History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v3.c42.18

v3.c42.18

Serpent worship arose from the fears entertained about the deadly effects of snake-bites. The serpent cult is very ancient as the quotation from the Tai. S. cited above shows. Vide also Atharvaveda VIII. 7. 23 and XI. 9. 16 and 24. In the Atharvaveda (VIII. 14. 14-16) the well known names of some mythical serpents viz. Takṣaka, Dhṛtarāṣṭra and Airāvata occur. The dangers from snakes must have intensified in the rainy season when serpents sought shelter in human habitations owing to vast areas being flooded and in search of their prey, viz. mice and frogs &c. Therefore the rite of offering a bali to serpents was performed on the full moon day of Śrāvaṇa and a bali was offered every day to serpents for four months till the full moon of Mārgaśīrṣa on which day took place the Pratyavarohaṇa (re-descent) i. e. discarding the use of cots for sleeping on and using the ground for that purpose. Fergusson in his famous work 'Tree and Serpent worship' (1868) traces serpent worship in the nations of antiquity, such as in Egypt, Judea, Greece &c. In the Mahābhārata *nāgas* figure very frequently. Vide Ādi. 35 and 123. 71, Udyoga 103, 9-16; Anuśāsana 150. 41 (where the names of seven nāgas that support the earth such as Vāsuki, Ananta &c. are specified). In Anuśāsana 14. 55 Śiva is said to have snakes on his body like *yajñopavīta*. The purāṇas are full of the stories of nāgas. Serpent worship continues to this day particularly in South India, but now serpents are worshipped on the 5th of the bright half of Śrāvaṇa instead of on the full moon day of Śrāvaṇa as in the times of the sūtras. This day is now called Nāgapañcamī and some account of it will be given later on under *vratas*. India possesses more varieties of serpents than any single country in the world and the toll of life taken by snake bites is very heavy as compared with any other country.