Chapter II: Tree and Serpent Worship (3)

Various suggestions have been made to account for the idea of snakes guarding treasure. By one theory there is some connection between the snake and primitive metallurgy; by another, that the snake may have been the totem of the early jewellers; by a third, that the jewelled head of the snake is at the bottom of the matter. [356] But it seems more probable that the idea is based on the conception of the snake as a haunter of houses and temples, and the divine protector of the inmates and their wealth.

Indian folk-lore is full of such stories. In the Dakkhin tale, Seventee Bâî gets possession of the enormous diamond which the cobra used to take about in his mouth; and in the Bengal story Faqîr Chand obtains the serpent's crest-jewel. [357] The same idea appears in the Arabian Nights. Mr. Forbes tells rather a ghastly tale on this subject. He personally investigated a mysterious chamber supposed to contain treasure. Viewed from above it was a gloomy dungeon of great depth. He desired his men to enter it, but they positively refused, alleging that "wherever money was concealed, there existed one of the Genii in the mortal form of a snake to guard it." He at last prevailed on them to descend by means of ropes. They had not been at the bottom many seconds, when they called out vehemently that they were encircled by a large snake. Finally he observed something like billets of wood, or rather more resembling a ship's cable coiled up in a dark hole. Then he saw the monster raise his head over an immense length of body, coiled in volumes on the ground. A large snake was subsequently destroyed by fire, but no treasure was found, "the owner having doubtless already removed it." [358]

Powers of Snakes in Folk-lore.

Manifold are the powers of snakes in folk-lore. He can strike people dead with his look from a distance, like the "death-darting eye of cockatrice" in "Romeo and Juliet." He has the power of spitting fire from his mouth, which destroys his enemies and consumes forests. His saliva is venomous, and there are many stories of snakes spitting venom into food. In one of the versions of Bethgelert, the prince, but for his guardian bird, would have drunk as water the venom of the black snakes which drips from a tree. In the legends of Râja Rasâlu, Gûga, and Newal Dâî, the snake has power to kill and restore to life; it has the faculty of metamorphosis and flying through the air. In one of the Kashmîr tales, the Brâhman, wishing to get rid of his wife, gives her a snake in a bag; but when she opens it, it turns into a beautiful little boy. [359] We have, again, the world-wide story of the snake rescued by the traveller, which rewards the service rendered to him by biting his benefactor. When Indra carried off the nectar, the snakes licked the bed of Kusa grass on which the vessel lay. The sharp edges of the grass cut them as they licked, so they have had double tongues ever since. [360] Every Indian rustic believes in the Domunha or snake with a mouth at both ends, which is, as might have been expected, most virulent. There are snake women, like Lamia or Vasudeva, the mystic serpent, who go about at night, and by day resume their hateful form. The humanity of the serpent race comes out clearly in the legend of Safîdon, which attributes the leprosy still found in the Panjâb to the sacrilegious acts of Vâsuki, the king of the serpents. [361]

Modern Snake-worship.

Some instances may be given of the form assumed by the worship of the snake in modern times.

The great snake festival is the Nâgpanchamî, or "Dragon's fifth," held on the fifth day of the month of Bhâdon. In the Hills it is called the Rikhî or Birurî Panchamî. Rikheswara has now become a title of Siva as lord of the Nâgas, a form in which he is represented as surrounded by serpents and crowned with the chaplet of hooded snakes. On the day of the feast the people paint figures of serpents and birds on the walls of their houses, and seven days before the festival they steep a mixture of wheat, gram, and pulse in water. On the morning of the feast they take a wisp of grass, tie it up in the form of a snake, dip it in the water in which the gram has been steeped, and offer it with money and sweetmeats to the serpents. [362]

