Vasuki

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Vishnu as Narayana on the coiled body of the world serpent Ananta-Shesha, Dashavatara temple , Deogarh (around 500)

Vasuki ( Sanskrit वासुकि vāsuki m.) Is a king of the snakes ( Nagas ) in Indian mythology . It plays its most important role as a rope in the creation myth of the whisking of the milk ocean . Vasuki is also an attribute of Shiva , around whose neck he is depicted.

In a time before the creation of the world, the world serpent Ananta-Shesha rested at the bottom of the cosmic ocean, on which, according to Hindu and early Buddhist stories, Vishnu lies or sits as Narayana . As the first act of creation, a lotus bud emerged from Narayana's navel, on which Brahma sits as the personified aspect of creation of Vishnu.

The "infinite" Shesha with a thousand heads is assigned to Vishnu, Vasuki with a jeweled crown on his head belongs to the circle of gods around Shiva, but in most myths it is just a different name for the same snake.

Indian serpent kings in creation myths

Under both names, the snake in its original quality is a symbol of cosmic energy for the act of creation. The fact that snakes renew themselves again and again by molting fits into the idea of ​​periodically recurring world ages .

Shesha - Vasuki

Shiva as Nataraja. Chola dynasty, 11th century. Attributes: In the hair the river goddess Ganga, in the upper right hand the hourglass drum Damaru as a sign of creation, in the left open palm fire as a symbol of the destruction of the universe. Shiva himself in the middle unites the polarities, he stands with one foot on Apasmara , the demon of blindness, who has to be overcome on the way to salvation. Surrounded by aureole flames . High point of the South Indian bronze casting.

There is a difference in the temperament of the two main gods and the respective snakes, at least as far as their actions in the creation stories are concerned: Narayana rests immersed in meditation, almost dreaming ahead, he lets the world arise. The nine-headed snake Shesha (“the one who remains”, “the rest”), which remains at the primordial ground after the world has been created, fits this. With the broad, inflated heads of the Shesha, all subsequent serpent beings are represented. Even when Narayana sits on Shesha as Adimurti (“first apparition”), with the snake heads shielding his head, he exudes a mature serenity.

Shiva wears the snake, especially in northern India, as a symbol of cosmic energy and derived from it as a symbol of fertility. Shiva's work unfolds in the movement, which can reach up to ecstasy when he turns around in order to create the world as Nataraja in cosmic dance. Shiva is also the active agent when he drinks the blue poison while whisking the ocean of milk, which Vasuki, wrapped as a rope around the mountain Mandara, spits out when being turned. The starting point is not the primal unity, but polarities that he brings together. With snakes around his neck and wrist, he merges with his wife Parvati to form a primal couple.

Descent of the snakes

The snakes that live in palaces in the underworld region ( Patala ) were worshiped for their magical powers as early as pre-Aryan times. Snake stones ( Nagakal ) of the folk cults can be found numerous in fields and within the temples of the high gods. There are said to be around a thousand Nagas populating the Patala region, all of whom, including Vasuku and Shesha, descended from Kadru , the snake mother and daughter of Daksha , the goat-headed son of Brahma, and the holy Kashyapa . Kashyapa is also the father of all devas (demigods), asuras (demons) and humans. This history of ancestry is in the Mahabharata , otherwise the Vishnu Purana is most productive for creation myths , there the story is described similarly.

If Shesha is depicted as human, then it is purple with a white necklace and a plow and pestle in his hands. The underworld palaces are described as luxurious, nicknames are Mani-mandapa ("jewel palace") or Mani-bhitti ("jewel-surrounded"). Vasuki's crown is also called Mani-dwipa ("island of jewels").

The origin of snake worship is pre-Hindu and goes back to the industrial culture . Seals with snakes as adorants have been found in Mohenjo-Daro . On seals of this time, middle of the 3rd millennium BC BC, you can also see Pashupati ("Lord of the Animals"), who is revered to this day in northern India and Nepal and, along with the Vedic gods Rudra ("storm wind") and Agni ("fire"), was the forerunner of Shiva. The pashupati, with bull horns on his head, sits in the middle between smaller animals and is framed by two curved snakes.

Water element

One of the eight world guardians is Varuna, who embodied the heavenly waters in the early Vedic times and later became the god of the sea and rain. In this capacity his attributes are lotus, shell and snake, with which the element water is generally symbolized.

