{"id":125320,"date":"2014-06-01T12:06:40","date_gmt":"2014-06-01T06:36:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=125320"},"modified":"2014-07-02T03:16:50","modified_gmt":"2014-07-01T21:46:50","slug":"concerning-us-and-the-naga","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/concerning-us-and-the-naga\/","title":{"rendered":"Concerning Us And The \u201cNaga\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Darshanie Ratnawalli<\/span><\/a> –<\/b><\/p>\n

\"<\/a>

Darshanie Ratnawalli<\/p><\/div>\n

Just last week my mother shouted me down when I told her that the god \u201cSakra\u201d of the Buddhist canon was the same as the Aryan god Indra.<\/p>\n

\u201cIndra, the most vividly realized Vedic god, embodies the powerful Aryan warrior\u2026the continuing popularity of Indra, which is reflected in a large number of tales told about the heroic deeds, and even more so about his ability to change his shape at will, his trickery and his sexual adventures\u2026\u00a0 His fame\u2026is still well reflected by his prominent and active position in the Pali canon where he is called Sakka (Skt. < \u015aakra).\u201d \u2013 (pages 55, 83, Witzel and Jamison:1992<\/b>[i]<\/a>– <\/b>full text<\/b><\/a><\/span>)\u00a0 <\/b><\/p>\n

I questioned her concern about Sakra: did she perchance think that he was an integral part of Buddhism proper? She answered, yes the Pali canon described the realities, events and beings actually experienced by the Buddha; the Sakra whom the Buddha actually met and conversed with was therefore integral and not some Vedic flotsam; kindly stop holding such \u2018mitya dristi\u2019<\/i>. Was she aware, I asked, of how many Vedic continuities there are in the canon? What about the Buddha\u2019s attitude towards women or more glaringly his attitude towards the Asuras? According to the Pali canon, Rahu, the Asura, listened to a sermon of the Buddha which brought enlightenment to many in the assembly, but not to him, who, as an Asura, was unfit. Where did she think that came from if not from Buddhism\u2019s anchorage in the Vedic myth pool?<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2026one of the most characteristic aspects of Brahmanic mythology is the ceaseless rivalry between the gods (Devas) and their kin, the so-called Asuras. Perhaps hundreds of mythic episodes in Vedic prose texts begin with the sentential formula “The Devas and the Asuras were in contention”.\u201d- (p60- 61, <\/i>ibid<\/i><\/a><\/span>)<\/p>\n

Reflect mother, I told her, if the Buddha\u2019s lifetime (400 BC in actuality) had fallen a thousand years earlier, the Asura Rahu might have qualified for instant enlightenment. For, at its earliest chronological layers [represented by the Rigveda (1700-1200 BC[ii]<\/a>)], Vedic thought regarded both Devas and Asuras as gods. It was only later in the post Rigvedic texts, that Asuras become demon like. (p8, Witzel:2001[iii]<\/a>– full text<\/a><\/span>)<\/p>\n

I brought all these creatures – my mother, the god Sakra and the Asura Rahu – into this article for a purpose: to introduce the common Indo-Aryan myth pool and some of the most prolific and widespread creatures to come out of it, the Nagas. By \u2018common Indo-Aryan myth pool\u2019 I mean the shared lore and ideologies that belong particularly to the cultural milieu of peoples who spoke and speak the Old Indo Aryan, Middle Indo Aryan and New Indo Aryan languages. Of course, the fact that it was a dominant cultural milieu meant that even people belonging to other speech communities waded into this pool and took its creatures to their cultural bosoms. On the other side of the coin, some of the most fecund and multiplying creatures in the IA myth pool may have crept there initially, from the myth pools of pre-Aryan populations. Kashmir for instance, \u201cmay not have been Vedic from early on\u201d- (p7, Witzel: 1999a[iv]<\/a>– full text<\/a><\/span>)<\/p>\n

