First Storey

About Nagas

Nāga (Sanskrit: नाग, IAST: nāgá, IPA: [nəɡá], Javanese: någå, Khmer: នាគ neak, Thai: นาค nak, Chinese: 那伽, Tibetan: ཀླུ་, Bengali: নাগ) is the Sanskrit and Pāli word for a deity or class of entity or being, taking the form of a very great snake—specifically the King Cobra, found in Hinduism and Buddhism. The use of the term nāga is often ambiguous, as the word may also refer, in similar contexts, to one of several human tribes known as or nicknamed "Nāgas"; to elephants; and to ordinary snakes, particularly the King Cobra and the Indian Cobra, the latter of which is still called nāg in Hindi and other languages of India. A female nāga is a nāgī or nāginī.

Traditions about nāgas are also very common in all the Buddhist countries of Asia. In many countries, the nāga concept has been merged with local traditions of great and wise serpents or dragons. In Tibet, the nāga is equated with the klu, that dwells in lakes such as the holy Lake Manosarovar (Mapam Yumco) or underground streams and it guards over treasures. Usually depicted as having a human upper body and a serpent lower body with multiple snakes forming an auerole behind their heads, they are considered as beings of the animal realm, albeit with higher intelligence and limited supernatural powers. They are also credited to have safeguarded the Prajnaparamita Sutras when these—the principal Mahayana teachings—disappeared from this world shortly after Buddha passed away. In China, the nāga was equated with the lóng or Chinese dragon.

The Buddhist nāga generally has the form of a great cobra-like snake, usually with a single head but sometimes with many. At least some of the nāgas are capable of using magic powers to transform themselves into a human semblance. In Buddhist painting, the nāga is sometimes portrayed as a human being with a snake or dragon extending over his head. One nāga, in human form, attempted to become a monk but he was told by others that such ordination was impossible. With Buddha's guidance, it was reborn a man fulfilling his wish to become a monk.

In the 'Devadatta' chapter of the Lotus Sutra, an eight year old female Naga, after listening to Manjushri preach the Lotus Sutra, transforms her body into that of a male human and immediately reaches full enlightenment. This narrative reinforces the ironic viewpoint prevalent in Mahayana scriptures that a male human body is required for Buddhahood. If a being is so advanced in her realization, she can magically transform her body at will and demonstrate the emptiness of the physical form.

Nāgas are believed to both live on Mount Sumeru, among the other minor deities, and in various parts of the human-inhabited earth. Some of them are water-dwellers, living in streams or the mer; others are earth-dwellers, living in underground caverns.

The nāgas are the servants of Virūpākṣa (Pāli: Virūpakkha), one of the Four Heavenly Kings who guards the western direction. They act as a guard upon Mount Sumeru, protecting the devas of Trāyastriṃśa from attack by the Asuras.

Mucalinda, Muchalinda or Mucilinda is the name of a naga (a snake-like being), who protected the Buddha from the elements after his enlightenment. It is said that four weeks after Śākyamuni Buddha began meditating under the Bodhi tree, the heavens darkened for seven days, and a prodigious rain descended. However, the mighty king of serpents, Mucalinda, came from beneath the earth and protected with his hood the one who is the source of all protection. When the great storm had cleared, the serpent king assumed his human form, bowed before the Buddha, and returned in joy to his palace.

A depiction of this event can be found in our museum artefact titled 'Naga-protected Buddha'. Donated to Buddha Tooth Relic Temple & Museum by the late Justice Karthigesu, this statue shows Buddha sitting in a relaxed posture (lalitasana) on top of the body of Mucalinda with His right hand in the fear-dispelling mudra (abhaya mudra) and His left in meditative equipoise (dhyana mudra). The five-headed naga forms a canopy to shelter the Buddha from rain. This portrayal deviates from other more conventional representations of Naga-protected Buddha where He is usually shown seated in full lotus posture (vajrasana) with both hands in the dhyana mudra.