Descent of the Ganga. Mahabalipuram, 7th century. Natural crevice in the middle of the 14 m high and 32 m wide granite rock. Over 100 figures in total. On the left a square Vimana temple, above it Arjuna (according to Mahabharata) or Bhagiratha (according to Ramayana) in asceticism, next to it adorants kneeling, on the right further snakes in adoration gestures

One of the largest bas-reliefs in India was carved out of a rock face in Mahabalipuram in southern India in the 7th century and is called "Arjuna's penance" because it shows the hero from the Mahabharata standing ascetically on one leg, or "Descent of the Ganga" because the same ascetic as king Bhagiratha is interpreted. In ancient times, holy Ganga had withdrawn to heaven. King Bhagiratha left his kingdom, went to the Himalayas and after staying in this position for a thousand years he was forced to have a wish with Brahma. He wanted the water of the Ganga back on earth so that he could finally perform the funeral rite on his ancestors. The Ganga flowed down the 32-meter-long rock face with such force that only Shiva's hair could slow down the water. A crevice in the middle shows Ganga, symbolized by the huge serpent king with a human upper body and a cobra hood. As he winds upwards, his somewhat smaller companion, the snake queen ( Nagini ) , follows him . Another snake rises below.

Snakes appear at the beginning of the rainy season. Water and the earth from which they crawl indicate fertility. That is why the Nagakals, votive stones that show snake reliefs such as two braid-like, symmetrically arranged snakes or a personified pair of snakes, are located on lakes, under trees or in the outer areas of temples that are visited by women who want to have children. Numerous temples were built on lakes or springs, some of them became supraregional pilgrimage centers. The snake found its way into the names of Indian cities as part of the word “Naga”, “Nag”. In the Indian folk cult, a myth remains alive with the snake pair that dates back to the 3rd millennium BC. In the Indus Valley and also in Mesopotamia .

Vishnu as a boar

Through negation , pairs emerge as opposites that act as opposing forces. The world-bearing Shesha is faced with a giant snake that suddenly breaks order. At the beginning of the current world age , this serpent tore down the earth that Brahma had just completed into the primordial ocean. In the following story, Vishnu is supposed to be bestowed with creative power over Brahma's world, it is one of the numerous diving myths. The well from which something had to be lifted is here the primeval ocean, at the bottom of which Vishnu in the form of the boar Varaha overpowered the serpent. In doing so, he freed the earth and brought it back to the surface. There is the same world under negative signs, through the destruction of which a new age can begin.

Temple reliefs usually show a different version of the story: Instead of the snake, Varaha destroys the demon Hiranyaksha , who comes to lie under his feet, defeated. The boar carries the earth on its tusks as a graceful female figure, Bhu-Devi .

Vishnu as a fish

A version of the Flood myth is portrayed in the Matsya Purana. Noah here corresponds to Manu Satyavrata. The first person got the little fish Matsya , a figure of Vishnu, into his hands. He raised it in larger and larger jars and, because it had grown so big, had to finally hand it over to the ocean, where Matsya grew into a giant fish. Matsya foretold the flood before which Satyavrata fled into a ship with his own people, all animals and seeds. Matsya used Vasuki as a rope to pull the ship to Mount Kailash . The demon Hayagriva , who had to be destroyed by Matsya , appeared as the floodbringer and opponent of Vishnu . The descent of Vishnu in ten different forms, the first of which is Matsya, have the main task of restoring the order of the world or of people.

Milky Ocean

Swirls of the milk ocean, Phnom Da , Cambodia

The best known use of Vasuki as a rope is in the creation story of the whisking of the milk ocean, which is mentioned in variations in the most important holy scriptures. In his second descent as Kurma , Vishnu had to dive into the primordial ocean in order to lift Mount Mandara and give it a firm hold. It is the battle between gods ( suras ) and demons ( asuras ) for supremacy in the world; in individual cases there is a dispute about the immortality potion Amrita , which is necessary to ensure this supremacy. In order to win Amrita from the milk ocean , the parties alternately pulled at both ends of the Vasuki, which was looped around the mountain as a rope. The mountain turned. Overworked by the whisking, the snake spat the blue poison Halahala, which began to paralyze and blind both parties. Because Shiva collected the poison in a bowl and drank to save gods and demons, he was nicknamed Nilakantha ("blue throat"). He is still holding the poison bowl in his lower right hand. At the end of the story, 14 treasures were extracted from the Milky Ocean that the gods will need later. The demons were degraded because the Amrita could be withheld from them, and the world was in balance.

