The Divine Serpentine: A Cross-Cultural Survey of the Hindu Nāga Worship & the Judaeo-Christian Interpretation of Moses’ “Copper Snake”, the Nehushtan
The artistic
treatment of the serpent – or snake – in the tradition of the Hindu Nāga
worship and the Judaeo-Christian interpretation of Nehushtan, Moses’ so-called
“copper snake” along with other possibly related Western symbolic figures (e.i. the caduceus, and the rod of Asclepius), vary considerably in the manner in which they are depicted. The aesthetic styles used to represent the serpentine divine will be explored in this brief article devoted to taking a look at how snakes still possess and evoke powerful symbolic meaning in both culture and religion.
In regards to the Hindu Nāga, there is
quite an abundance of similar terminologies that exists in non-Hindu neighbouring
Indian countries that have adopted/adapted or borrowed the use of the Sanskrit term
Nāga in reference to their own cultural equivalent of the mythic serpentine being.
The imagery explored in the scope of this article, however, will limit itself
to examining the divine images of the Nāga myths of India, which are described
as “Nagas [male] and Naginis [female serpent beings]” who are “said to be
descendants of Kadru and Kasyapa” and who appear “as being human to the waist
and a serpent from the waist-down” (Rose 2000: 261). And Rose adds that they
are often—
described as having many heads
and being of different hues. The Nagas live in beautiful underwater palaces in
Bhagavati or, according to other myths, under the earth in Nagaloka. Their
wives, who are called Naginis, are said to be extremely beautiful. They are
ruled by their king, Ananta-Shesha, who protects and supports the god Vishnu […].
In modern Hindu belief, Kārkotaka is the king of the Nagas that controls the
weather, especially the coming of the rains.
Ibid.
261
In
surveying the use of the Sanskrit term nāga (“cobra”) in relation to myths in
general, there is an important distinction to be made. Other languages and
cultural groups outside of India have borrowed the term – mostly through the
spread of Buddhism – and because of this the Sanskrit nāga can be found to be
used in Indonesia, Thailand and West Malaysia (Rose 2000: 261). A nāga in these
non-Indian cultural traditions usually represents something along the lines of
what in English could best be described as a multi-headed dragon (ibid. 261),
whereas in the Indian mythic tradition a nāga is simply a “snake”, and is the
generic term for the sneaky animal in many languages in the Indian subcontinent
today (whether belonging to Āryan or Dravidian language families) (Apte 2002:
432). The Nāga, therefore, in the Hindu tradition is strictly a “cobra/serpent/snake”
figure.
One of the most important Hindu Nāga
figures or one of the “Principal Nāgarājas”, as these popular Nāgas are
referred to by Hindus, is without a doubt Śesha (read: Shesha) or Ananta the
World-Serpent (Vogel 1926: 190-92).
Image 1: Śesha or Ananta the World-Serpent
Above Śesha appears in one of his more
popular positions as the serpent-bed of Vishnu, the latter deity floating on
the crowned twelve-headed marine nāga. This image is one of the more
significant ones that appear of Śesha protecting and supporting the god Vishnu.
Because of its importance in Hindu mythology in relation to the Hindu myth of
the “churning of the Ocean of Milk”, Śesha is therefore considered as a king
among nāgas since he was essentially used as a rope by the gods in the myth (Turner & Russell Coulter
2000: 421). It is for
this great important reason that Śesha’s multiple heads are crowned by the
numerous appreciative deities in the myth, but nevertheless the serpentine body
is neatly distinguishable as such as Vishnu lets himself be cradled comfortably
in the nest of Śesha rather large body. This much is clear in Image 1, whereas
in the following, in Image 2 (see below), the body of Śesha forms a “couch” or
bed in much the same way, but this time it is nearly indistinguishable as the
body of a snake (nāga).
Image 2: Śesha
The heads once again appear in multiples here
again, but instead of having one large serpentine body as in the first image, Śesha’s
body (in Image 2) appears to be the result of an innumerable mass of flattened
snakes all fused together for lack of a better description. And the exaggerated
form of Śesha in the next image (Image 3 below) is even more so less
recognizable than the previous serpentine body. Arguably, Śesha appears to be
monstrously disfigured in this particular artistic representation the mythic
being. For instance, for those individuals who are totally unfamiliar with the
particular Hindu mythic subject matter in Image 3, would be hard pressed to
find any resemblance in the imagery with that of a serpent’s body. The humongous
size of Śesha in the artwork merely attests to the great importance of the role
it plays in the myth.
