Nagula Chavithi 1936

From the Mahabharata

On Nagula Chavithi families honour the Nagas, the serpent beings. The Mahabharata tells why the serpents themselves were once in great danger, and who saved them.

Kadru and Vinata were wives of the sage Kashyapa. Kadru was the mother of a thousand serpents. One day the two saw the heavenly horse Uchchaihshravas and made a wager about its colour. Vinata said the horse was all white. Kadru said its tail was black. Whoever lost would become the other's servant.

To be sure of winning, Kadru told her serpent sons to turn into black hairs and cover the horse's tail. They refused to take part in the trick. In her anger Kadru cursed them: in the great snake sacrifice of King Janamejaya, Agni, the fire, would burn them all. Brahma heard the curse and let it stand, because the serpents had grown very many and harmed other creatures.

The serpents were frightened. Their king Vasuki gathered them to find a way out. The wise serpent Elapatra remembered what Brahma had told the gods: only the harmful serpents would perish, not the good ones. A sage named Jaratkaru would marry a wife with the same name as himself, and their son Astika would stop the sacrifice. Vasuki's own sister was named Jaratkaru. So Vasuki gave his sister in marriage to the sage, and Astika was born to them.

Many years later King Janamejaya, son of Parikshit, began his snake sacrifice. The priests chanted, and serpents by the thousands fell into the fire. Only Takshaka was missing, for he was hiding with Indra, who had promised him safety. The king ordered that Takshaka be drawn into the fire even if Indra came with him. Indra let go of Takshaka, and Takshaka began to fall towards the flames.

At that moment the boy Astika, who had praised the king's sacrifice so wisely that the king offered him any boon, made his request. He did not want gold, silver or cattle. He asked only that the sacrifice end, so that his mother's people, the serpents, would be saved. The king pressed him to ask for something else, but Astika would not change his wish. The priests said, "Let the Brahmana have his boon." Astika called out to Takshaka three times, and Takshaka stayed hanging in the sky and did not fall into the fire. The king said, "Let it be as Astika has said," and the sacrifice ended.

The grateful serpents offered Astika a boon. He asked that anyone who reads or hears this story with attention should have no fear of them. The Mahabharata says that remembering Astika, who saved the serpents, keeps one safe from snakes, and that telling this story drives away all fear of snakes.