Cambodia was under Indian influence from the 4th century. From the 7th century until the fall of the Khmer Empire , the story of the whisking of the milk ocean on temple facades was carved in stone, more often than in India. No representation is more elegant and more elaborate in the details than the almost 50 meter long relief at Angkor Wat from the 13th century. On this length 91 demons and opposite 88 gods were accommodated, some holding the head end, the others the tail tightly.

Vasuki as protector

Krishna dances on the five heads of the snake demon Kaliya , whom he previously had to conquer, honored by Naginis (snake ladies) instead of the usual gopis (shepherdesses). One of the jokes of the youthful Krishna. Upper half of a palace scene with a tree of life . Originated under the influence of the Mughal . Miniature in manuscript of the Bhagavata Purana . Bundi school around 1640. Rajasthan

Handling the cosmic snake in everyday life is careful. The creation of the world is repeated in the construction of a house. With the fortification of the building ground (the earth), the snake must be held, which, lying in chaos, carries the world. Rituals are performed so that the Nagabandha snake, which rotates in the ground under the building over the course of the year, is banned, and so that order is initially established. Then the snake ensures a good connection between the underworld and the human world.

The eighth descent of Vishnu is the dark-skinned human form of Krishna , who in his later years before the great battle described in the Bhagavad Gita reveals himself to be the divine. In the 10th chapter Krishna reveals to the listening Arjuna in a list the most important things in the world as part of himself and his creation. He names the stars, the world mountain ( Meru ), gods (Suras), demons ( Asuras ), also the first elephant Airavata and in verse 28 he particularly emphasizes Vasuki from the snakes.

The importance attached to the snakes favors their role as responsible guardians. Gatekeepers ( Dvarapala ) at temple portals can be terrifying giants with protruding eyes, like those between India and Bali who guard the sacred area with a club in hand.

In Buddhism

Meditating Buddha, guarded by Muchalinda. Wat Chedi Chet Thaeo, Si Satchanalai, 14th century. Thailand. Sukhothai style

Less martial, but more relaxed and devoted, pairs of snakes guard the portals. With this quality, as already mentioned, they appeared for the first time on seals of Mohenjo-Daro and were able to fit into the new religion of Buddhism from the beginning . Personified snakes at the entrance to the early Buddhist Ruanweli- Dagoba in the city of Anuradhapura (Sri Lanka), which dates from around 400 BC, are a symbol of fertility and guardian of earthly waters . Was founded. Snakes worshiped, served and guarded the enlightened one .

Buddhist legend calls a serpent king Muchalinda , a giant snake that lived between roots on the ground. When Muchalinda saw an unusual storm appear in the sky, he went to the meditating Buddha, wrapped his body around him seven times and protected his head with his snake hood. When the storm and rain stopped after seven days, the serpent king transformed into a young man bowing reverently to the Buddha. This resulted in the often exquisitely designed motif of the seated Buddha on the snake in Khmer Buddhist art from the 9th century onwards.

Nagarjuna , who, according to legend, was inaugurated by the serpent kings and introduced the teaching of Mahayana Buddhism in the 2nd century , is also shown seated and shielded by seven snake heads . His original name Arjuna was supplemented with the "Naga" addition in the course of the mythologization.

The Naga kingdom in the underworld, told of in the Buddhist Bhuridatta - Jataka , is portrayed as so luxurious that the contrast to the asceticism, which the Naga prince Bhuridatta prefers in solitude, becomes even clearer. The story itself is extravagant, a template for wall paintings in Thai wats and shows as a moral the peacefulness and devotion of the snakes to the Buddha. The anthill, on which Bhuridatta retires for meditation, otherwise marks the entry into the underworld of snakes. Snakes were welcome guests at Buddha's sermons.

Guarding and at the same time representative, these snakes turned into long Naga balustrades, like those lining the access routes of the Buddhist temples of Angkor Thom and Preah Khan . With their mouths wide open, snakes flank the staircases of the various buildings in Thai and Laotian wats. However, in the latter, they are fused with the Chinese dragon symbol.

In Jainism

Although Buddhism as a reform movement opposed the hierarchical structures of the Hindu gods and the secular caste system and also rejected the sacrificial cult, ancient Indian myths were incorporated or adapted unchanged in the new faith. The same is true of Jainism . The historical founder Mahavira and his 23 mythological forerunners ( Tirthankaras - ford riders) are always shown as standing or lingering in the lotus position , naked or little dressed. Often they are supported and protected by a snake winding up on its back and surmounted by a broadly spanned snake's head, which represents both a nimbus and a Buddhist umbrella of honor.

