with each group in turn. The nāgas who go with him are these:

Ādiśesha, Ananta and Vāsuki, with a thousand nāgas equal to them, travel on his ratha. Sarpas and rākshasas follow him and give protection, and two chief pannagas stay with him at his rising and his setting.

Nārada told Sāmba what he saw in Sūryaloka: Bhagavān Sūrya surrounded by gandharvas, apsarās, nāgas, yakshas, rākshasas and others, with yakshas, rākshasas and nāgas standing armed to guard him. In the abhisheka of Bhagavān Sūrya the prayer asks that the nāgas bathe him with the fifth kalaśa, filled with water falling from the peaks of the golden mountain. In his Viśvarūpa the nāgas are in the armpits.

When Viśvakarmā polished the tejas of Bhagavān Sūrya, the hosts of vidyādharas, yakshas, rākshasas and pannagas came, bowed their heads with joined palms and prayed that his tejas become bearable to all beings. The stotras of that time call him the life of the pannagas and of all beings, and say that the pannagas praise him unceasingly with the Vālakhilyas, the apsarās, the kinnaras and the rest.

Vāsudeva told Sāmba that Bhagavān Sūrya dwells ever in his cakra weapon, and that with it he was able to conquer devatās, rākshasas, human beings and nāgas.

Source: Bhavishya Purāṇa, Brahma Parva, Chapters 50, 52–53, 76, 121, 123–124, 133, 135

The teaching of Kaśyapa

King Śatānīka asked how many forms the sarpas have, in which colours they are found, and what are their marks, jāti and kulas. Sumantu Muni answered with an older dialogue. In former times, on Meru, the best of mountains, Gautama bowed his head with bhakti to Kaśyapa Prajāpati, the treasury of tapas, and asked him how a sarpa is born, how it releases poison, how many speeds of poison and how many poison-channels there are, how many kinds of fangs snakes have, and what is meant by biting. Kaśyapa replied, “Gautama! I shall tell the marks of sarpas in truth.” His teaching runs through four chapters.

Source: Bhavishya Purāṇa, Brahma Parva, Chapter 33

The birth and life of a snake

Sarpas come into mada (the heat of mating) in Jyeshṭha and Āshāḍha, and then the female and male begin union. The female carries the garbha through the four months of the rains. In Kārttika she lays 240 eggs. She eats most of them and leaves one part, because she has no wish for it.

From an egg shining with a golden colour a male snake is born. From eggs of the yellow of the mogali flower, long and like a lotus, female snakes are born. From an egg of the colour of the dirisena flower a napuṃsaka (neuter) snake is born. The female broods the eggs for six months, and then they split. The young stay with the mother in love and affection. By seven nights the young sarpa turns black. A snake that goes about right beside its mother is called a bāla-sarpa.

For up to 21 nights the poison fangs grow well. As poison is released it gathers again little by little. In 25 days a snake gains the power to take life at a bite. Six months after birth it sheds its slough.

A sarpa’s life is 120 years. Its death comes in eight ways: by the peacock, by man, by the cakora bird, by the hooves of cows, buffaloes and the like, by the cat, the mongoose, the boar and the scorpion. If it escapes these, it lives 120 years.

A snake has 240 feet, fine as a cow’s hair, which can step forward and lift away. Its joints and digits are also 240. It has one mouth, two tongues and 32 teeth.

Snakes born out of season have no poison and live only 75 years. Snakes with red, white or yellow teeth have no poison. They have little speed and short lives, and some of them are timid.

Source: Bhavishya Purāṇa, Brahma Parva, Chapter 33

The four fangs

Of the 32 teeth, four fangs are full of poison: Makarī, Karālī, Kālarātrī and Yamadūtī (also Yamadūtikā).

Yamadūtī is the smallest of the fangs and rests beside the snake’s left eye. If its bite falls, mantras, medicine and treatment are all of no use. Seeing the mark of this tooth, the vaidya turns away, and those who know make no more attempts. Kaśyapa says again in Chapter 35 that those who know need not treat one bitten by Yamadūtī, for he will die.

Poison is not always in the fangs. Its seat is near the right eye. When a snake is angered, poison rises from there to the head, creeps into the nerve, flows into the nāḍīs, comes from the nāḍīs into the fangs and is released with the bite.

