00101402 00101402 00101402 Digitized with financial assistance from on 28 December, 2018 L' INDIAN SERPENT-LORE OR THE NAHAS IN HINDU LEGEND AND ART PLATE T. Nagaraja of A janta . {Frontispiece INDIAN SERPENT-LORE OE THE NAGAS IN HINDU LEGEND AND ART BY J. PH. VOGEL, P h.D., Profttior o f Sanskrit and Indian Archfeology in the University o f Leyden, Holland, Late Superintendent, Archaeological Survey o f India. JVITH THIRTY PLATES ARTHUR PROBSTHAIN 41 GREAT RUSSELL STREET, LONDON, W.C. 1926 f f 1 ‘ J S,. I V ’ j; I PRINTED BY STEPHEN AUSTIN & SONS, LTD.. PORE STREET, HERTFORD. TO MY FBIEND AND TEACHER, C. C. UHLENBECK, THIS VOLUME IS DEDICATED. ERRATUM. On pp. 49 ff. instead of Ka^yapa read KaSyapa. PEEFACE JT is with grateful acknowledgment that I dedicate this volume to my friend and colleague, Professor C. C. Uhlenbeck, Ph.D., who, as my guru at the University of Amsterdam, was the first to introduce me to a knowledge of the mysterious Naga world as revealed in the archaic prose of the Paushyafarvan. In the summer of the year 1901 a visit to the Kulu valley brought me face to face with people who still pay reverence to those very serpent-demons known from early Indian literature. In the course of my subsequent wanderings through the Western Himalayas, which in their remote valleys have preserved so many ancient beliefs and customs, I had ample opportunity for collecting information regarding the worship of the Nagas, as it survives up to the present day. Other nations have known or still practise this form of animal worship. But it would be difficult to quote another instance in which it takes such a prominent place in literature folk-lore, and art, as it does in India. Nor would it be possible to name another country where the development of this cult can be studied during a period which may be estimated at no less than three millennia. During so vast a space of time the deified serpents have haunted the imagination of the people of Hind. But even more astonishing is the endless variety of aspect under which the Nagas appear in Indian literature and art. We meet, on the one hand, with the primitive type of the reptile endowed with the magic properties which we are wont to associate with the dragon of Western fable. On the other hand, the Naga frequently has the character of a water-spirit. Again, he may be able to assume any form he chooses, and commonly appears in human shape. In Brahmanical legend he may become a pious ascetic, in Buddhist lore he may even develop into a self-denying saint Very often these various types appear strangely blended. In the present volume it has been my object to collect the legends relating to the Nagas which are found in the Brahmanical and Buddhist literature of India. We do not pretend that in that gigantic body of literary tradition there may not be a Naga story which has escaped our notice. The three chief repositories of serpent-lore—^the Mahabharata, the Jataka Book, and the Rajatarahgini—have, at least, been fully utilized. But for the rest it is questionable whether much would have been gained by aiming at completeness. The stories here presented will certainly suffice to show the Nagas in that great variety of aspect to which reference has been made. As the story-teUers of ancient India were fond of indulging in repetition and detail. vm PREFACE it appeared often unavoidable to curtail the narrative considerably. In doing so it has been our endeavour to retain something of the exotic flavour of the Eastern tale, and, in particular, to preserve any such features as may be of interest for our present subject. While freely utilizing existing translations we have not refrained from making such alterations as seemed to be called for either for the sake of philological accuracy or on account of the general style of the book. The sculptures reproduced in our plates have been partly selected for their aesthetic or archaeological interest, partly because they illustrate the legends contained in the text. My obligations for assistance rendered in various ways are numerous. For the supply of photographs to illustrate my boob, I am much indebted to Sir John Marshall, Kt., C.I.E., M.A., Litt.D., Director-General of Archaeology in India, and to the various officers of his Department; to Sir Aurel Stein, Kt., C.I.E., Ph.D .; to Mr. Eamaprasad Chanda, M.A., Officer in charge of the Archaeological Section, Imperial Museum, Calcutta; to the Curators of the Provincial Museums at Lahore and