Regarding the meaning of snakes in Jainism, reference should be made to an old board game that appeared for the first time as a Jain version in the 16th century under the name Gyanbazi .

Extensions

Manasa. Clay figure under a roof. Sundarbans , West Bengal
  • Vasuki's sister in the Puranas is Manasa , a Hindu folk goddess from northeast India. Its Buddhist counterpart is called Janguli . She is depicted as a light-skinned woman with a red sari standing on her Vahana , a snake. In her benevolent aspect she protects people from snake bites (nickname: Vishahara - poison destroyer) and is therefore mostly worshiped in the country with small clay figures. Added to this is the fertility aspect common to snakes. Occasionally she is seen as the daughter of Shiva with an unnamed mortal, and the rejection by stepmother Parvati results in her quick-tempered and destructive side. If she was missing an eye, the stepmother burned it out. In the Mahabharata her marriage to the ascetic Jagatkaru is told, from which connection arose son Astika , who saved the life of the serpent Takshaka, is a serpent king and in the Mahabharata plays an important role as an opponent of the Pandavas .
  • Airavata : On the mythological relationship between snakes and elephants.
  • The theme of the Buddha protecting serpent started with Muchalinda. In Tibetan Buddhism , too , Buddha sits as Nagaraja ("snake king") in meditation posture on a snake. The antagonist of Buddha Manjushri , the angry Nagaraksha ("snake demon"), also sits with his snake abdomen on a snake.
  • In Mahayana Buddhism there are eight great Naga kings who were among the Buddha's audience. One of them is called Vasuki. They turned into eight dragon kings (Japanese Hachi Ryūō ) in Chinese and Japanese stories.
  • Kundalini : The Middle Eastern folk cult of snakes as a symbol for fertility and vitality, first mentioned in India in the Atharva Veda , became a central part of the new esotericism through tantrism .

literature

Modern statue of Shiva, Gujarat . The snake Vasuki winds around his neck and torso, while smaller snakes wind around his upper arms and wrists.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. vāsuki . In: Monier Monier-Williams : Sanskrit-English Dictionary . Clarendon Press, Oxford 1899, p. 948, col. 3 .
  2. Mahabharata, Adi Parva 13-58
  3. Anneliese and Peter Keilhauer: The visual language of Hinduism. The Indian world of gods and their symbolism . Cologne 1983, p. 115 f.
  4. ^ Heinrich Zimmer : Indian Myths and Symbols. Vishnu, Shiva and the wheel of rebirths. Cologne 1981, p. 88 ff.
  5. English text about the whirling of the milk ocean in the Mahabharata, Astika Parva, chap. 18, in Ramayana, chap. 45 and in Vishnu-Purana, chap. 9.
  6. Klaus Fischer and Christa-M. Friederike Fischer: Indian architecture from the Islamic period. Baden-Baden 1976, pp. 20,94,95. - Nagabandha is also the name of the snake belt around Ganesh's belly.
  7. Helen Ibbitson Jessup: Art & Architecture of Cambodia. London 2004, pp. 155 + 179. Bronze sculptures are shown.
  8. Elizabeth Wray, Clare Rosenfield, et al. a .: Ten Lives of the Buddha. Siamese Temple Paintings and Jataka Tales. New York 1972, pp. 63-69. Buddha-Images.com: Bhuridatta Jataka. Online text identical, images similar.
  9. Pratapaditya Pal: The Peaceful Liberators. Jain Art from India. Thames and Hudson, Los Angeles 1994. Sitting Jain sculptures with snake: pp. 132, 134. Standing: pp. 31, 32, 71, 135, 156.
  10. ^ V & A: Snakes and Ladders ( Memento from June 11, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
  11. Sumanta Sanyal: Manasa. In: Encyclopedia Mythica. ( Memento of the original from May 16, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Photo stone relief Manasa: FU-Berlin: Bangladesh picture gallery. The child in her arms is her son Astika. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.pantheon.org
  12. Himalayan Art: Representation of Buddha as Nagaraja.
  13. Himalayan Art: Illustration by Nagaraksha.
  14. Mark Schumacher: Photo Dictionary Japanese Buddhist Statuary.