Nayakumarchariu

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

Page 38

THE NĀGAS AND THE NĀGALOKA
šilā in the Punjab which finally became the seat of great learning during the Buddhist period ( Mahabh. Up.). In contrast to this view, Surgeon Major Oldham arrives at the conclusion that the Nāgas were a sun-worshipping, Sanskrit-speaking people whose totem was the Nāga or hooded serpent which gave their tribal name and that they were stigmatised as Asuras by the orthodox Brahmins as they did not readily admit the ascendency of the latter (Sun worship in India JRAS, July 1891). Though the present work makes no mention of sun-worship amongst the Nāgas, it does refer to their Nāga-totem in 'Ahi-an kaim chinhaim dhoiain '(II, 14,5). On the other hand Mr. N. L. Dey locates Pātāla, the habitat of the Nagas, in Central Asia and tries to identify all the Nāgas mentioned in the Mahābh. and the Purānas with the various Hunnic tribes; for example, Sesa with Sses of Sogdiana, Vásuki with Usuivis, Karkotaka with Kara-Kasak and so on (Rasatala or the Under-world).
Nagas in the Puranas-Many of the Puranas keep up the traditions about the Nāgas. The Visnu P. (Book II) gives a description of the Pātāla where the Nāgas dwell, and mentions their nine kings ruling at Padmāvati, Kāntipuri and Mathurā. The Padma P. similarly describes the Patāla loka and the abodes of the Nāgas. The Vāyu P. 99, 382; and the Brahmända P. 3, 74, 194, mention nine kings of Nāga dynasty ruling at Campāpuri and seven at Mathurā. The Bhavisya P. describes the Nāgapañcami feast dedicated to the worship of the Nāgas and narrates some Nāga myths. Prince Sahasrarjuna is here said to have conquered Karkotaka of the Taksaka race (Todd. p. 43 note). The Nilamata P. also called Kashmir Mahātmya, makes the Nāga king Nila a kind of cultural hero of Kaśmir and propounds the doctrines that Nila imparted to the Brahmin Candradeva.
Nagas in Buddhist Literature :-In the Buddhist Sutras the Nāgas appear constantly as the protectors of Buddhism (Samyutta V, p. 47, 63). They are mentioned in the Jātaka stories and are represented on the bass-reliefs as men or women either with cobra's hoods rising from behind their heads or with serpentine forms from the waist downwards. A Buddhist carving at Takhti Bāhi represents Buddha preaching to the Nagas (BI p.220-223). The Ceylonese chronicle Mahāvarsa records that the Stūpa at Rāmagrāma in the Kosala country, was washed away by the Ganges and the relic casket, having been carried down by the river to the ocean, was discovered by the Nāgas and presented to their king who built a Stupa for its reception ( Mahav. C. XXXI p. 185). This account, however, varies with that of the Chinese travellers Fa Hian and Hiuen Tsang who, about 400 and 630 A. D. respectively, saw the Stūpa at Rāmagräma still existing being guarded by a Nāga. They further mention that Asoka attempted to remove the relics to his capital but he had to abandon the idea on the expostulation of the Nāga king. (Beal's Fa Hian C. XXIII, p. 90; Julien's Hiuen Tsang II, 326). Fa Hian also mentions a Naga king Apalāla ruling in Udyāna (Svat valley). Hiuen Tsang mentions Na-ki-lo-ho or Nang-go-lo-ho, which is identified with Nagarahāra near Jalalabad at the confluence of the rivers Surkharud and Kabul. The name
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