Manasa

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In Hinduism, Manasa is a naga and goddess of fertility. She is venerated in eastern India for protection against snakebite.

Manasa is said to be the daughter of Kasyapa, a famous sage, and Kadru, the sister of the serpent-king Sesha. Unlike her uncle, Manasa is still actively worshipped as a goddess who protects and saves humans from snake-bites. Her cult is most prevalent in Bengal where she is ceremoniously worshipped in temples. She is also attributed with the powers of curing infectious diseases like small-pox and of bringing wealth and prosperity. At the onset of the rainy season, when the snakes are most active, she is ritually invoked with sacrifices and offerings. She is probably a pre-Aryan goddess but this tale is of more recent vintage and comes from Bengal where she is most revered and tells how she gained recognition for herself as a potent member of the Hindu pantheon.

There is also another legend behind Manasa, who is considered to be daughter (out of wedlock) of Lord Shiva. Manasa requested Shiva to include her in the pantheon, so that she is worshipped by humans. Shiva responded to it by saying, if the merchant (king?) Chand (of Anga kingdom) agrees to worship you, you will be included amongst the goddesses. When Manasa approached Chand, he refused to worship her. This infuriated Manasa, and she killed all his sons. After this event, Chand's wife Sonika gave birth to their seventh son Lakhinder (also referred as Bala). Manasa's wrath had not been pacified even by the time when Lakhinder's marriage to Bihula was fixed. She vowed to kill him on the Suhaag Raat (The night after wedding, when bride and groom sleep together for the first time). To counter the threat, Chand planned to construct an iron room for Lakhinder's Suhaag Raat. However, Manasa threatened the blacksmith as well, and asked him to keep a small pinhole in the room. As nobody noticed this hole, In the night, Manasa sent a very thin snake to enter the room through the pinhole. Once inside the room, this snake turned into a Cobra and bit Lakhinder, killing him instantaneously. Bihula overcame grief and built a boat to go to Heaven to present this injustice to gods. Lakhinder was then revived by the gods. During the return from Heaven, Bihula managed to persuade Chand to worship Manasa. Chanda grudgingly agreed to worship her with his left hand. To this day, Manasa is the only Hindu goddess worshipped by the left hand. In the Anga region, she is also known as Bishahari and worshipped to prevent snake-bite related deaths. The boat created by Bihula was made up of jute straws (Manjusha) and paper. This led to development of Manjusha art, which is now on verge of extinction.

[edit] Reference

• Dictionary of Hindu Lore and Legend (ISBN 0-500-51088-1) by Anna Dhallapiccola

[edit] Further reading

• Hindu Goddesses: Vision of the Divine Feminine in the Hindu Religious Traditions (ISBN 81-208-0379-5) by David Kinsley
• Historical Studies in the Cult of the Goddess Manasa (Calcutta, 1966) by P. K. Maity
• Snake Worship in India (New Delhi, 1993) by G. Ravindran Nair

Hinduism | Hindu mythology | Itihasa
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