Lucknow; to Mr. R. Narasimhachar, late Director of Archaeological Researches, Mysore State; to Mr. F. D. K. Bosch, Ph.D., Director of the Archaeological Smvey of Netherlands-India ; to M. Louis Finot, Directeur de I’^cole Fran^aise d’Extreme-Orient, H anoi; to Mr. C. Stanley Clarke, Curator Indian Section, Victoria and Albert Museum, South Kensington ; to Mr. T. A. Joyce, of the British Museum, and to M. Delaporte, Conservateur, Musee du Trocadero, Paris. Among the persons who have helped me with information I wish to mention Mr. Dines Andersen, Ph.D., Professor of Pali in the University of Copenhagen; Rev. T. Grahame Bailey, P h.D .; Mr. J. J. L. Du)rvendak, Reader of Chinese in the University of Leyden; Rev. A. H. Francke, Ph.D .; Sir George Grierson, K.C.I.E., Ph.D., Litt.D., I.C.S. (ret.); Pandit Hirananda Sastrl, M.A., M.O.L., Superintendent for Epigraphy ; Mr. Sten Konow, Ph.D., Professor of Sanskrit in the University of Kristiania ; Pandit Nityananda, Srinagar, Kashmir ; Babu Prayag Dayal, Curator Provincial Museum, Lucknow; M. J. Przyluski, Professeur a I’^cole des Langues Orientales, Paris ; Mr. B. Sanjiva Rao, Principal Queen’s College, Benares ; Mr. H. A. Rose, I.C.S. (ret.); Mr. H. Lee Shuttleworth, I.C.S. (ret.); M. Philippe Stern, Musee Guimet, Paris. My special thanks are due to Mrs. Kuenen-Wicksteed, and to my friend. Sir Thomas W. Arnold, C.I.E., Litt.D., Professor of Arabic in the University of London, for their great care in revising my manuscript. J. P h . V o g e l . CONTENTS CHAP. PAOB. I ntroduction 1 I. T h e N a g a s i n t h e G r e a t Erie 47 The origin of the Naga race . 49 v^ h e wager of Kadru and Vinata 50 \^The rape of the soma by Garuda 51 The myth of Sesha, the World Serpentv^. 57 How the Nagas held council . 58 The hermit Jaratkaru and the snake-maiden Jaratkaru 59 The Brahmin Uttanka and the Serpent-king Takshaka 61 v ^ o w King Parikshit was killed by the Naga Takshakac^ . 66 The Serpent Sacrifice v^. ...... 69 \-.How the boy Bhimasena was healed of poison and saved by the 71 Vitrjuna and U l u p i ........................................................... 74 Arjuna and Asvasena the son of Takshaka . 77 •vKing Nala and the Naga Karkotaka .... 80 Matali, the charioteer of Indra, in search of a son-in-law . 81 The Gleaner. Story of the wise and virtuous Naga Padmanabha who drew the one-wheeled chariot of the Sun-god 84 M fow Krishna overcame the Naga Kaliya 87 How Akrura beheld the World of Serpents 91 II. T h e N a g a s a n d t h e B u d d h a . 93 The Birth of the Bodhisattva 95 The river Nairanjana .... 97 The Bodhisattva extolled by the Naga Kalika 98 How the Serpent-king Muchilinda sheltered the Lord Buddha 102 The Nagaraja Elapattra questions the Buddha 105 How the Lord Buddha subdued the fiery dragon of Uruvilva 107 How a certain Naga was ordained as a Buddhist friar 110 How the Elder Svagata subdued the Naga of the Mango Ferry 111 The Great Miracle of SravastI ..... 113 How the Nagarajas Krishna and Gautamaka came to hear the Good Law ....... 115 CONTENTS CHAP. PAGE How the Buddha crossed the river Gahga with the aid of the Nagas . 116 The Nagarajas Girika and Vidyujjvala banished by King Bimbisara 118 How the Naga kings Mahodara and Chulodara were reconciled by the Buddha ....... 118 The Naga Gopala appointed the guardian of the Buddha’s shadow 120 The Naga Apalala subdued by the Buddha 121 The ^akya youth who married a snake-maiden and became king of Udyana . .................................................. 123 The Nagas obtain a share of the Buddha’s holy relics 125 The Stupa of Ramagrama guarded by the Nagas 127 The tooth-relic of the Buddha entrusted to the Nagas 130 III. T h e N a g a s i n t h e J a t a k a s .... 132 The Naga and the birds .... 136 The foolish raftsmen and the angry Naga 137 The story of Dardara the exiled Naga 137 How King Senaka received a charm from a Nagaraja 138 The story of the greedy merchants . 139 The old w e l l ................................................. 140 The Naga Pandura who let his secret out 141 How a Naga and a Suparna were reconciled through ;he holy influence of a hermit ...... 142 Vidhura the Wise ...... 143 Prince Padma sheltered by a Naga 145 The pious layman and the barber 146 The hermit and the too tender Naga 148 The virtuous Naga Sahkhapala 150 The Naga Champaka who was caught by a snake-charmer 151 The story of the wise and virtuous Naga Bhuridatta 154 IV. T h e N a g a s i n F a b l e s a n d F a i r y - t a l e s .