Source: Bhavishya Purāṇa, Brahma Parva, Chapters 33, 35

Why a snake bites

A snake bites for eight reasons, and each leaves its own mark:

Snake bites are of three kinds, by Kaśyapa‘s word. Dashṭānupīta is when three lines are released from the snake’s poison part at the place of the bite. Uddhata is when it bites and falls over with its belly upward. Chardita is when, by the force of poison, the snake vomits the poison and becomes without poison.

If a snake bites with all four teeth the case cannot be treated, and the sufferer’s neck bends a little from the force of the poison. A place that stays clean, as if no bite had been given, is called vyantara.

Bite marks one aṅgula apart show a young snake, two aṅgulas a youthful snake, and two and a half aṅgulas an old snake.

Source: Bhavishya Purāṇa, Brahma Parva, Chapters 33, 36

One bitten by a Kāla-sarpa

Kaśyapa gives three lists of the marks of one bitten by a Kāla-sarpa.

In the first list, the tongue goes numb. In the heart it is as if a spear were thrust in. The eyes cease to see. The bitten place looks burnt, like a ripe nēreḍu fruit. The teeth change colour, the whole body turns the colour of a monkey, and all limbs go slack. Stools pass. Shoulders, waist and neck droop, and the face turns down yet he looks up. As if the body were burning he trembles again and again, and faints. A cut with a weapon brings no blood, and a blow with a stick leaves no mark. On the bitten part a black mark like a crow’s foot forms, swollen like a nēreḍu fruit and thickly wet with blood. The channels are blocked, hiccups come, the throat feels seized and breath is hard. The skin turns a yellow beyond white, and the limbs dry up.

The bite is fierce if the bitten place swells greatly and a ring of deep blue forms round it, the whole body sweats heavily, blood flows from the wound, the bitten one speaks through the nose, the mouth stays open, the heart beats fast and breath is sharply obstructed.

In the third list his teeth touch each other and his gaze is broken, as of one greatly exhausted. Blood flows where the bite is large, the sight of one eye slips to the side, and the vaidyas refuse him. He drools, breathes excessively, speaks with a nasal sound and pities himself, and everyone speaks of him with pity. He trembles greatly and suffers sharply, his eyes redden, his neck sags and his navel moves. He cannot see his reflection in a mirror or in water. He takes ordinary sunlight to be sharp, and sees Sūrya as without brightness.

Source: Bhavishya Purāṇa, Brahma Parva, Chapter 34

Times and places of a bite

For those bitten on Ashṭamī, Navamī, Kṛshṇa-paksha Caturdaśī or Nāga Pañcamī, life is doubtful.

Those bitten by a snake, or who have drunk poison, cannot live under these nakshatras: Ārdrā, Āśleshā, Maghā, Bharaṇī, Kṛttikā, Viśākhā, Pūrvāshāḍhā, Pūrvābhādra, Pūrvaphalgunī, Mūla, Svātī and Śatabhishā. Those bitten in ruined houses, in a śmaśāna, on a dried-up tree or at an evil nakshatra-tithi yoga do not live.

In the bodies of beings 108 marma sthānas (vital points) are taught, and twelve of these are chief. Among them are the bone of the forehead, the eye, the middle between the eyebrows, the lower belly on both sides, the place above the testes, the armpits, the shoulders, the middle of the heart, the jaws, the chin and the seat of the anus. If a snake bites these, or a man is struck there with a weapon, he dies.

The second and sixteenth half-yāmas of day and night are the Nāgodaya time for sarpas. One struck, bitten or torn by a sarpa at that time is, by Kaśyapa‘s word, kāla-dashṭa (bitten by Kāla).

Day and night stand under the adhipatya of the grahas: at midday Śukra and Candra, in the morning Aṅgāraka. Divisions are to be left aside by weekday: on Sunday the 10th and 14th pādas, on Monday the 8th and 12th, on Tuesday the 6th and 10th parts, on Wednesday the 9th pāda, and on Saturday the first pāda, which is cruel, with the 2nd, 12th and 16th parts. A bhāga is the time above two ghaṭikās and within four, and twenty such bhāgas, made equal to sixty ghaṭikās, make one ahorātra.

When a snake bites in darkness, in water, in dense forest, in sleep or in carelessness, or when the snake is not seen, the marks are not known, and the vaidya’s treatment is hard.

Source: Bhavishya Purāṇa, Brahma Parva, Chapters 34–36

The messenger who brings the news

Kaśyapa teaches how to read the one who brings news of a bite. If those bringing the news utter the letters a, ka, ca, ṭa, ta, pa, ya, śa and tell of the bite with drooping head, reckon that the bitten one will not live.

