Nāga Pañcamī
Nāga Pañcamī, “the fifth day of the nāgas”
Nāga Pañcamī is the sacred vrata kept on the Pañcamī tithi (the fifth lunar day) to honour the nāgas. The nāgas are the great serpent-beings who rule nāga-loka, the world of the serpents. The Bhavishya Purāṇa gives this vrata in its Brahma Parva. It also tells its origin: Kadrū‘s śāpa (curse), Brahmā‘s protection, and how Āstīka saved the nāgas at Janamejaya’s sarpa-yajña (serpent sacrifice).
The Pañcamī tithi is very dear to the nāgas. It is a day of great celebration in nāga-loka.
Per Agni Purāṇa, the nāgas are worshipped on the śukla pañcamīs of four months, Śrāvaṇa, Bhādrapada, Āśvayuja and Kārttika: the eight nāgas Vāsuki, Takshaka, Kāliya, Maṇibhadra, Airāvata, Dhṛtarāshṭra, Karkoṭaka and Dhanañjaya, who give freedom from fear, long life, learning, fame and prosperity (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 180).
Origin of the vrata
Kadrū’s śāpa
When the devas and asuras churned the ocean (samudra-manthana), the divine horse Uccaiḥśravas came out of the ocean, shining with perfect whiteness. Vinatā and Kadrū, both wives of Kaśyapa Prajāpati, saw it. Kadrū was the mother of the nāgas. She said the horse had a black mark on its tail. Vinatā said it did not. They made a wager: the one who lost would become the other’s servant.
Kadrū told her nāga children to take tiny forms and cling to the horse’s tail, so that it would look black. The noble nāgas refused this deceit. Kadrū was furious and gave them all a śāpa:
“In the sarpa-yajña performed by the grandson of the Pāṇḍavas, may you all burn to ash.”
The Bhavishya Purāṇa, Brahma Parva, Chapter 32, tells this.
Brahmā’s protection
The nāgas were terrified by the śāpa. They went to Brahmā with Vāsuki at their head and asked for his protection. Brahmā gave them abhaya-dāna (the gift of fearlessness) with these words:
“In the Yāyāvara lineage there will arise a great tapasvin brāhmaṇa named Jaratkarū. For you, a sister will be born with the same name, Jaratkarū. Give her in marriage to him. Obey whatever he instructs. Their son, who will become world-famous as Āstīka, will stop Janamejaya’s sarpa-yajña and protect you.”
Brahmā gave this abhaya on a Pañcamī day. Āstīka also stopped the yajña on a Pañcamī day. For this reason the nāgas hold the Pañcamī tithi dearer than all other tithis.
Śrī Kṛshṇa also spoke of this to Dharmarāja:
“A hundred years from now, a sarpa-yajña will take place. Countless venomous and wicked nāgas will fall into those flames. But a brāhmaṇa named Āstīka will halt the yajña and save the remaining nāgas.”
The Bhavishya Purāṇa, Brahma Parva, Chapter 32, tells this.
The main Nāga Pañcamī vrata
Śrāvaṇa śukla Pañcamī
The main Nāga Pañcamī falls on Śrāvaṇa śukla Pañcamī (the fifth day of the bright fortnight of Śrāvaṇa). On this day:
- On both sides of the house entrance (dvāra), images of the great nāgas are set up. They are made of cowdung.
- The nāgas are honoured with pūjā using dahi (curd), milk, dūrvā grass, flowers, darbha grass, gandha (sandal paste), akshata (unbroken rice) and many kinds of naivedya (food offering).
- After the pūjā, brāhmaṇas are fed.
- Bathing the nāga images in milk (kshīra-snāna) on Pañcamī brings the abhaya-dāna of the eight great nāgas: Vāsuki, Takshaka, Kāliya, Maṇibhadra, Airāvata, Dhṛtarāshṭra, Karkoṭaka and Dhanuñjaya. The whole family of such a person is free from fear of serpents for ever.
The Bhavishya Purāṇa, Brahma Parva, Chapters 32 and 36–37, gives this.
Bhādrapada Pañcamī
On Bhādrapada Pañcamī, coloured images of nāgas are drawn on the floor. They are honoured in the way given above, with one addition: guggula dhūpa (incense of guggula resin). When Takshaka and the other mahānāgas are pleased, they give the worshipper protection from danger from serpents for seven generations.
The Bhavishya Purāṇa, Brahma Parva, Chapters 36–37, gives this.
Āśvayuja Pañcamī
On Āśvayuja Pañcamī, a nāga image is made from kuśa and darbha grass. It is bathed with milk, ghee and water. The naivedya is milk-rice and preparations of wheat. When the nāga is honoured in this way, Vāsuki and the other mahānāgas give the devotee nāga-loka prāpti (a place in nāga-loka).
The Bhavishya Purāṇa, Brahma Parva, Chapters 36–37, gives this.