In Udaypur on this day they strew particular plants about the thresholds of houses to prevent the entrance of venomous reptiles, and in Nepâl the day is observed as the anniversary of a great struggle between a famous Nâga and Garuda, the foe of the serpent race. [363] In the eastern districts of the North-West Provinces on this day milk and dried rice are poured into a snake's hole; while doing this they call out "Snake! snake!" The feeding of snakes on this holiday is done in much the same way in Bombay. [364] After the Diwâlî in Kângra, a festival is held to bid good-bye to the snakes, at which an image of the Nâga made of cowdung is worshipped. If a snake be seen after this it is called "ungrateful," and immediately killed. [365]

In the North-Western Provinces the usual custom is for the head of the family to bathe on the morning of the feast, to paint on the wall of his sleeping-room two rude representations of serpents, and to make offerings to Brâhmans. On this day people pray to what Dr. Buchanan calls "the chief eight dragons of the pit," [366] girls throw some playthings into the water, and labourers take a holiday and worship the tools of their craft.

In Behâr during the month of Sâwan (August) crowds of women calling themselves Nâgin, or "wives of the snake," go about begging for two and a half days, during which period they neither sleep under a roof nor eat salt. Half the proceeds of the begging are given to Brâhmans, and the other half invested in salt and sweetmeats, which are eaten by all the people of the village. [367]

In Garhwâl, the ground is freely smeared with cowdung and mud, and figures of five, seven, or nine serpents are rudely drawn with sandal-wood powder or tumeric; rice, beans, or peas are parched; lamps are lighted and waved before them; incense is burnt and food and fruit offered. These observances take place both morning and evening, and the night is spent in listening to stories in praises of the Nâga. [368]

In parts of the North-Western Provinces, with the usual Nâgpanchamî, is performed what is known as the Guruî festival. On that day offerings are made by women to the Dragon godling Nâg Deotâ. Girls let dolls float in the water of some convenient river or tank, and the village lads beat the dolls with long switches specially cut for the purpose. The legend of this rite is thus told. When Râja Janamejâya held the Sarpa Sattra or snake rite in order to destroy Takshaka, the king of the serpents, all the snakes were captured by spells and killed. But Takshaka escaped and was found to have taken refuge with Indra, on whose throne he seated himself in the shape of a mosquito. Indra was ordered to produce the fugitive, and begged the life of Takshaka, which was granted on condition that he was banished from the land. So the snake king took the shape of a Brâhman lad and retired to the Caucasus. There he settled and married, but he foolishly told the story to his wife, and she being unable to keep the secret, it finally reached the ears of Janamejâya, who sentenced him to death. Takshaka then retorted by ordering Janamejâya to cause everyone in his dominions to kill his wife as a revenge for his own wife's treachery. Janamejâya was unwilling to issue such a cruel order, so he consulted the Brâhmans. Finally, it was proclaimed that on the Nâgpanchamî, every woman, to prove her devotion to her husband, should make a doll and offer it up as a vicarious sacrifice for herself. It would seem that the rite is the survival of some rite of human sacrifice in connection with snake-worship.

The Agarwâla Banyas, who say that they are descended from Râja Vâsuki, have a special rite in honour of Astika Muni, who is said to have been the instructor of Vâsuki. They bathe and make marks representing the snake on the walls of the house, which they worship, feed Brâhmans, and do the Ârtî or lamp rite. Each woman takes home with her some of the sesamum offered to the snake, which they sprinkle with the recitation of a spell in their houses as a means of driving away venomous snakes.

Cure of Snake-bite.

