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Vasuki
Vasuki () is the king of the nagas in Hinduism. He is described as having a gem called '' Nagamani'' (serpent's ornament) on his head. Shesha, another king of the nagas and the bed on which Vishnu rests, is his elder brother, and Manasa, another naga, is his sister. In Hindu iconography, he is generally depicted coiling around the neck of Shiva, who is believed to have blessed and worn him as an ornament. He is known in Chinese and Japanese mythology as being one of the "eight Great Dragon Kings" (八大龍王 pinyin: Bādà lóngwáng; Japanese: Hachidai Ryūō), amongst Nanda (Nāgarāja), Upananda, Sāgara (Shakara), Takshaka, Balavan, Anavatapta, and Utpala. Legend Vasuki is one of the sons of the sage Kashyapa and Kadru. He is accorded a significant role in the legend of Samudra Manthana. He is described to have allowed both the devas and the asuras to bind him to Mount Mandara, so that they could use him as their churning rope to extract the amrita from the Oc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sarpa Satra
According to legend, Sarpa Satra or Snake sacrifice was a yagna performed by King Janamejaya of the Kuru Kingdom who had ascended to the throne of Hastinapura upon the death of his father Parikshit. The legend states that Parikshit, the lone descendant of the House of Pandu, son of Abhimanyu and grand son of Arjuna of the Mahabharata fame, had died of snakebite. He had been cursed by a sage to die so, the curse having been consummated by the serpent-chieftain Takshaka. Janamejaya bore a deep grudge against the serpents for this act, and thus decided to wipe them out altogether. He attempted this by performing a great ''Sarpa Satra'' – a sacrifice that would destroy all living serpents. At that time, a learned sage named Astika, a boy in age, came and intervened to stop the yagna; Astika's mother manasa was a Naga and father was Jaratkaru a saintly Brahmin. Janamejaya had to listen to the words of the learned Astika and set Takshaka free. He also stopped the massacre ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nāga
In various Asian religious traditions, the Nāgas () are a divine, or semi-divine, race of half-human, half-serpent beings that reside in the netherworld (Patala), and can occasionally take human or part-human form, or are so depicted in art. Furthermore, nāgas are also known as Dragon, dragons and Water spirit, water spirits. A female nāga is called a Nagin, or a Naiṇī Devī, Nagini. According to legend, they are the children of the sage Kashyapa and Kadru. Rituals devoted to these supernatural beings have been taking place throughout South Asia for at least 2,000 years. They are principally depicted in three forms: as entirely human with snakes on the heads and necks, as common serpents, or as half-human, half-snake beings in Hinduism and Buddhism. ''Nagaraja'' is the title given to the king of the nāgas. Narratives of these beings hold cultural significance in the mythological traditions of many South Asian and Southeast Asian cultures, and within Hinduism and Buddhism ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nagaraja
A Nagaraja ( ', ) is a king of the various races of the nāga, the divine or semi-divine, half-human, half-serpent beings that reside in the netherworld ( Patala), and can occasionally take human form. Rituals devoted to these supernatural beings have been taking place throughout South Asia for at least two thousand years. Hinduism Hindu texts refer to three main beings by this title: Shesha, Takshaka, and Vasuki. All of them are the children of the rishi Kashyapa and Kadru. Shesha Shesha, also sometimes known as Ananta, is the eldest brother, and the first serpent king of all serpents. A devotee and a mount of Vishnu, he serves as the deity's bed and is named as the noblest of all nagas. He is the being that supports the earth, on the behest of the creator god, Brahma, obtaining the boon to stand ever firmly on the concept of dharma. Vasuki Vasuki is the second serpent king in Indian religions. He is a devotee of Shiva, who always wears the nāga around his neck. Tak ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shiva
