Nayakumarchariu

Author(s): Pushpadant, Hiralal Jain
Publisher: Balatkaragana Jain Publication Society

Page 37

NAYAKUMARACARIU
Nagas in the Mahabharata-Nagas are not mentioned in the Vedas or in the pre-Buddhistic Upanishads (BI p. 223). The chain of allusions starts with the Mahabharata which contains numerous references to them. Arjuna, during his self-imposed banishment of twelve years, is said to have been taken away to Nāgaloka by Ulupi,the daughter of a Naga king. Nala is said to have saved Karkotaka Naga from a fire and the latter made him irrecognisable and advised him to go to king Ṛtuparna. Nagas are said to have infested the Khandava forest and Krisna and Arjuna applied themselves to extirpate them with fire. Krsna's adventure with the Kaliya Naga in the Jumna is well known. Takṣaka Naga is said to have bitten Parikṣita to death and the latter's son Janamejaya started a Naga sacrifice to wipe out their race. The Mahabha. attributes to them a high degree of civilization. According to it," The Nagaloka extended thousands of yojanas on all sides and had many walls of gold and was decked with jewels and gems. There were many fine tanks of water with flights of stair-cases made of pure crystal and many rivers of clear and transparent water. Uttańka also saw many trees with diverse species of birds. The gate was five yojanas high and hundred yojanas in width" (MI p. 494).
When we read all these stories and accounts together we are lead to infer that Nagas were a tribe which had a civilization of its own and with which the other ruling tribes of ancient India came frequently in conflict. The Pariksita and Janamejaya episode is interpreted as an allegorical record of an exchange of revengeful acts between the Nagas and the Pandavas. This view receives strength from the fact that some Buddhist books as well as the Rajatarangini mention deeds of extraordinary valour performed by the Nagas and Takṣaka, Karkotaka, Dhananjaya and Mani are mentioned as some of the most famous kings of the dynasty. Takṣaka, according to Colonel Todd, "appears to be the generic term of the race from which the various Scythic tribes, the early invaders of India, branched off." The descendants of Taksaka, in his view, became known by names such as Takkha Taka, Takka, Dhaka or Dhanka and the like. Tribes known by these names are found in Rajaputana and the Punjab even now. At Seragadha in Kota State, there is a stone inscription mentioning Bindunaga, Padmanaga, Sarvanaga and Devadatta, the latter being alive in Vikrama Samvat 847, the date of the inscription. Even as late as 1800, the Nagas formed the garrison of Khandela under Abhayasimha of Jaipur and they formed the irregulars of the Jaipur state army even later, (Todd. p. 122, 1416, 1435).
Rai Bahadur C. V. Vaidya tries to identify the Nagas of the Mahabh. with the Dasyus of the Rgveda, thus making them the pre-Aryan aborigines of India like the Nagas of Assam. He recognizes two distinct tribes amongst them, the poisonous i. e. the molesters called Sarpas, and the unpoisonous i. e. the non-molesters called Nagas. This he does on the authority of the Bhagvatgītā where Krispa says "Sarpanam-asmi Vasukih" and Anantas-casmi Naganam". He further says that at the time of the great war the chief of the Nagas was known as Taksaka whom Arjuna wanted to chastise, but who escaped and founded Takṣa
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