He is the dūta of one whose time has come if he is a low person belonging to a noble one, or a noble person belonging to a low one, if he utters the bitten man’s name at the very start, or if he tells the matter falteringly.

So too if he holds a stick or a rope in his hand, if there are two dūtas, if he wears red or black clothes, if he has wrapped his face or his face and head in one cloth, if he has rubbed himself with oil, if his hair is loose, if he moves very fast, or if he makes a dreadful noise with his feet and hands.

Source: Bhavishya Purāṇa, Brahma Parva, Chapter 34

How poison moves

As many drops as fall from the tip of a tail lifted out of water, in that measure dreadful poison flows from the fang. It passes into the hundred nāḍīs of the whole body in the time it takes to stretch out or fold the hand, and in that moment it rises to the head. By its force the bitten one trembles in a hundred ways, a thousand ways. As fire blazes up through wind, poison mixes with blood and grows. As a drop of oil spreads on water, it spreads. As wind’s speed joined to an arrow’s speed, it creeps to many places and shoots into the skin. It grows twofold in the skin, fourfold in the blood, threefold in pitta, thirtyfold in vāta, sixtyfold in majjā, and in prāṇa it is as great as an ocean.

When the prāṇas leave, the five bhūtas each reach their own place: earth joins earth, water mixes with water, fire is absorbed in Sūrya, air reaches air and ākāśa is absorbed in ākāśa. One whose final time has come cannot live, but one suffering from snake poison must not be neglected and must be treated at once.

All poison in the world is one, and any other arises from it. It has seven vegas (speeds):

1. The hair stands on end.
2. The limbs sweat.
3. Trembling arises in the limbs.
4. The ears cease to hear.
5. Hiccups come, and the limbs jerk now and then.
6. The prāṇas begin to separate.
7. He dies.

Source: Bhavishya Purāṇa, Brahma Parva, Chapter 35

Signs by the kind of snake

• A Kanyā-sarpa (a maiden snake) bites: the gaze turns left.
• A Kumāra-sarpa (a young male) bites: the gaze turns right.
• A pregnant snake bites: sweat comes.
• A snake that has given birth bites: the hair stands on end and trembling arises.
• A napuṃsaka snake bites: the body feels as if crushed.

The male is most poisonous by day, the female by night and the napuṃsaka at the sandhyā. This is Kaśyapa‘s word.

Source: Bhavishya Purāṇa, Brahma Parva, Chapter 36

The treatment at each stage

Garuḍa has told of the spread of poison through the seven dhātus of the body, and Kaśyapa gives the signs and the medicine at each stage.

Poison in the skin

The limbs lose their grip, darkness comes over him, and again and again the body feels on fire. The medicine is jilleḍu root, uttarēnu, pippalī and nandivardhana, ground together and given to him. The pain subsides. If it does not abate, the poison has run into the blood.

Poison in the blood

Thirst increases, he feels faint, and cold things become welcome. Three doses are given:

1. Vaṭṭivēru, candana, ceṅgalvakoshṭu, nandivardhana, mahākāla roots, vāvili roots, iṅgilīkam and black pepper, ground and given quickly.
2. Then vāṅkuḍu, tēlukoṇḍi, jaṭāmāṃsī, peddapāpara, root, and saptagandha ghṛta.
3. Vāvili and iṅguva (asafoetida), drunk, put on the eyes as collyrium, and rubbed on the wound and the body.

By this the bitten one finds relief. Then the poison runs to the seat of pitta.

Poison in pitta

The bitten one falls and rises, the whole body burns and he drops in a faint. The body turns yellow, all directions look yellow, and he forgets himself. If counteraction is done he has some ease. From there the poison reaches the seat of śleshma. At this place the text gives this medicine: pippaḷḷu, atimadhura, pulakaṇḍamu, ghee, honey, sorakāya, jāji, nūguḍosa and peddapāpara are ground in cow’s urine into a powder, which he inhales as nasya, drinks mixed with water, and has applied as a paste to the eyes and the body. By this he finds ease.

Poison in śleshma

The limbs go numb, breathing out becomes impossible, he drools, and there is a gurgling sound in the throat. Dry ginger, pippalī, black pepper, viriṅgi and loddhuga with honey, in equal parts, are ground fine in cow’s urine. He drinks it, and it is used as collyrium and as an ointment for the body. By this he becomes lighter. Then the poison reaches the seat of vāta.

