Hindu “Snake” Myths
...ths, which is a Sanskrit word meaning “serpent”. The Nagas lived in palaces in an underground city of Bhogavati, and are considered the protectors of springs, wells, and rivers. “It is believed that Sheesh Nag (King Cobra) is the god of all other serpents and supports the world on its hood.”(Canada) The king cobra is also a symbol of power and fertility. “These strange snake-gods could also take on any form of human or snake form they wished; sometimes they were half-snake, half-women, sometimes warriors with snake-like necks.”(Bartlet277) The serpents had so much power that they were very powerful and no other creature wanted to cross the line, between the snakes and them because they had very little chance of defeating the snake. In contrast to Heracles defeating Hydra, “According to Hindu Mythology, cobras always live in pairs. If one of them is killed, the Image of the killer appears in the eye of the dead cobra. Its mate, with the help of that image, takes revenge.”(Canada) In the Greek myth and second mate or half is not mentioned, which is the difference between the serpent in Greek mythology to that of the Hindu myth. So if you are successful in destroying one snake in the Greek myth you can get away with it, but according to the Hindu myth there will be another cobra hunting you down. There is also a belief that after the snake has lived for a 100 years, it attains the ability to change its form to any other creature, so much so that it can transform itself into a human being or anything else in the world. When it is able to do so, it is able to adopt many powers of the snake and use them while being something other than a snake. This form of change in Hindu mythology is very similar to that of Heracles in Greek mythology. In the World of Myths by Lemming, it mentions, “Heracles grew calm again. …He rested his head on his club as on a pillow, wine and crowned with garlands, he were lying on a couch at a banquet. …The gods from heaven looked down and saw that the defender of the earth was dying. …Part of him is immortal, and, as an immortal, he will live with the gods for ever. …So indeed it happened. As a snake changes its old skin, so Heracles, as the flames consumed his body, seemed to put on a new body, stronger, more heroic, more beautiful, and more stately than ever before.”(Lemming307) This myth is very similar to Hindu myths about the serpent. When snakes shed their skin, they also begin with new and beautiful skin, with more power than they did before. “…to the magic that transforms seeds into plants, and to the secrets of life, death and rebirth. Because it sheds it skin each spring after a period of hibernation, the also symbolizes immortality…”(Harris147) Just like Heracles the snake serpent also sheds its skin forming new and revived skin. Due to the shedding of the skin, it is the process of life, death and rebirth, which I feel is the reason many have worshipped this serpent for a long time. "Hindus still worship these Nagas. At Martanda Naga even srada is performed. Water is offered by Hindus to the Sun God and to their ancestors (purvaj). Before having darshan of the snow linga at Amarnatha a holy dip is essential in the Seshanaga. A person suffering from a skin disease is said to be cured after having a bath in Gandhakanaga (sulphur spring) at Naghbal, Anantnag."(Khandro) This is a ritual that is still performed on a daily basis in India, and the Ganges River is where this is done. Since so many people still do the rituals, then the serpent gods must have cured many people in history, and may still be curing as of now. This is very different from the Greek myths because they never mention anything of this sort, and I think that is because in the Hindu myths, there is a lot of worshiping, which eventually caused people to care more, rather than in the Greek myths. In the Greek myths serpents were more evil, which caused more tension between gods and creatures. In Hindu myths, they go as far as where the gods have snakes on there bodies usually around the neck to show just how much power they have. “The trident is the weapon of Siva with which he destroys evils and restores order. The trident stands for the triple qualities of nature, namely,...