\u201cThe prehistory of Kashmir is little known\u2026 the Vedic texts, which know of the neighboring Indus valley do not mention Kashmir by name. It is first mentioned by name only by the grammarian Pata\u00f1jali (150 BCE)\u2026 The native Kashmiri texts (R\u0101jatara\u1e45gin\u012b, N\u012blamata Pur\u0101na\u2026), however, know of the previous populations, the Pi\u015b\u0101ca ‘ghouls’ and the N\u0101ga ‘snakes’ (that can change into human shape at will). These are common Indian names for ‘aboriginals’; cf. the Tib.-Burm. Naga tribe on the Burmese border. Yet, these designations may retain some historical memory. The chief of the Pi\u015b\u0101ca is called Nikumbha (Nikumba in Milindapa\u00f1ho), and the Nagas have such ‘foreign’ names such as<\/p>\n

Karko\u1e6da, A\u1e6da, Ba\u1e0di, Bahabaka, C\u0101\u1e6dara, Cikura, Cukkaka, etc. The list of some 600 Kashmir Naga names in the local Nilamatapurana contains many such non-Sanskritic names; they have not been studied…\u201d- \u00a0\u00a0(P6, Witzel: 1999b[v]<\/a>– full text<\/span>) <\/a><\/p>\n

The Naga Cult <\/b><\/p>\n

Even if we were illiterate peasants living in rural Sri Lanka, using only a small transistor radio for entertainment, there are certain Naga allusions that we would not be able to escape. Such as: the Naga raja named Ananta (I can\u2019t recall how he first came into my consciousness. Not through reading.); Mucalinda, a poison called Hala-hala (from popular songs); Erandati and her mom Vimala, Maniakkikha, Chulodara-Mahodara and, of course Naga Deepa. For illiterate peasants in Kashmir, it\u2019s even worse. \u201cDown to the present day, the word nag is used in used in Kashmir to indicate the source of a river or rivulet\u201d<\/i>– (p220, Jean Philippe Vogel:1926[vi]<\/a>–full text<\/a><\/span>). Even if the peasant Kashmiri was a Muslim, he could not escape the accumulated weight of centuries of Nagas.<\/p>\n

\u201c\u201cFrom early times\u201d, Sir Aurel Stein says, \u201cconsiderable importance must have been attached to their worship, as is proved by the long account given of them in the Nilamata, by the numerous temples erected near the more famous springs, and the popularity and undoubtedly ancient origin of the pilgrimages directed to the later. The belief in Nagas is fully alive also in the Muhammadan population of the valley, which in many places has not ceased to pay a kind of superstitious respect and ill-disguised worship to these deities. The popular conception of the Nagas, as now current, represents them under the form of snakes, living in the water of the springs or lakes protected by them\u201d\u201d-\u00a0(p220, Vogel:1926-full text<\/a><\/span>) \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

\u00a0In Kashmir, Nagas still live under the surface. Literally. Or is it metaphorically? \u201c\u2026Anatnag or Anantanaga, in Kashmir as the name indicates (the modern name of the place is Islamabad), is connected with the worship of the world-serpent Sesha.\u201d<\/i>– (p198, ibid<\/a><\/span>).<\/p>\n

Ironically you could not escape the Nagas even in China and Japan. \u00a0Under the mythical skin of every dragon lurks a Buddhist Naga.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u201c\u2026another important source of Naga lore, namely, the narratives of the Chinese pilgrims, those fervent Buddhists who undertook the long and dangerous journey to India to visit the sacred relics in the holy land of their Faith. Fa-Hien (A.D. 399-414) was the earliest of these pious palmers, but it is especially the great Hiuen Tsiang (A.D 629-45), whose itinerary contains a wealth of legendary lore regarding the Nagas. The Chinese writers usually refer to the Nagas under the name of \u2018dragons\u2019 and it cannot be doubted that the character of the dragon, as it appears in the folklore and literature of China, is partly derived from the Indian conception of the Naga.\u201d- (p94, ibid)<\/p>\n