Image 3: Śesha
If we compare such a divine or royal,
beautifully enlarged and lustrous creature such as represents Śesha in Hindu
mythic artwork; in stark contrast, the Judeo-Christian tradition of
representing snake/serpent creatures is usually not executed in such a positive
light. For instance, in the biblical tradition, the Nehushtan or bronze (or
copper) serpent raised by Moses on a pole “in the desert in order to heal the
Israelites from the bites of the poisonous serpents to which they were exposed
(Num.xxi.4-10)” (Hirsch & Ochser 2002: 212-13) does not enjoy such an exalted
status in the Judeo-Christian tradition as does Śesha in Hinduism. Although, it
could be argued that there is a similarity, since undoubtedly both Śesha and
the Nehushtan are associated with the divine in some way or other; with Śesha serving
as a rope for the gods, and for the Nehushtan to heal the Israelites in the
desert through God’s instructions to Moses in creating it. So in a manner of
speaking, structurally, the Nehushtan is God’s will to heal on earth through its
serpentine figure which symbolically serves as a ladder, which is in a way
comparable to a certain degree to Śesha being used as a rope to heaven by the
gods.
Image 4:
Michelangelo’s Nehushtan
In examining the above Image 4, in
Michelangelo’s famous fresco painting on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel,
there can be seen illustrated a crowd of Israelites seeming to wrestle with
both evil and vile serpents – seemingly trying to bite, strangle – in short,
they are trying to kill them. But alas! in the background mounted on the pole
is the brass – or copper-coloured – Nehushtan, facing several bitten Israelites
that are probably looking to be rid of the evil serpents’ venom. One of the men
(with quite large biceps) can be seen offering what could be considered as his
wife’s gentle hand as he cups her breast lovingly. This contrasts sharply with the
flying green snakes in the foreground, these evil creatures that are attacking
the fearful Israelites. All this frightful scene, Michelangelo seemed to try to
depict occurring behind the Nehushtan’s back (in the upper right half of the
painting), where the coiled-up green serpent appears to lead the charge in the
attack. There is both reverence and fear represented in the serpentine figures
of this fresco.
Image 5: The Brazen Serpent,
by Benjamin West
There is much the same treatment of the Nehushtan
in the painting above, in Image 5, this one a famous work by Benjamin West in
which in it Moses appears, holding a staff, seems to be gesturing to the
enormous snake coiled up around the pole next to him – the Nehushtan, in the
upper right quadrant. The scene can arguably be interpreted to mean that Moses
is telling the Israelites that this giant ugly-looking snake next to him on the
pole – or tree – can heal them from other vile snake bites they’ve endured.
Once again, much like in Michelangelo’s painting (Image 4), this newer version
by West (Image 5) employs a dramatic scene with a mob being attacked from all
sides by smaller snakes with the promising miracle snake Nehushtan appears to
bear some kind of a promise of a cure from certain death. There also appears in
West’s painting an homage paid to the Laocoön
“by adapting the sculture to an Old Testament subject, just as Michelangelo had
done in the spandrels of the Sistine ceiling” (McCarthy 2008: 170). In the
lighter painted portion of The Brazen
Serpent, similar to the marble statue of the Laocoön (see following Image 6 below), West has painted overthrown
individuals coiled up in snakes – a direct reference to the snakes that Athena
sent down from heaven.
Image 6: Laocoön
and His Sons
In
all of these artworks, the snake/serpent as the main subject clearly dominates
the scene being played out. The size of the serpentine divine appears much greater
than that of the average snake. Whether coiling around a poll as the biblical
Nehushtan or in its exaggerated form as Vishnu’s
serpent-couch, both religious artistic traditions depict it as a larger-than-life
figure.