Poison in vāta

The belly swells and sight dims, so that he cannot see his kin. Duṇḍigapu root, mōraṭi, kuṃkuma flower, gajapippalī, coraṅgi, vasa, pippalī, devadāru, ippa, ippa mūlaga, vāvili and iṅguva are ground together and made into pills. He swallows them, and the same is used as añjana and lepana. This medicine takes away the poison of sarpas. Añjana and nasya should be given quickly. Then the poison reaches the seat of majjā.

Poison in majjā

His sight perishes and the limbs lose their grip completely. Vaṭṭivēru and candana with ghee, honey and sugar are ground and made into a powder. He drinks it in water and inhales the powder through the nose. His suffering lessens and the poison turns back.

The Mṛta-sañjīvinī

From the seat of majjā the poison goes to the marma sthāna. Then his movements cease and he falls down. His ears do not hear, and sprinkled with water he does not stir. A blow leaves no mark, a cut brings no blood, and there is no pain when the hair is pulled. Ears, sides, feet, hands and joints go slack and droop, and it is said that he has died.

Kaśyapa said, “Gautama! Even when such extreme signs have formed, know that he has not died.” Vaidyas without proper training cannot notice this. Only healers skilled in mantra and medicine notice it.

Then Kaśyapa told the medicine for one who lies as good as dead, which Rudra himself told. Mayūra pitta (the peacock’s substance), mārjāla pitta (the cat’s substance), gandhanāḍi root, kuṃkuma flower, nandivardhana, ceṅgalva koshṭu, the upper bark of kasinda, and the filaments of kaluva, tāmara and tellagaluva are taken in equal parts, ground fine in cow’s urine and given to the bitten one.

While this medicine is at hand a bitten one does not die, and even one bitten by a Kāla-sarpa is freed of poison at once. This Mṛta-sañjīvinī should be given quickly, and also as añjana and nasya without delay.

Source: Bhavishya Purāṇa, Brahma Parva, Chapter 35

The kinds of snake

Gautama asked how the marks differ when a male, a female, a young snake, a mother snake, a neuter snake or a vyantara bites. Kaśyapa said that a maiden snake’s bite turns the gaze to the left and a young male’s to the right. A pregnant snake’s bite brings sweat, and a snake that has given birth brings hair on end and trembling. A neuter snake’s bite makes the body feel crushed. The male is most poisonous by day, the female by night and the neuter at sandhyā.

The four divisions

Kaśyapa Prajāpati divided the sarpas into four, and there is no fifth:

The four varṇas among snakes

Each division has its Brāhmaṇas, Kshatriyas, Vaiśyas and Śūdras.

Brāhmaṇa snakes live in big wells, bucket wells, tanks, the springs of mountain streams, village gates and meetings of four roads. They are white, of the colour of gōrōcana, shining like fire, and the wise call them sāttvika and of good nature.

Kshatriya snakes live in pure groves, clean houses, temples, on toraṇas and in lakes. They are red, golden and coral-coloured, shining like gems and flashing like the tejas of Sūrya.

Vaiśya snakes live in śmaśānas, ash heaps, places of rice straw, on banks, near cattle herds, on roads and on trees. They have many bright streaks and the colour of the black gōriṇṭa flower.

Śūdra snakes live in impure places, forests without people, ruined houses and śmaśānas. They have the colours of a crow’s belly, collyrium, a crow and smoke.

Snakes of great poison, in the time of mada, tormented by desire, bite out of season.

Their bites and remedies by varṇa

Brāhmaṇa snake. The limbs burn, he faints strongly and does not know himself, the face turns black and the marrow stiffens. Pennēru (glossed Aśvagandhā), uttarēnu and vāvili are ground with ghee and drunk, and made into a powder for nasya. By this he finds ease.

Kshatriya snake. The limbs tremble, the brain stiffens, he faints, and there is pain and an upward gaze. The medicine is jilleḍu root, uttarēnu, pippalī and peddapāpara, ground in ghee and given as a drink and as nasya. He is calmed.

Vaiśya snake. Kapha rises, he drools, the breath is drawn upward and the faint grows strong. Aśvagandhā, dirisena, jilleḍu, gṛhadhūma (house-soot), guggulu, mōdugu and white diṇṭena are ground in cow’s urine and used as drink and nasya.

