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| Human-naga, reptilian |
Stories are given -- for example, in the
Bhūridatta Jātaka -- of
nāgas, both male and female (
nāgis),
mating with humans (and creating hybrids we call reptilians today).
But originally the offspring of the first attempts of such unions were "watery and delicate" (J.vi.160).
The
nāgas are easily angered and passionate, their breath is poisonous (i.e., fire breathing dragons or
venomous spitting ringhals), and even their glance can be deadly (J.vi.160, 164) [like a mesmerizing "demon" or "ogre,"
yakkha,
rakshasas, some dimensional and Bigfoot species
].
They are carnivorous (J.iii.361), their diet consisting chiefly of frogs (J.vi.169), and they sleep, when in the world of humans, on ant hills (
Ibid., 170). The enmity between the
nāgas and the
garulas is proverbial (D.ii.258).
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| Naga (dragon) adorns temple ceiling, Kiyomizu-dera, Japan (Divemasterking2000/flickr). |
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| With devi (Game of Thrones) |
At first the
garulas (avians) did not know how to seize the
nāgas (reptilians), because the latter swallowed large stones so as to be of great weight, but they learned how in the
Pandara Jātaka. The
nāgas dance when music is played. But it is said (J.vi.191) that they never dance if any
garula is near (due to fear) or in the presence of human dancers (due to shame).
The best known of all
nāga is King Mahākāla, the ruler of
Mañjerika-bhavana. He lives for an entire
kappa (age, aeon, epoch, a variable "world period") and is a very pious follower of the Buddha.
 |
| Some identify with nagas |
The
nāgas of his world had the custodianship of a part of
the Buddha's sacred cremation relics until they were needed for the
Māha Thūpa or "Great Pagoda" (Mhv.xxxi.27f.), and when the Bodhi tree was being brought to Ceylon (a branch from the original tree where the ascetic Siddhartha became the Buddha was brought and still thrives in Sri Lanka, known as the oldest documented tree in the world) they did it great honor during the voyage (Mbv. p. 163f.).
Other
nāga kings are also mentioned as ruling with great power and majesty and being converted to the Buddha's path, for example, Aravāla, Apalālā, Erapatta,
Nandopananda (and perhaps the most famous of all,
Mucalinda, the seven-headed hydra cobra who protected the Buddha), and Pannaka. (See also Ahicchatta and Ahināga). In the
Atānātiya Suta (D.iii.198f.), speaking of dwellers of the Four Great Sky Kings (
Cātummahārajika) world, the
nāgas are mentioned as occupying the Western Quarter, with Virūpokkha as their king (regent for Sakka, the king of these four kings).
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| Naga, dragon ceiling, Engakuji Temple, Kamakura, Japan (Ezioman/flickr.com) |
The
nāgas had two chief settlements in Sri Lanka, in Nāgadīpa and at the mouth of the river Kalyānī. It was to settle a dispute between two
nāga chiefs of Nāgadīpa, Mahodara and Cūlodara, that the Buddha paid his second visit to Sri Lanka. During that visit he made a promise to another
nāga-king, Manjakkhika of Kalyānī, to pay him a visit, and the Buddha's third visit was in fulfillment of that undertaking (Mhv.i.48f.).
The
nāgas form one of the guards set up by Sakka on Mt. Sineru against the titans or
asuras (J.i.204). The
nāgas were sometimes worshipped by human beings -- as in China, Cambodia, and Mesoamerica -- and were offered sacrifices of milk, rice, fish, meat, and strong drink (J.i.497f.) [and possibly human sacrifices judging from Aztec and Mayan carvings].
The jewel or "
wish-fulfilling gem" of the
nāgas is famous for its beauty and its power of conferring wishes to its possessor (J.vi.179, 180).
The word
nāga is often used for tusker elephants and as an epithet of other "great beings" like the Buddha and the arhats, and in this connection the etymology given is
āgum na karotī ti nāgo (e.g., MNid.201). The Bodhisatta -- the Buddha striving for supreme enlightenment before succeeding -- was born several times as king of the
nāgas: Atula, Campeyya, Bhūridatta, Mahādaddara, and Sankhapāla.
In the accounts given of the
nāgas there is undoubtedly great confusion between the
nāgas as supernatural beings, as mere snakes, and as the name of certain non-Aryan tribes, but the confusion is too difficult to unravel.
