Dictionary of Pali Proper Names v2.c38.377

v2.c38.377

Stories are given—e.g., in the Bhūridatta Jataka—of Nāgas, both male and female, mating with humans; but the offspring of such unions are watery and delicate (J. vi. 160). The Nāgas are easily angered and passionate, their breath is poisonous, and their glance can be deadly (J. vi. 160, 164). They are carnivorous (J. iii. 361), their diet consisting chiefly of frogs (J. vi. 169), and they sleep, when in the world of men, on ant-hills (ibid., 170). The enmity between the Nāgas and the Garuḷas is proverbial (D. ii. 258). At first the Garuḷas did not know how to seize the Nāgas, because the latter swallowed large stones so as to be of great weight, but they learnt how in the Paṇḍara Jātaka (q.v.). The Nāgas dance when music is played, but it is said (J. vi. 191) that they never dance if any Garuḷa is near (through fear) or in the presence of human dancers (through shame).