Śūdra snake. A foul smell increases, he trembles, cold fever comes and the limbs tingle. Tāmara, loddhuga, honey, tāmara filaments, ippa mūlaga, kallu and white diṇṭena, in equal parts, are ground in cold water. He drinks it, and it is rubbed on the body, put in the eyes as collyrium and inhaled as nasya. He is freed of the pain.

Their number

Sixty-four jātis of sarpas are taught. Thirty-six stay unseen, and two of these are rarely seen. Twenty-eight move on the earth and are seen. Among them are roughly twenty sragvins, seven maṇḍalins, ten rājilas and twenty-one darvīkaras. Dundubhas, ḍuṇḍubhas, ceṭabhas, candravāhanas and those of the colour of the ponna flower have no poison. So snakes are told as of 192 kinds.

Marks and the pill

Marks of horse, chariot, bull, umbrella, king, fire and earth, fashioned and worn, give siddhi. Pūrṇakumbha and dhvaja marks, gold, gems, dirisena and ruby, worn at the throat, give long life, and even the darśana of these is excellent.

A pill takes away the poison of sarpas: varāhakarṇī, gajapippalī, gañjāyi, pippalī, devadāru, ippa, vāvili and iṅguva, ground fine and kept made into round pills.

Sumantu Muni closed the account: all these matters Kaśyapa Prajāpati told to Gautama in the past, the marks, forms, colours and poisons of all kinds of sarpas.

Source: Bhavishya Purāṇa, Brahma Parva, Chapter 36

Their pūjā on pañcamī

Pañcamī is dear to the nāgas and increases joy, and on it there is a great festival of the nāgas. Bhagavān Sūrya gave this tithi to the Nāgarāja. The vrata is told in full under Nāga Pañcamī.

On the day of Nāga Pañcamī, first feed brāhmaṇas and send them off, then pray to the nāgas: “Bowing to the great serpents that are on the surface of the earth, in the rays of Sūrya, in the antariksha, in rivers, in streams, in wells and in tanks. May they all be gracious to me.” The nāgas are nourished with ghee, pāyasa, guggulu and the like.

Those who bathe the nāgas with milk on pañcamī receive abhaya, safety and wealth, and no one in their kula fears serpents. When the Nāga devatās are worshipped on pañcamī there is no affliction from poison, and one gains a wife of good marks, good offspring and measureless wealth.

Always, and especially on pañcamīs, the nāgas should receive naivedya of milk and pāyasa. On the Śrāvaṇa śukla pañcamī the shapes of snakes are drawn in cow-dung on both sides of the door and worshipped with curd, akshatas, darbha, gandha, flowers and many offerings, with the feeding of brāhmaṇas. The Madhyama Parva gives them milk, curd, sindūra, sandal, Gaṅgā water and fragrant things on that day, and says that the family is fearless and life is protected. On the Śrāvaṇa kṛshṇa pañcamī Manasā Devī receives pūjā in the courtyard with nīma leaves, and there is never fear of snakes.

On the Bhādrapada śukla pañcamī the nāgas are drawn on both sides of the door in black or an equal colour, and worshipped with gandha, flowers, ghee, pāyasa and guggulu. For such a person there is no fear of sarpas up to seven generations, and so the wise man should perform Nāga pūjā with every effort.

On the pañcamī of Āśvayuja figures of nāgas are made with darbha and worshipped, ghee, water and milk are used for the abhisheka, and bhakshyas of wheat moistened with milk are offered. Śesha and the other sarpas are pleased and śānti comes. Here the Pañcamī Kalpa closes with a mantra. Wherever it is uttered, sarpas are kept away:

ओं कुरु कुल्ले फट् स्वाहा

oṃ kuru kulle phaṭ svāhā

For one who has died of a bite, the Uttara Parva teaches that a nāga of one pala of gold is set in a vessel of ghee and milk, worshipped, and given to a brāhmaṇa with a bow and a prayer for forgiveness, on the pañcamī of the tithi-dānas. It removes the upadrava (harm) of the nāgas and gives happiness in both lokas, and Bhagavān Śiva has declared it as the prāyaścitta for the uplift of such a man.

