February 13, 2024
Folks in lots of elements of the world look upon snakes with worry and revulsion. In Christianity, the snake is an emblem of Devil. However in Hinduism, individuals revere snakes as gods, and they’re additionally related to gods like Vishnu and Shiva. Vishnu, as an illustration, reclines on a 1000-headed serpent referred to as Sheshnag whereas a snake adorns Shiva’s neck. Snakes characteristic in Hindu spiritual texts, myths, and iconography.
In Hinduism, snakes signify energy, safety, and fertility. They’re additionally considered the guardians of the Earth’s treasures and because the protectors of the underworld. Hindus worship snakes, as they consider that it’s going to defend them from hurt and appeal to success. Folks view snakes with awe and consider them to be highly effective and immortal, as they will shed their previous pores and skin and develop a brand new one. Nevertheless, snakes also can signify temptation, deception, and chaos.Hindu festivals like Naga Chaturthi, Naga Panchami, and so on., honor snakes. Harming or killing snakes is a sin in Hinduism. The assumption is that individuals who do it’ll endure misfortunes and incur Sarpa Dosha, which may trigger many issues in life.
Snakes and Their Affiliation with Hindu Deities
Snakes are referred to as Nagas in Hindu mythology. As Shiva has a snake coiled round his neck, he has the title of Naga or Nagendra. As per Hindu mythology, Shiva is the lord of all creatures, together with snakes, and they’re his devotees. The snake additionally represents Kundalini power, which supposedly lies coiled up on the base of our backbone and might be woke up with the assistance of religious practices like meditation.
Lord Vishnu, the Preserver Archetype in Hinduism, reclines on the coils of an incredible serpent, Ananta/Shesha. Ananta supposedly holds all the universe on his hoods, and his coils signify the cycles of time. One delusion says that Vishnu additionally took the type of a half-man, half-serpent creature referred to as Nara-Narayana to guard the world from evil.
Goddess Manasa can be related to snakes in Hinduism. She is the goddess of snakes, and folks consider that she will management them. Many Hindus in India, particularly in Bengal, worship her as they consider that she will defend them from snake bites.
The serpent round Shiva’s neck, Vasuki, represents the limitless cycles of delivery and dying and the infinite cosmic power that guidelines the universe. Thus, snakes have an important function in guaranteeing the fragile steadiness between creation and dissolution.
Snakes and Non secular Awakening
In Kundalini Yoga, the coiled serpent is a robust image of religious awakening. The serpent represents the dormant power that lies on the base of our backbone, that needs to be woke up.
Because the woke up Kundalini power rises up via the chakras, it prompts every of the Chakras (power facilities in our physique), resulting in religious awakening. That is depicted as a snake uncoiling and rising up via the backbone.
Snakes in Astrology
In Indian astrology, too, snakes are necessary. The Navagrahas embody Rahu and Ketu, the snake planets. Rahu is the snake’s head, whereas Ketu is the tail. These planets can affect our life and future. Relying on their positions in our delivery chart, they will have or unhealthy affect. Rahu and Ketu are additionally referred to as shadow planets. They will trigger Kalasarpa Dosha within the horoscope. The Dosha happens if one has harmed or killed a snake. In lots of Hindu temples, one can discover idols of the Navagrahas, which embody Rahu and Ketu. Folks worship them and make choices to them to achieve reduction from planetary afflictions.
The dreaded Kalasarpa Dosha could cause many issues in life, like unhappiness within the household, loss in enterprise, marital issues, delays in marriage, litigation, lack of progeny, well being issues associated to eyes, pores and skin, ears, throat, and so on. Such individuals will probably be unsuccessful regardless of their greatest efforts. Individuals who construct homes in a spot after destroying sacred groves which might be house to snakes or snake pits might face ailing well being whereas residing in that home. In such instances, astrological treatments can convey reduction.
Snake Worship in Hinduism
Hindu festivals like Naga Chaturthi and Naga Panchami are celebrated to honor the snake gods. They contain sure rituals and choices, like worshipping snake idols and pouring milk into snake pits, and so on. This helps invoke the blessings and safety of the Nag Devtas or serpent gods.
Conclusion
Snake worship in all probability advanced from historic religions like animism. Such beliefs are rooted in the concept human life is intently related to Nature and that the well-being of people on Earth relies on the well-being of all of the creatures that we share the world with, which can be what trendy environmental science teaches us. Snakes, as an illustration, are the allies of farmers as they eat rats, which destroy crops. In India, many animals are worshipped. Cows and even tigers are revered by Hindus. Crows signify our ancestors. The fragile steadiness in Nature relies on such creatures. By worshipping them, we acknowledge their function in our lives and their significance to our survival. Snake worship displays the Hindu worldview that each one life is sacred as all creatures are types of the Divine. In Hindu mythology, Vishnu’s avatars embody animal varieties just like the fish (Matsya), boar (Varaha), turtle (Koorma), and so on.