[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Studies](https://indike.org/pramana/ins) › [Reference works](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference) › [A Classical Dictionary of Hindu Mythology and Religion, Geography, History, and Literature](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.dowson-1879) › c5.1215 # A Classical Dictionary of Hindu Mythology and Religion, Geography, History, and Literature c5.1215 A Classical Dictionary of Hindu Mythology and Religion, Geography, History, and Literature c5.1215 - **Language:** English ### [c5.1215](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.dowson-1879.c5.1215) NĀGA. - A snake, especially the cobra-capella. A mythical semi-divine being, having a human face with the tail of a serpent, and the expanded neck of the cobra. The race of Nāgas is said to be a thousand in number, and to have sprung from Kadru, the wife of Kasyapa, for the purpose of peopling Pātāla, or the regions below the earth, where they reign in great splendour. From the name of their mother they are called Kādraveyas. Their mother is sometimes called Su-rasā. This dominion was taken from them by the Gandharvas, but they recovered it through their sister, the Narmadā river, who induced Vishnu to send Pratardana to their assistance. Their females were handsome, and some of them intermarried with men, as Ulupī with Arjuna. - [Previous: c5.1214](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.dowson-1879.c5.1214) - [Next: c5.1216](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.dowson-1879.c5.1216) - [Up: c5](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.dowson-1879.c5) --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.dowson-1879.c5.1215](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.dowson-1879.c5.1215) · Pramāṇa