In Hoshangâbâd there were once two brothers, Râjawa and Soral; the ghost of the former cures snake-bite, and that of the latter cattle murrain. The moment a man is bitten, he must tie a string or a strip of his dress and fasten it round his neck, crying, "Mercy! O God Râjawa!" To call on Ghori Bâdshâh, the Delhi Emperor, who conquered the country, or Râmjî Dâs Bâba will do as well. At the same time he makes a vow to give so much to the god if he recovers. When he gets home they use various tests to ascertain if the poison is in him still. They take him in and out over the threshold, and light a lamp before him, acts which are supposed to have the effect of developing latent poison. They then give him salt and leaves of the bitter Nîm tree. If he can take them he is safe. These are all, as we have already seen, scarers of evil spirits, in this case the snake demon. If he cannot take them, the whole village goes out and cries to Râjawa Deo until he recovers. No one (Sir C. A. Elliott's informant told him) had been ever known to die of a snake-bite after this treatment. But the god has no power over the dreaded Biscobra, which takes its name from the Hindi Bishkhâpra, Sanskrit Vishakharpara, or "poison-headed," which is said to be so deadly that its very breath is venomous, one of the numerous popular delusions out of which it is hopeless to argue the rustic. The bitten man must not untie the string round his neck till the day when he goes to offer what he vows, which should be, at latest, on the next Dasahra; but if he attempts to cheat the god by offering ever so little less than he promised, he will die on the spot in agonies. [369]

All through Upper India the stock remedy for snake-bite is the exorcism of the Ojha or sorcerer, a performance known as Jhâr Phûnk, consisting of a series of passes, massage, and incantations, which are supposed to disperse the venom. Many, too, have faith in the so-called "Snake stone," which seems to be usually a piece of bone soaked in blood and repeatedly baked. This is supposed to have absorbent properties and to draw the venom out of the wound. It probably works by faith, and is as effective as the Achates or Agate of which Pliny writes: "People are persuaded that it availeth much against the venomous spiders and scorpions, which property I could very well believe to be in the Sicilian Agate, for that so soon as serpents come within the air and breath of the said province of Sicily, as venomous as they be otherwise, they die thereupon." [370]

The Snake in Folk-lore.

The references to the snake in folk-lore and popular belief are so numerous that only a few examples can be given. The Dhâman (Ptyas mucosus), a quite harmless snake, is said in Bombay to give a fatal bite on Sundays, and to kill cattle by crawling under them, or putting its tail up their nostrils. Its shadow is also considered malignant. It is believed to suck the milk of cattle, and that if a buffalo is looked on by it, it immediately dies. Of the Ghonas snake it is believed that it bites only at night, and at whatever hour of the night the victim is bitten, he dies just before daybreak. [371]

About these snake stones some curious tales are told. By one account, when a goat kills a snake, it eats it and then ruminates, after which it spits out a bead, which, when applied to a snake-bite, absorbs the poison and swells. If it be put into milk, and squeezed, the poison drips out of it like blood, and the bitten person is cured. If it be not put in milk it will burst in pieces. By another account, in the pouch-like appendages of the older Adjutant birds (Leptoptilos Argala) the fang of a snake is sometimes found. This, if rubbed over the place where a poisonous snake has bitten a man, is supposed to prevent the venom spreading to the vital parts of the body. Others say that it is found within the head of the Adjutant, and that it is only necessary to rub it to the bitten place and put it into milk, when it becomes black through the venom. What was known as the Ovum Anguinum of the Britons is said to have been a bead which assists children to cut their teeth and cures the chincough and the ague. Mr. Campbell [372] says he once possessed one of these "snake's eggs," which was a blue and white glass bead and supposed to be a charm used by the women of the prehistoric races.

A very common incident in the folk-tales is that the heroine is beset by snakes which come out of her nose or mouth at night and kill her newly-wedded husband, as the evil spirit kills the husband of Sara in the marriage chamber, until the hero lies awake and succeeds in destroying them.

Another power snakes possess is that of identifying the rightful heirs of kingdoms, and, as in the case of Drona, who found the Ahîr Adirâja sleeping in the shade of the hood of a cobra, announce that he is born to rule. [373] So in the mythology the Nâga king Machalinda spreads his hood over the Buddha to protect him from the rain and flies. [374] Many of these Nâgas indeed are friendly, as in the case of the Banjâra, who, in order to avoid octroi duty, declared his valuable goods to be Glauber salts, and Glauber salts they became until they were restored to their original condition by the intercession of the kindly Nâga of the Gundwa tank. [375] In one of Somadeva's tales the friendly snake clings round the Râja till he promises to release the Bodhisattwa out of prison.

Snakes and Euphemism.

