Indian Art: A History of Indian Art from the Earliest Times up to the Third Century A.D. c8.s1.11

c8.s1.11

*Nāgas*, were serpent deities of folk-cult represented both in a human and a serpent form. The conception was rooted in that of Vedic *Ahi*, signifying Vritra as the Dragon of the Deep (*Ahi-budhnya*) and also identified with Ananta, the cosmic serpent. The Nāgas were powers of the subterranean world but also elevated to the rank of Devatās. They typify the principle of Death (*Mṛityu*), and Darkness (*Tamas*) and Untruth (*Anṛita*), as against the Devas symbolising Immortality (*Amṛita*), Light (*Jyotiḥ*) and Truth (*Satyam*). Buddhism accorded to the Nāga deity a place of honour in the pantheon. There occurs an affair with a Nāga in the life of Buddha, Mahāvīra and Kṛiṣhṇa and we find that like the serpent Vṛitra, the genius of evil, vanquished by Indra. Śiva also drinks poison and makes of the serpent an ornament on his body.