Shiva (; , ), also known as Mahadeva (; , , Help:IPA/Sanskrit, [mɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐh]) and Hara, is one of the Hindu deities, principal deities of Hinduism. He is the God in Hinduism, Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions within Hinduism. Shiva is known as ''The Destroyer'' within the Trimurti, the Hinduism, Hindu trinity which also includes Brahma and Vishnu. In the Shaivite tradition, Shiva is the Supreme Lord who creates, protects and transforms the universe. In the goddess-oriented Shaktism, Shakta tradition, the Supreme Goddess (Devi) is regarded as the energy and creative power (Shakti) and the equal complementary partner of Shiva. Shiva is one of the five equivalent deities in Panchayatana puja of the Smarta Tradition, Smarta tradition of Hinduism. Shiva has many aspects, benevolent as well as fearsome. In benevolent aspects, he is depicted as an Omniscience, omniscient yogi who lives an Asceticism#Hinduism, ascetic life on Kailasa as well as a house ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shiva 01
Shiva (; , ), also known as Mahadeva (; , , ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐh and Hara, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions within Hinduism. Shiva is known as ''The Destroyer'' within the Trimurti, the Hindu trinity which also includes Brahma and Vishnu. In the Shaivite tradition, Shiva is the Supreme Lord who creates, protects and transforms the universe. In the goddess-oriented Shakta tradition, the Supreme Goddess (Devi) is regarded as the energy and creative power (Shakti) and the equal complementary partner of Shiva. Shiva is one of the five equivalent deities in Panchayatana puja of the Smarta tradition of Hinduism. Shiva has many aspects, benevolent as well as fearsome. In benevolent aspects, he is depicted as an omniscient yogi who lives an ascetic life on Kailasa as well as a householder with his wife Parvati and his two children, Ganesha and Kartikeya. In his fierce aspects, he is often depicted slay ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Manasa
Manasa () is a Hindu goddess of snakes. She is worshipped mainly in Bihar, Odisha, Bengal, Jharkhand, Assam and other parts of northeastern India and in Uttarakhand, chiefly for the prevention and cure of snakebite, and also for fertility and prosperity. In Hinduism, Manasa is the sister of Shesha and Vasuki, king of Nāgas (serpents), and wife of sage Jaratkaru. She is the mother of the sage Astika. She is also known as ''Vishahari'' (the destroyer of poison), ''Nityā'' (eternal) and ''Padmavati''. In regional tradition, her stories emphasise her bad temper and unhappiness, due to rejection by her father, Shiva, and her husband ( Jaratkaru), and the hate of her stepmother Chandi (Shiva's wife, identified with Parvati in this context). Manasa is depicted as kind to her devotees, but harsh toward people who refuse to worship her. Denied full godhood due to her mixed parentage, Manasa's aim was to fully establish her authority as a goddess, and to acquire steadfast human devo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Samudra Manthan
The Samudra Manthana () is a major episode in Hinduism that is elaborated in the Vishnu Purana, a major text of Hinduism. The Samudra Manthana explains the origin of the elixir of eternal life, amrita. Nomenclature *Sāgara manthana (सागरमन्थन) – ''Sāgara'' is another word for '' Samudra'', both meaning a sea or large water body. *Kshirasāgara manthana (क्षीरसागरमन्थन) – ''Kshirasāgara'' means the ocean of milk or milky ocean. ''Kshirasāgara'' = ''Kshira'' (milk) + ''Sāgara'' (ocean or sea). *Amrita Manthana (अमृतमन्थन) – ''Amrita'' means the elixir. “''Churning for the Elixir”'' Legend Indra, the King of Svarga, was riding on his divine elephant when he came across the sage Durvasa, who offered him a special garland given to him by an apsara. The deity accepted the garland and placed it on the trunk (sometime the tusks or the head of the elephant in some scriptures) of Airavata (his mount) as a tes ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shesha
Shesha (), also known by his epithets Sheshanaga () and Adishesha (), is a serpentine demigod ( naga) and king of the serpents ( Nagaraja), as well as a primordial being of creation in Hinduism. In the Puranas, Shesha is said to hold all the planets of the universe on his hoods and to constantly sing the glories of Vishnu from all his mouths. He is sometimes referred to as Ananta Shesha. The Narayana form of Vishnu is often depicted as resting on Shesha, accompanied by his consort Lakshmi. Shesha is considered as one of the two mounts of Vishnu alongside Garuda. He is said to have descended upon Earth in the following human forms or incarnations: Lakshmana, brother of Vishnu's incarnation Rama during the Treta Yuga, and according to some traditions, as Balarama, brother of Vishnu's incarnation Krishna during the Dvapara Yuga. According to the Mahabharata (Adi Parva), his father was Kashyapa and his mother Kadru, though in other accounts, he is usually a primordial being cre ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mount Mandara