Source: Bhavishya Purāṇa, Brahma Parva, Chapters 32, 36–38, 102; Madhyama Parva, Bhāga 2, Chapters 7–8; Uttara Parva, Chapter 193

In other rites

Daily rites. When a dvija purifies himself, the water let go on the ground pleases Vāsuki and the other nāgas. On Āśleshā the Nāga devatās are honoured with sandal paste, songs, eatables, sweets, milk and red delicacies, and they bestow delight. The sarpas are the devatās of Āśleshā, and in the Uttara Parva that nakshatra receives an āhuti of banyan milk mixed with ghee.

In the Brahma Parva. The text offers pūjā to Garuḍa, the nāgas, the devas and the ṛshis, and says that Viriñci (Brahmā) receives pūjā at all times from the uragas with the devas and others. In both lists of offerings to each being, the nāgas receive milk. The sarpas are named in the bali mantra with the Ādityas, Vasus and other devatās on the ratha, and they receive bali with the devatās, the pitṛdevatās and others when a tree is worshipped.

Tanks, wells and trees. In the Madhyama Parva a yūpa is made three hastas tall with nāga hoods. In the pratishṭhā of tanks and wells there is special pūjā of Varuṇadeva and the nāgas, and images of Varuṇa with nāgas are released into the water. The kalaśa has its pañcapallava set in the shape of a serpent’s hood. At the foot of the vaṭa tree the yakshas, nāgas, gandharvas, siddhas and the Marudgaṇa receive pūjā.

The vratas of the Uttara Parva. The Śāntivrata runs for a year from the śukla pañcamī of Kārttika. Bhagavān Vishṇu, resting on Śeshanāga, is worshipped limb by limb with the names of the nāgas: Ananta at the feet, Dhṛtarāshṭra at the waist, Takshaka at the belly, Karkoṭaka at the heart, Padma at the ears, Mahāpadma at the arms, Śaṅkhapāla at the chest and Kulika at the head. One who keeps it never has any fear of nāgas. The nāgas were among those who kept the Śrīpañcamī when they saw Indra keep it. They honour Bhagavatī on Ashṭamī and Navamī, and they helped set up the first Indradhvaja on Meru. One who keeps the Kāmotsava every year pleases them. In the dīpadāna the wick given for them is called Nāgavarti, and they receive nīrājana in the Nīrājana-śānti. In tarpaṇa water is given to the nāgas and to the krūra (fierce) sarpas. The Nāgakanyās in Pātāla kept the Kāñcanapurī Vrata.

Images and the cow. The upper walls of the sūtikā-maṇḍapa are to show devatās, grahas, nāgas and vidyādharas showering flowers. The Brahmāṇḍa image and the Citrapaṭa depict the nāgas, and in the prayer of the Brahmāṇḍa dāna they are asked to remain content with the giver for seven births. By the dāna of Bhuvana-pratishṭhā they receive pratishṭhā. The Guḍaparvata is called their dwelling. In the body of the cow the nāgas Kambala and Aśvatara are in the two nostrils, the pannagas at the front of the hooves, and the nāgas in the entrails.

At the feet of the great. The nāgas honoured Bhagavān Sadāśiva on Kailāsa, with the devatās, gandharvas, yakshas, kinnaras, siddhas and tapasvins. When Bhagavān Śiva gave up the tiger form and granted darśana, the nāgas with their wives offered him pūjā among the Mātṛkās, the bhūtas, the devas and the munis. Kārtavīrya, by the strength of his thousand arms, conquered the nāgas such as Kāṭaka in Nāgaloka and founded his own city there, and great nāgas bowed their heads on seeing his valour.

Source: Bhavishya Purāṇa, Brahma Parva, Chapters 3, 17, 55, 57, 102, 131; Madhyama Parva, Bhāga 2, Chapters 10–13, 19–21; Bhāga 3, Chapters 2–3, 9–11; Uttara Parva, Chapters 21, 34, 37, 55, 58, 69, 71, 123, 130, 133–136, 138–139, 145, 147, 156, 177, 191, 196–197

Sources

• Bhavishya Purāṇa, Brahma Parva, Chapters 2–3, 17, 32–38, 50, 52–53, 55, 57, 76, 102, 121, 123–125, 131, 133, 135; Madhyama Parva, Bhāga 1, Chapters 2–3; Bhāga 2, Chapters 7–8, 10–13, 19–21; Bhāga 3, Chapters 2–3, 9–11; Uttara Parva, Chapters 2, 21, 34, 37, 55, 58, 69, 71, 123, 130, 133–136, 138–139, 145, 147, 156, 177, 191, 193, 196–197