Snakes, Dragons & Nāgas in Tantra

Today is a very sacred day: Nāga Panchami, the Day of the Serpents! 

Vishnu reposes on a serpent couch named Ananta. Ananta means "un-ending", i.e Infinite. In the Taittīriya Upanishad, Brahman, the Absolute Reality is described as सत्यम् ज्ञानम् अनन्तम् ब्रह्म  "satyam jñānam anantam Brahma": that which is Existence, Consciousness and Infinity. 

Now you might have heard a different formulation of Brahman: Sat-Cid-Ānanda, Existence-Consciousness-Bliss. Notice how Infinity is synonymous with Bliss? 

As we learn in the Chandogya Upanishad, यो वै भूमा तत्सुखं नाल्पे सुखमस्ति "yo vai bhūmi tat sukham, nalpe sukham asti!": Joy is vast-nes, joy is Infinity!! There is no joy in limitation!

Now, taking all of this from the perspective of Shaiva Tantra: this Infinitely Free Awareness which is Innately Blissful is Śiva! God is Vimarśa-Śakti, Śiva's self-reflexivivity, i.e Awareness Reposing in Itself. This is why Vishnu (i.e, God, I.e Vimarśa) "reposes" in his serpent couch, who is called the Infinite (Consciousness). In a Shaiva sense, he is in a state of svātmaviśrantih: self-respose. This is liberation!

Patañjali, the founder of Yoga philosophy is considered by our tradition to be the incarnation of the Ananta, Vishnu's serpent couch and so he is the perfect yogi, reposing in his svabhāva, his essence nature and from that arises his profound teachings on Yoga, Grammar and Medicine. Abhinavaguptapada, is known as the "new" (abhinava) serpent (guptapada) because building upon the foundations of Yoga and Samkhya, he takes the Shaiva tradition to whole new heights with his unique presentation of the Trika doctrine! Lakshmana, Rāma's brother and Rāmanūja, the founder of Viśishtadvaita Vada are also both seen as incarnations of Ananta, this Great Serpent. 

On a personal note, my kula devi on my Mother's side is Nageshwarī, a form of Mariamman (Kālī) to whom my grandfather was deeply devoted. He was a lifelong practitioner of Shakta Tantra who took mahāsamādhi (i.e kicked the bucket!) in the sanctum sanctorum of our family snake temple. 

योगेन चित्तस्य पदेन वाचां । 
मलं शरीरस्य च वैद्यकेन ॥ 
योऽपाकरोत्तमं प्रवरं मुनीनां । 
पतञ्जलिं प्राञ्जलिरानतोऽस्मि ॥ 
आबहु पुरुषाकारं। 
शङ्खचक्रासि धारिणं॥ 
सहस्र शीरसं श्वेतं। 
प्रनमामि पतञ्जलिम्॥ 

yogena cittasya padena vācāṁ । 
malaṁ śarīrasya ca vaidyakena ॥ 
yo’pākarottamaṁ pravaraṁ munīnāṁ । 
patañjaliṁ prāñjalirānato’smi ॥ 
ābahu puruṣākāraṁ 
śaṅkha cakrāsi dhāriṇaṁ 
sahasra śīrasaṁ śvetaṁ 
pranamāmi patañjalim 

Yoga, for the mind 
Grammar, for the speech, 
Medicine for the impurities of the body, 
I bow to that great sage Patañjali who has given all these! 
Pure spirit incarnate in form, 
Holding the conch, discuss and sword 
I bow to Patanjali, that thousand headed white (cobra)!

अनंतं वासुकीं शेषं पद्मनाभं च कंबलम् 
शंखपालं धृतराष्ट्रं च तक्षकं कालियं तथा 
एतानि नव नामानि नागानाम् च महात्मन: 
सायंकाले पठेन्नित्यं प्रात:काले विशेषत: 
तस्य विषभयं नास्ति सर्वत्र विजयी भवेत् 

anaṃtaṃ vāsukīṃ śeṣaṃ padmanābhaṃ ca kaṃbalam 
śaṃkhapālaṃ dhṛtarāṣṭraṃ ca takṣakaṃ kāliyaṃ tathā 
etāni nava nāmāni nāgānām ca mahātmanah: 
sāyaṃkāle paṭhennityaṃ prātakāle viśeṣatah: 
tasya viṣabhayaṃ nāsti sarvatra vijayī bhavet 

Ananta, Vāsukī, Śesha, Padmanābha and Kambala 
Śan

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