Mandara (; ) is the name of the mountain that appears in the Samudra Manthana episode in the Hindu Puranas, where it was used as a churning rod to churn the Ocean of milk. Shiva's serpent, Vasuki, offered to serve as the rope pulled on one side by a team of ''asuras'', and on the other, by a team of ''devas''. The Puranas refer to various sacred places on the hill that are also believed to be the abode of the avatar Krishna as Madhusudana or the destroyer of the asura called Madhu, who was killed by Krishna and then covered by the Mount Mandara. Literature Kalidasa's '' Kumarasambhava'' refers to foot marks of Vishnu on the slopes of Mandara. The hill is replete with relics of bygone ages. Besides inscriptions and statues there are numerous rock cut sculptures depicting various Brahmanical images. The hill is equally revered by the Jains who believe that their 12th Tirthankara Shri Vasupujya attained nirvana here on the summit of the hill. Depictions The depiction ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kshira Sagara
In Hindu cosmology, the ''Kshira Sagara'' (, ; ; ; Telugu: Pala Samudram) or Ocean of Milk is the fifth from the centre of the seven oceans. It surrounds the continent known as Krauncha. According to Hindu scriptures, the Deva (Hinduism), devas and asuras worked together for a millennium to churn this ocean in order to acquire amrita, the nectar of immortality. The episode is mentioned in the Samudra manthan, ''Samudra Manthana'' chapter of the Puranas, a body of ancient Hindu legends. The Kshira Sagara is described as the place where the deity Vishnu reclines over his serpent-mount Shesha, accompanied by his consort, Lakshmi. Etymology The "Ocean of Milk" is the English translation of the Sanskrit terms ', ' or ', from ''Kshira, kṣīra'' "milk" and ', ' "water, ocean" or ' "ocean." The term varies across Indic languages, referred to as ''Khir Shaagor'' in Bengali language, Bengali, ''Tiruppāṟkaṭal'' in Tamil language, Tamil, and ''Pāla Samudram'' in Telugu language, Telu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Patala
In Indian religions, Patala ( Sanskrit: पाताल, IAST: pātāla, lit. ''that which is below the feet''), denotes the subterranean realms of the universe – which are located under the earthly dimension. Patala is often translated as underworld or netherworld. Patala is described as more beautiful than Svarga (subtle dimensions, loosely translated as heaven). Patala is described as filled with splendid jewels, beautiful groves and lakes. In Vajrayana Buddhism, caves inhabited by asuras are entrances to Patala; these asuras, particularly female asuras, are often "tamed" (converted to Buddhism) as dharmapala or dakinis by famous Buddhist figures such as Padmasambhava. In Hindu cosmology, the universe is divided into the three worlds: Svarga, Bhumi or Martya (earth/mortal plane) and Patala (gross dimensions, the underworld). Patala is composed of seven realms/dimensions or lokas, the seventh and lowest of them is also called Patala or Naga-loka, the region of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kadru
Kadru (, ) is usually regarded as the daughter of Daksha and the consort of the sage Kashyapa in Hindu scriptures. Kashyapa is the son of Marichi, who is a manasputra, manasaputra, a mind-born son of Brahma. Kadru is best known as the mother of the nāgas, nagas, the race of serpents. Legends of Kadru detail her relationship with her elder sister Vinata, who was also one of Kashyapa's many wives. In one story, Kadru and Vinata vie to bear the children of Kashyapa who are more powerful than the other. While Kadru gives birth to a thousand nagas, Vinata bears two sons, Aruṇa and Garuda. Kadru is also portrayed as more scheming and wily than Vinata. She challenges Vinata to guess the colour of the tail of Uchchaihshravas, the divine white horse. After Vinata says the tail is white, Kadru tricks Vinata by directing her sons to coil around the horse's tail, causing it to appear black. As a result, Vinata loses the bet and she and her sons are forced to become the slaves of Kadru ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