The twelve-month Nāga vrata
One may begin the Nāga Pañcamī vrata on any Pañcamī tithi and keep it without a break for twelve months.
- On Caturthī, the day before, take only one meal.
- On Pañcamī of each month, draw a large nāga image on the ground. Place on it a nāga-mūrti made of gold, wood or clay. Offer pūjā with karavīra, kamala or mallī flowers, with gandha and dhūpa (incense). The naivedya is ghee, milk and laddus. Feed five distinguished brāhmaṇas with a full meal.
The twelve Nāgarājas
One Nāgarāja is honoured each month, in this order:
- Ananta
- Vāsuki
- Śaṅkha
- Padma
- Kambala
- Karkoṭaka
- Aśvatara
- Dhṛtarāshṭra
- Śaṅkhapāla
- Kāliya
- Takshaka
- Piṅgala
The mahā-udyāpana
When the twelve months are complete, a mahā-udyāpana (great concluding rite) is done. Many brāhmaṇas are fed. Gold nāga ornaments (nāgābharaṇas) and cows are given as dāna to learned brāhmaṇas.
King Janamejaya kept this vrata for the sake of the good departure of his father Parīkshit. He completed it with gifts of many gold nāga ornaments and cows to brāhmaṇas. He was then free from his debt to his father, and Parīkshit reached an excellent loka.
The Bhavishya Purāṇa, Brahma Parva, Chapter 32, gives this.
When a parent dies from a snakebite
If a mother or father has died from the bite of a serpent, the children must fast on Bhādrapada śukla Pañcamī and offer nāga pūjā for the parent. This helps the parent to a good departure. Śrāvaṇa śukla Pañcamī is the main day recorded in all pañcāṅgas (almanacs). Bhādrapada Pañcamī is kept in these special cases.
The Bhavishya Purāṇa, Brahma Parva, Chapter 32, gives this.
The phala of Nāga Pañcamī
A person who offers nāga pūjā and listens to this vrata with śraddhā (faith) receives these results:
- Their family will never suffer nāga-pīḍā (trouble from nāgas).
- They reach nāga-loka. In the Dvāpara Yuga they are born again as a king of great courage, fine health and majesty.
Even those who die from a snakebite after keeping this vrata reach good lokas.
The mantra below, said every day, keeps serpents from coming near the place where it is said.
Oṃ Kurukullē Phaṭ Svāhā
The Bhavishya Purāṇa, Brahma Parva, Chapters 32 and 36–37, gives this.
Serpents in the Bhavishya Purāṇa
The Bhavishya Purāṇa also gives a long account of the knowledge of serpents: their birth and growth, their kinds, their venom and their treatment. Kaśyapa tells it to Gautama.
- Birth: Serpents mate mainly in the months of Jyeshṭha and Āshāḍha. The female carries the eggs through the whole rainy season. In Kārtika she lays up to 240 eggs, though she herself eats some of them.
- The eggs: Golden-bright eggs are male. Pale green eggs with stripes are female. Eggs round and of the colour of the Śirīsha flower are neuter.
- Growth: The young come out after six months of incubation. They are all dark at seven days. They get their fangs by the seventh day. Their venom is fully grown by the twenty-first day. They shed their skin once every six months.
- Lifespan: Normally 120 years. Those born from eggs that cracked too early live 70 years.
- The venom fangs: There are four venomous fangs, named Makarī, Karālī, Kālarātrī and Yamadūtī. Brahmā, Vishṇu, Rudra and Yama preside over them in that order. A bite from the Yamadūtī fang means sudden death. No mantra, tantra or medicine works against it.
- Why serpents bite: Stepping on them by accident; old enmity; fear; drunkenness; hunger; being full of venom; protecting their young; the force of kāla (time).
Serpents are also sorted by varṇa: brāhmaṇa, kshatriya, vaiśya and śūdra. Each has its own colours, habits and homes, and its own treatment for its bite.
The Bhavishya Purāṇa, Brahma Parva, Chapters 33–37, gives this.
Per Agni Purāṇa
Agni Deva says: “I shall tell the Pañcamī vrata, which gives health, svarga and moksha.”
On the pañcamīs of the śukla paksha (bright fortnight) of Śrāvaṇa, Bhādrapada, Āśvayuja and Kārttika, one worships the nāgas. They are eight:
All these nāgas give abhaya (freedom from fear), āyus (long life), vidyā (learning), yaśas (fame) and lakshmī (prosperity). (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 180)
Sources
- Bhavishya Purāṇa, Brahma Parva, Chapter 32 (origin, Brahmā’s protection, the twelve-month vrata, Janamejaya, death of a parent from snakebite, the phala)
- Bhavishya Purāṇa, Brahma Parva, Chapters 32 and 36–37 (the Śrāvaṇa, Bhādrapada and Āśvayuja Pañcamī rites, the phala)
- Bhavishya Purāṇa, Brahma Parva, Chapters 33–37 (the account of serpents)
- Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 180