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Art. XVII.—The Nāgas. A Contribution to the History of Serpent-Worship

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 March 2011

Extract

It is well known that between the Vedic period, and that described in the epic poems, great modifications occurred in the religion and social customs of the Indian people. Since the Epic period, further changes have taken place; so that the orthodox Hinduism, of the present day, differs much from that represented in the Mahābhārata. Religious vicissitudes have also occurred outside the Brahmanic pale. The Buddhist religion has become extinguished in India. Vast numbers of the people, too, have been converted—many of them forcibly—to the faith of Islām. Notwithstanding all this, however, many of the old deities still live. The Nāga rajas are worshipped as demigods; the sun, the cedar, and the serpent are held sacred; and Indra and his Devas have still their worshippers and their temples, as they had in the days described in the Mahābharāta.

Type
Original Communications
Copyright
Copyright © The Royal Asiatic Society 1901

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References

page 461 note 1 “Tree and Serpent Worship,” plates xxiv, xliv, etc.

page 464 note 1 Kathā Sarit Sagara (Tawney), i, 186.

page 465 note 1 “ Buddhist Annals of Western World ” (Beal), i, 210 (note).

page 465 note 2 Vishnu Purāna (Wilson), I, xiii, 101.

page 466 note 1 Mahābhārata, Aswamedha, Anugita, p. lxxxviii, 222.

page 466 note 2 Ramayana, I, xxxii.

page 467 note 1 Mahābhārata, Salya, GudāLyadhya, p. xxvii, 149.

page 468 note 1 “ Kafirs of the Hindu Kush,” p. 418.

page 470 note 1 Vendidad (S.B.E.), Far. xiv, 8.

page 472 note 1 Mahābhārata, Adi, Adivansāvatārana, p. lxiii, 173.