Within the framework of Hindu mythology, the nagas were a race of lower serpent-like beings or demigods.
Summary
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- 1 Sanskrit word
- 2 Etymology
- 3 The Naga, the Serpent Race of Ancient India
- 4 The strange statements of Blavatsky
- 5 The Nagas in the Ramaiana (3rd century BC)
- 1 Hindu epics and poems about the serpent gods
- 6 More hype and lies from Blavatsky
- 7 The Nagas in the Majabárata(3rd century BC)
- 8 Gods Snake Dragons in Chinese History
- 9 Serpent Gods in American and African Mythology
- 10 Sources
Sanskrit word
- nāga, in the AITS system (international alphabet for the transliteration of Sanskrit ). [1]
- नाग, in Devanagari script of Sanskrit. [1]
- Pronunciation:
- / nagá / in Old Sanskrit [1]or
- / nága / or / nág / in various modern Indian languages (such as Bengali , Hindi , Marathi, or Pali ).
- Feminine: naguini, which in Sanskrit was pronounced / naguiní / (not / nagüiní /) and in other languages / naguíni / (not / nagüíni /).
Etymology
It is unknown where the Sanskrit word “naga” comes from . [1]
It may have been an autogentilicio in the language of the Naga ethnic group. [1]
The etymologies that make it come from the Sanskrit “na-ga” (‘those who do not move’) or from ‘nagna’ (‘the naked’) are rejected . [1]
The Naga, the serpent race of ancient India
Blavatsky’s Pilgrim Affirmations
The Book of Dzyan , written by the theosophist Helena Petrovna Blavatsky]] (posing as “probably the oldest known Sanskrit writings”), states that the naga were a race of serpents who descended from the heavens and taught Humans. Madame Blavatsky spent three years in India. When he returned to London, he claimed that he had lived in Tibet, Bhutan, and Sikkim, and claimed that he had collected “thousands” of Sanskrit writings that he had summarized in the Book of Dzyan . In that book she described the ancient inhabitants called ‘nagas’ or ‘sarpa’ (‘serpents’), who would have been semi-divine beings with a human face and a dragon’s tail.
Blavatsky published that the sarpa had “undoubtedly” been the seraphim mentioned in the Old Testament of the Bible . According to Blavatsky – who did not know a word of Sanskrit – the word seraphim would have the same etymological roots as the sarpa of ancient India. Hindu mythology and literature are also replete with the sexual relations of gods with humanity and the procreation of numerous strange beings called Dravidians and Dasyus . This breed reportedly lived in large walled cities. They were a barbarian, cannibalistic people, with dark skin and flat noses. According to Blavatsky, the Aryansthey had had white skin (the racism of the British at that time is proverbial). The Aryans conquered and killed these “serpent” peoples.
The Nagas in the Ramaiana (3rd century BC)
The nagas are clearly described in the Ramayana (3rd century BC):
Near Bhogavata is the place where the serpent race dwelt, a wide city, walled and with bars, where legions of lookouts kept guard. The fiercest of the young serpents possesses poisoned teeth and sits on his throne in his imperial hall. It is Vasuki who rules them all.
Hindu epics and poems about serpent gods
Madame Blavatsky seriously confused the characters of Hindu mythology, and claimed that one of the protagonists of the epicomithological poem Ramayana , the Raksasa Ravana , was not a raksasa (cannibal demon) but a serpent god. Unfortunately Blavatsky did not provide the sources on which he relied for making such a mistake.
He is the story of Sita , the girlfriend of a northern prince named Rama , who is kidnapped by Ravana , the Serpent King of Ceylon (old name for Sri Lanka). Rama is supposed to be Prince Utu (Apollo) and Sita is Princess Aya (Artemis). Rama pursues Ravana’s army through India with the help of a force of monkeys under the command of the monkey king Januman .
Ravana retreats to his island, the kingdom of Sri Lanka (the island of Ceylon), supposedly safe from persecution. But Januman built a huge stone bridge across the straits that separate the island from the mainland, and Sita is rescued by Rama . Throughout all of history, Ravana is described in terms such as: “he feeds on human beings” and “drinks the blood of his enemies.”
He is formidable in battle and nearly defeats Rama when he uses his special weapon of the naga, described as the “serpent dart of the naga,” which seemed to paralyze his enemies and rob him of their energy and life force.