Snakes should, of course, be addressed euphemistically as "Maternal uncle," or "Rope," and if a snake bites you, you should never mention its name, but say, "A rope has touched me." The Mirzapur Kharwârs tell of a man who once came on a Nâgin laying her eggs. When she saw him she fell at his feet and asked him to throw the eggs in a water-hole. So he took up the eggs on a bamboo sieve and went with her to the brink. The Nâgin plunged in and said, "Do not be afraid! Come on!" He followed her, the waters dried up, and he came to the palace of the Nâg, who entertained him royally, and offered to give him anything he wished. The boor asked only for a pan, pot, and spoon, which the Nâga gave him, and he came home to find his relations doing the death ceremonies in his honour, believing he had been carried off by a tiger. He said nothing of his adventures till the day of his death, when he told the story. So the Nâga in other tales of the same class blesses and rewards the lucky man who has delivered the young snake from his persecutors who caught him while in the upper air. So in the Arabian Nights, the relations of Jullanar of the sea show their gratitude to the king who is kind to her on earth.

On the basis of the same idea which has been already referred to in the case of the Churel, it is believed that if the shadow of a pregnant woman fall on a snake it becomes blind. [376]

The Snake Jewel.

The snake, like the "toad ugly and venomous," wears on his head the Mani or precious jewel, which is a stock subject in Indian folk-tales. Thus, in one of Somadeva's stories, "when Nala heard this, he looked round, and beheld a snake coiled up near the fire, having his head encircled with the rays of the jewels of his crest." [377] It is sometimes metamorphosed into a beautiful youth; it equals the treasure of seven kings; it can be hidden or secured only by cowdung or horsedung being thrown over it; and if it is acquired the serpent dies. It lights the hero on his way to the palace under the sea where is the silver jewelled tree; or it is possessed by the sleeping beauty, who cannot return to her home beneath the waters, and loses the hero until it is recovered. Its presence acts as an amulet against evil, and secures the attainment of every wish. It protects the owner from drowning, the waters parting on each side of him, and allowing him to pass over rivers dry-shod. [378]

The Rainbow and the Snake.

So the rainbow is connected with the snake, being the fume of a gigantic serpent blown up from underground. In Persia it was called the "celestial serpent." We have already seen that the Milky Way is regarded as the path of the Nâgas in the sky. It is possibly under the influence of the association of the snake, a treasure guardian, that the English children run to find where the rainbow meets the earth, and expect to find a crock of gold buried at its base. [379]

The Household Snake.

The belief in the influence of the guardian domestic or national snake is universal. When the Persians invaded Athens the people would not leave the city till they learned that the guardian snake had refused its food and abandoned the citadel. A snake at Lanuvium and at Epirus resided in a grove and was waited on by a virgin priestess, who entered naked and fed it once a year, when by its acceptance or refusal of the offering, the prospects of the harvest were ascertained. The Teutons and Celts had also their sacred guardian snake.

In the Panjâb Hills, every householder keeps an image of the Nâga or harmless snake, as contrasted with the Sânp, which is venomous. This snake is put in charge of the householder's homestead, and is held responsible that no cobra or dangerous serpent enters it. It is supposed to have the power of driving all cobras out of the place. Should rain drive the house snake out of his hole, he is worshipped. No image of a cobra or other venomous snake is ever made for purposes of worship. Ant-hills are believed to be the homes of snakes, and there the people offer sugar, rice, and millet for forty days. [380] These correspond to the benevolent domestic snakes, of whom Aubrey says that "the Bramens have them in great veneration; they keep their corne. I think it is Tavernier mentions it." [381]

They are, in fact, as we have already seen, the representatives of the benevolent ancestral ghosts. Hence the deep-rooted prejudice against killing the snake, which is both guardian and god. "If," says Mr. Lang, [382] "the serpent were the deity of an earlier race, we could understand the prejudice against killing it, as shown in the Apollo legend." The evidence accumulated in this chapter will perhaps go some way to settle this question, as far as India is concerned.