Shesh Naag

[SomeRandom]

Out of curiosity, I was wondering what people's practices were regarding Shesh Naaga, the snake God (I hope I spelt that right!)
Do you include him in your pujas? Do you perform any ceremonies in his honour? Offer him anything? Know any of the stories surrounding him? Had any experiences involving Naag? How important is he in your sect/beliefs? Thoughts? Feelings?

 

[Aupmanyav]

Fair spelling. It could have been better with Shesha Nāga. Brothers Lakshmana and Balarama are avataras of Shesha. No my family does not have any special pujas in his honor other than revering the two avataras. Picked up a snake-skin in primary school and other children called me a snake charmer. Would never kill a snake.

 

[Terese]

Oh Ananta Shesha! He is a very personal devotee of Vasudeva, and eternally sings of His glories! I worship Ananta Shesha as a devotee of Lord Visnu, and as His umbrella (couch, seat, what have you) After being with Lord Visnu at His side as Lakshmana ji, Lord Hari was very pleased with him, and out of love for him, let Ananta Shesha be his older brother in His next avatara, as Lord Krsna, and Lord Balarama, as Ananta Shesha. I love him very much, and i adore his avatara as Lord Balarama; often when i think of Lord Krsna, i think of Lord Balarama at His side, with his horn at the ready, experiencing such joy serving Govinda every day of Brahma, and serving Lord Ramachandra as Lakshmana ji

It's very lovely you made this, what out of your curiosity made you to create this thread?

 

[SomeRandom]

Oh Ananta Shesha! He is a very personal devotee of Vasudeva, and eternally sings of His glories! I worship Ananta Shesha as a devotee of Lord Visnu, and as His umbrella (couch, seat, what have you) After being with Lord Visnu at His side as Lakshmana ji, Lord Hari was very pleased with him, and out of love for him, let Ananta Shesha be his older brother in His next avatara, as Lord Krsna, and Lord Balarama, as Ananta Shesha. I love him very much, and i adore his avatara as Lord Balarama; often when i think of Lord Krsna, i think of Lord Balarama at His side, with his horn at the ready, experiencing such joy serving Govinda every day of Brahma, and serving Lord Ramachandra as Lakshmana ji

It's very lovely you made this, what out of your curiosity made you to create this thread?

I dunno. I saw a random add for the movie Shesh Naag. Recommend it if I recall it correctly.
I just never see Naag Baba (as we call him in our house) in the DIR and wanted to know what people's interaction were. My mother has a small statue of him sitting on a Lingam and every Monday pours milk over it in offering before respectfully cleaning it after a little while.

 

[निताइ dasa]

We love Him! Seshnaag, Lord Ananta Sesh is worshiped alongside Lord Krsna at all times. The worship of Krsna is not complete without the worship of His shakti, Radhe, and the worship of His topmost devotee Baladev (Seshnaaga)

 

[Aupmanyav]

The snake with Shiva is Shesha's step-brother, Vāsuki. Vāsuki was one of the children of Sage Kashyapa and his wife and Daksha's daughter, Surasa; while Shesha was the son of another Daksha daughter, Kadru. Goddess Mansā is Vāsuki's sister.

"Originally a Adivasi (tribal) goddess, Manasā was accepted in the pantheon worshiped by Hindu lower caste groups. Later, she was included in higher caste Hindu pantheon, where she is now regarded as a Hindu goddess rather than a tribal one. As a Hindu goddess, she was recognized as a daughter of sage Kashyapa and Kadru, the mother of all Nāgas. By the 14th century, Manasā was identified as the goddess of fertility and marriage rites and was assimilated into the Shaiva pantheon as a relative of Shiva. Myths glorified her by describing that she saved Shiva after he drank poison, and venerated her as the "remover of poison". Her popularity grew and spread to Southern India, and her cult began to rival Shaivism itself. As a consequence, stories attributing Manasa's birth to Shiva emerged and ultimately Shaivism adopted this indigenous goddess into the Brahmanical tradition of mainstream Hinduism." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manasa#Origins

"Vāsuka (or Vāsuki) is the name of a small Nair and pedireddla clan found near Mannarasala in Travancore and also Visakha district in Andhra Pradesh. They claim that their ancestors were Nāga serpents spared when the Khandava Forest (modern day Delhi) was burnt and cleared by Krishna and the Pandavas to make way for their capital Indraprastha." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vasuki#Descendants

IMHO, their ancestors may have been indigenous chiefs of the region rather than serpents. The indigenous kings were generally included in the later society as Nāgavamshi kshatriyas. They are mentioned to be the original kings in all regions of India.

 

[Terese]

We love Him! Seshnaag, Lord Ananta Sesh is worshiped alongside Lord Krsna at all times. The worship of Krsna is not complete without the worship of His shakti, Radhe, and the worship of His topmost devotee Baladev (Seshnaaga)

I also believe Lord Balarama is Lord Krsna's topmost devotee, him being the Lord Himself and a devotee! Haha, i kind of think Lord Balarama as the union of Lord Visnu and Ananta Shesha, kind of like the idea of Chaitanya being the union of Radha Krsna

 

[Kirran]

Not in my personal worship, what with not being much into the Vishnu sphere of things, but at the ashram I go to he's worshipped alongside Sri Ranganatha. They chant his Gayatri in the puja but I haven't learnt it yet, it's a pretty obscure Gayatri. Maybe next visit.

 

[Jainarayan]

Do you include him in your pujas? Do you perform any ceremonies in his honour? Offer him anything?

I suppose the extent of my outward show of reverence is including Balarama and Lakshmana in my litany of obeisances to the deities. I have a small Rama Parivara, which of course includes Lakshmana, in my shrine. I haven't found an image of Balarama that appeals to me. If I do I'll make it a 2 1/2 x 3 1/2" print.

In my temple the Dasavatara are displayed around the outside walls of the Sri Venkateshwara sanctum. Balarama is shown as the ninth avatar. I find it curious that if Balarama is an incarnation of Sheshnag and not Vishnu, he would be listed as an avatar.

 

[Terese]

I suppose the extent of my outward show of reverence is including Balarama and Lakshmana in my litany of obeisances to the deities. I have a small Rama Parivara, which of course includes Lakshmana, in my shrine. I haven't found an image of Balarama that appeals to me. If I do I'll make it a 2 1/2 x 3 1/2" print.

In my temple the Dasavatara are displayed around the outside walls of the Sri Venkateshwara sanctum. Balarama is shown as the ninth avatar. I find it curious that if Balarama is an incarnation of Sheshnag and not Vishnu, he would be listed as an avatar.

Lord Balarama is an indirect avatara of Narayana. A shaktyaveshavatara, to be exact, in Sri Vaisnavism; an empowered jiva, like Parasurama, but with much more potency

 

[Nyingjé Tso]

Vanakkam,

I do worhip Naag devtas but not shesh naag in particular

Aum Namah Shivaya