Like all divine and demi-divine creatures in mythology, Ravana appears to have had access to very sophisticated weapons.
More exaggerations and lies by Blavatsky
Ceylon , the island of Ravana’s kingdom , was the stronghold of the Nagas . It is described as the home of the Nagas in very ancient Chinese sources. In one of the earliest literary references to Ceylon , when it negotiated with China prior to the Aryan occupation of India, it is described as a land of strange reptilian-like creatures. Due to its gems, spices, and its prime location, it became popular with Chinese merchants.
Fa-Hsien , the Chinese pilgrim merchant, disclosed that the island was originally occupied by the Nagas or serpent deities, with whom traders from various countries practiced trade. The Nagas never showed themselves to outsiders. They simply advertised their products with price tags attached to them. The merchants who visited them made their purchases according to the price and took the products.
The Nagas in the Majabárata (3rd century BC)
The other great poem of India is the Mahabharata , the longest and perhaps the greatest epic poem written in any language. Much older than the [[Ramayana, consists of 88,000 verses. The main theme is the rivalry between two branches of the same family, the Kurus . The Pandavas and the Kauravas wage a war that culminates in the destruction of both branches of the family in the great battle of Kuruksetra .
The story begins when King Pariksit of the Kauravas shot a deer while hunting with a bow and arrow. Chasing the deer, he asked a mystic if he had seen a wounded deer. Observing his vow of silence, the wise prophet did not reply. This angered Pariksit , who took a dead snake and placed it around the sage’s neck.
The mystic’s son, enraged, cast a curse on Pariksit . And so began the enmity to the death between the two families. We see that a third party is involved in the story. Angered by the blasphemous use of one of their own kind (the dead serpent), the serpent gods enter the scene. Taksaka , the king of the serpent beings, sends serpents that cause Pariksit’s death .
The story of this feud is actually told as something that happened in the dark past. The ancient kingdom of the Kurus flourished along the upper reaches of the Ganges between the 8th and 5th centuries BC, while the Aryan invasion occurred around the 15th to 12th centuries BC. n. and..
The story of the Majabárata , written by the religious novelist Krishna Duaipaiana , begins with the sage Vyasa (a royal sage who existed around the 15th century BC), who tells the legend of the great sacrifice of King Yanameyaia , the son of Pariksit . It consisted of a ceremony to avenge his father’s death, a sacrifice called “iagña” (in English “yajna” ). Their purpose was to totally destroy the entire Naga race, the serpent gods that could supposedly assume human or serpent forms at will.
In the ritual, the priest invoked the names of snakes while throwing live snakes into the fire. Astika , a human child son of Taksaka (the king of the nagas) intervenes and pleads with Janamejaya to leave his relative alive. These war stories and other narratives were explained as tales that revolved around these long-lasting sacrifices.
The opinion of the Indian historian DD Kosambi is that the “iagña” itself was not so much a tale about a great war as the explanation of the history of the great sacrifice “iagña” . In other words, it was a symbolic ceremony dedicated to their serpent ancestors, while at the same time expelling them from their cultural heritage. In the struggle between the two branches of the Kurus to control the plains in the upper reaches of the Ganges there could be a reference to the wars of the sons of Enlil and Enki in the area of Mesopotamia.
In the Hindu poem, the Pandavas appear to be the victors as they regain most of the kingdom they had previously lost. Begun with the conventional weapons of the period, such as spears, swords, bows and arrows, the war is extended with the use of powerful and magical weapons, provided by the gods on both sides. These weapons took the form of branches of grass that were shot with bows, but produced cataclysmic effects.
After a long war, the Kauravas found themselves lost and desperate in the straits. It is then that they decide to end the war with the use of forbidden tactics. In the middle of the night, they descended when the Pandavas were sleeping, and many of the warriors were slaughtered. Outraged by the breaking of the rules of war and the loss of much of their army, the Pandavas decide that they have no choice but to use their last weapon, the “heavenly weapon” that is capable of defeating all other weapons. .
The leader of the Kauravas decides to throw a blade of grass on which he whispers magical mantras and turns it into a terrifying weapon: “I will direct this weapon on the womb of the Pandava women . He predicts that the Kuru line will be extinguished so that the fetuses will die. His warning comes true because the use of weapons produces sterility in all Pandava women . The god Krishna enters the womb of King Parikshit’s mother to protect him from the great heat generated by the grass weapon. The war between the Kuru cousins finally ends with the extermination of both branches of the family.