The earliest sources where the cult of the Nagas is attested are the Vedas. They \u201cwere orally composed (roughly, between 1500\u2013500 BCE) in parts of present day Afghanistan, northern Pakistan and northern India\u201d[vii]<\/a> by tribes speaking Vedic Sanskrit and other Old Indo-Aryan (OIA) languages and dialects and designating themselves and their language as \u201carya\u201d[viii]<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cA much neglected topic also is that of snake worship. First of all, it is difficult to draw a clear line between the concepts of snakes (sarpa) and the half-human n\u0101ga. These deities, subterranean counterparts of the heavenly gandharva, represent the other, chthonic side of humans after death (as opposed to the heavenly one, as pit\u1e5bs). Famous persons such as Dh\u1e5btar\u0101\u1e63\u1e6d\u1e5ba appear also as N\u0101gas. Just like the Gandharva\/Apsaras they intermarry with humans\u2026 Snake worship as such has been attested since the RV (Rigveda). While the word n\u0101ga occurs only from the AV (Atharvaveda, around 1200\/1000 BC[ix]<\/b><\/a>, my parentheses) onwards, snakes are mentioned already in the RV\u2026It is interesting to record that many of the snake names occurring in the AV still are those of snake deities in modern Bengal where the worship of a special snake deity, Manas\u0101 is prominent. Others, such a AVP (a version of AV, my parenthesis[x]<\/a>) \u015aarko\u1e6da, survive in the name of Karko\u1e6da\/K\u0101rko\u1e6da, one of the major N\u0101gas of Kashmir and Nepal\u201d. – (p84, Witzel and Jamison: 1992-full text<\/a><\/span>)<\/p>\n

\n

@ http:\/\/ratnawalli.blogspot.com\/<\/a>\u00a0 and rathnawalli@gmail.com<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n
\n

[i]<\/a> \u201cVedic Hinduism\u201d<\/i><\/b> <\/i>by S. W. Jamison and Michael Witzel (1992)- Full text<\/a><\/p>\n

[ii]<\/a> For the dating of the Rigveda, see p3, Witzel:1999, \u201cSubstrate Languages in Old Indo-Aryan (Rigvedic, Middle and Late Vedic)\u201d<\/i> <\/b>– full text<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

[iii] M. Witzel, 2001, \u201cAutochthonous Aryans? The Evidence from Old Indian and Iranian Texts.<\/i>\u201d<\/b>– Full text<\/a><\/p>\n

[iv]<\/a> M. Witzel, \u201cAryan and non-Aryan Names in Vedic India. Data for the linguistic situation, c.1900-500 B.C.\u201d <\/i><\/b>\u2013 (Full text<\/a>) in: J. Bronkhorst & M. Deshpande (eds.), Aryans and Non-Aryans, Evidence, Interpretation and Ideology. Cambridge (Harvard Oriental Series, Opera Minora 3). 1999, 337-404.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

[v]<\/a> Witzel, \u201cEarly Sources for South Asian Substrate Languages\u201d<\/i><\/b> (<\/i>Full text<\/i><\/a>), <\/i>\u00a0Mother Tongue (extra number), October 1999, pp.1-70<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

[vi]<\/a> 1972, 1926, English, Book, Illustrated edition: \u201cIndian serpent-lore; or, The n\u0101gas in Hindu legend and art<\/i>\u201d-<\/b>(full text<\/a>) by Vogel, J. Philippe (Jean Philippe), 1871-1951.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

[vii]<\/a> See page 2 of M. Witzel:1999, \u201cSubstrate Languages in Old Indo-Aryan (Rigvedic, Middle and Late Vedic)\u201d<\/i> <\/b>\u2013(full text<\/a>)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

[viii] See page 3 of M. Witzel, 2001, \u201cAutochthonous Aryans? The Evidence from Old Indian and Iranian Texts.<\/i>\u201d<\/b>– Full text<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

[ix] For an approximate dating of the Vedic Corpus see pages 5-6, M. Witzel, 2001, \u201cAutochthonous Aryans? The Evidence from Old Indian and Iranian Texts.<\/i>\u201d<\/b>– Full text<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

[x] See pages 3 and 57 of\u00a0 M. Witzel:1999, \u201cSubstrate Languages in Old Indo-Aryan (Rigvedic, Middle and Late Vedic)\u201d<\/i> <\/b>\u2013(full text<\/a>)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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