Gods snakes dragons in Chinese history
Although the serpent gods were shown in the form of dragons in Chinese history and mythology, there is no doubt that we are talking about the same beings as the winged serpents with legs or the Hindu Nagas . China chose the dragon as the national emblem for profound reasons. They believed that the celestial dragon was the father of the first dynasty of divine emperors and consequently the emblem of the dragon was considered as the representation of divine influence on the land of China .
According to Chinese history, dragons were present at creation and shared the world with humanity. Like the western serpent, the dragon was linked to the development of man; and it was the dragon who taught him the essential arts such as: making fire, weaving fishing nets, and creating music. The Chinese dragon was unmatched in wisdom and its power to confer blessings, as a result, it came to symbolize, more than a benefactor of men, the emperor who was believed to have dragon blood.
This affinity with the dragon is demonstrated in the emblems in all the activities of the emperor: on his throne, on his ships, on his flags. According to Charles Gould , in his classic work on Chinese mythology, the belief in the existence and friendship of the dragon is fully embedded in ancient Chinese history.
In King Vih , the oldest of Chinese books, whose origins are shrouded in mystery, he describes the days when man and dragon lived peacefully together and even had sex. And how the dragon came to represent the emperor and the throne of China , as well as how the main dragon had his home in heaven.
In the year 212 a. n. and. , Emperor Tsin-Shi-Hwang-Ti ordered the destruction of all ancient books and the persecution of enlightened men for a period of four years, which led to 460 sages being buried alive. During this orgy of suppression of ancient knowledge, King Vihit was considered so sacred that it was specifically exempted from the decree. In this respect it is surprising that the ancient library at Alexandria was burned down around this same time period. This library also housed all the most ancient and sacred texts of the civilizations of the East. In this classic work, many of the ancient emperors are described as having dragon characteristics. For example, Emperor Yaou (2356 BC) is said to have been conceived by a dragon father and a human mother. Emperor Shun (2255 BC) is described with the physiognomy of a dragon.
Serpent gods in American and African mythology
Among the Maya of Central America , the symbolism of the serpent was very common. Most of the snakes depicted in his art are feathered, indicating their ability to fly. The ancient Mayan book Chilam balam relates that the first inhabitants of the Yucatan peninsula were the ‘chanes’ (or ‘snake people’), who had come across the sea from the east (the Caribbean islands, or even Europe) led by Itzamna, a serpent god. He was the most important deity in the Mayan pantheon; and as the dominant god, he ruled the heavens. And he is one of the few Mayan gods that is not associated with death and destruction. Itzamna was the creator god, who gave life to man.
Eric Thompson , an expert on Mayan themes, argues that the Mayan term ‘itzem’, from which the god’s name is derived, should be translated as ‘reptile’. According to Thompson, Itzamnal, the city of the god Itzamna , literally means ‘the place of the lizard’. There are also many anthropomorphic forms of the god Itzamna where he is represented as half human and half serpent.
The benevolent serpent god is also found in Aztec mythology . Quetzalcóatl is the feathered serpent god who brought civilization to Mexico and taught the science of astronomy and mathematics to man. Sitchin , an expert in Sumerian culture, identifies Quetzalcoatl with the Nibiruan prince Nannar , the Egyptian Thoth and the Greek Hermes. There could also be a certain relationship with the Asian Buddha .
Legends of serpent gods also abound in African mythology. According to the Dogon ethnic group , in Mali , their god created the sun and the moon, and then the earth from a pile of clay. And finally the first primitive beings who were twins called Nummo , who were half human and half snake or fish. And as we know, the Dogons also put the origin of their gods in Sirius , which the Egyptians referred to as Osiris and Isis .
In the Nyoro tribe , legends say that their god sent the first pair of humans from heaven when he established the world. The man had a tail and produced two girls and a boy. This one resembled a chameleon and was the father of humanity. Other African tribes also refer to their ancestors as lizard-like. The Kumbi , the first men the god created, had tails. The Owe-Ho tribe describes men with tails who descended by a rope to earth. The jagga, their ancestors, came to earth from heaven by the thread of a spider web. And these ancestors were called “those with a tail.”
Instead anthropologists have deduced that our coccyx are just residual bones from our monkey-like ancestors.