Aesthetically,
of course Śesha could be termed to be quite abstract in style compared to the
realist paintings of the Nehushtan. Another distinction to be made is that when
looking at the Śesha depictions with Vishnu in relaxation mode with a prostrate
Lakshmi in front of him (in Images 1 to 3), and in the first two images (Images
1 and 2) Brahma is flying on a lotus flower, hovering about; in short, in these
settings where Śesha appears, there is an undeniable otherworldy mythic feeling to the colourful art. Whereas the
contrary can be said of the Nehushtan representations since they cast the grand
serpent as realistic – although rather on the large side – and that it is an earthly
worldly setting – in a place where
people usually fear the snake’s venom and this often as much as they fear the
creature itself. Images 4 and 5 are filled with human emotions of fear and the
blessed sign of the miracle embodied by the Nehushtan as it has been sent by
God through Moses to save the poisoned Israelites; this certainly helps explain
the settings for these two images, since the paintings are demure, dark, yet
both contain a promise of light in the background surrounding the heavenly sent
Nehushtan. Śesha, on the other hand, is pictured in a colourful – almost blissful
– setting, the Hindu tableaux always seeming to be filled with awe, quiet wonderment.
This is most likely an accurately described feeling of peace and amazement evoked
by the artist, since traditionally, Śesha, along with Vishnu resting on him, have
both just finished their business of creating the universe.
With such wonderment at hand, details in
depicting such wonderful and holy beings, as a realistic-looking World-Serpent Śesha,
could have been seen or interpreted to be quite frivolous in regards to what
the onlooker is witnessing in these representations. Clearly, the subject of Śesha
and his divine companions are not ‘of this world’, they are ‘of the light’ and
so they all shine in their own mythic world where the artist has attempted to
convey this heavenly gaze to the spectator.
The
Judeo-Christian tradition and depiction of the Nehushtan is not only dark and
demure, but it is also representative of a religious tradition that is steeped
in history – real human history – sine the Hebrew Bible does not consider Moses
and his Nehushtan to be otherworldly
in quite the same way as Hinduism considers Vishnu and Śesha. Moses and the
Nehushtan play out their biblical scene in the real world, in an earthly world where the artists depict suffering
and death, danger and promise, and this frames the Nehushtan in a very worldly setting that the viewer can
relate to.
Most interestingly, the feelings evoked in
both the Hindu and Judeo-Christian mindsets in regards to this common theme of
the serpentine divine sacred imagery is quite consistent with the manner in
which this creature is usually seen in their respective environment. In the
West, as inheritors of the Judeo-Christian tradition, through their bad
biblical reputation where snakes have most often been vilified, people have a
tendency to fear the creature. On the other hand, in India, because of many ancient
beliefs that place the Hindu Nāga in high esteem as either an important fertility
symbol, or the fact that is intimately linked with specific aspects of
dharmic/religious holiness (such as demonstrates the mythology of Śesha) has helped
to preserve the everlasting tradition of snake worship. The Nāga is a positive
image.
Nag Panchami is a Hindu Festival celebrated in the
month of July or August.
Image
Source: http://headlinesindia.mapsofindia.com/Archive/image_archive.jsp?j=209
(Photo:PTI)
For example, in the East, snakes
are a common motif in temples, and are even shown to “crown” many important
religious/dharmic figures – in this sense, this artistic tradition of wearing
the Nāga “crown” in Indian art serves a similar function as a halo does in
Western religious spiritual “crowns”.
Lord Parshwanath, the 23rd
Jain Tirthankar
Image
Source: http://www.templearchitect.com/images/jain3big.jpg
Buddha with seven-headed snake protector
Image
Source: http://www.retireearlylifestyle.com/photos_thailand_2003.htm
The Hindu god Shiva often wears a snake
coiled around his upper arms and neck symbolizing the power he has over the
most deadly of creatures.
Image Source : iskcondesiretree.net
There is even a Hindu folk Goddess of
Snakes and Poison, by the name of Manasa (Manasha, also Mansa Devi), who is
widely worshipped (see Image 6). Moreover, it is even customary in some areas
to have or house idols of snake gods – Naga
Devatas and Naga Devas.
Image 7: Mansa
Devi, the Hindu folk goddess of snakes
The same cannot be said of the
Judeo-Christian world where there seems to be a cultural inheritance of
disliking or distrusting snakes which is most likely related directly to
Biblical lore (as can be seen in Image 7).
Image 8: Michelangelo’s "The Expulsion from the Garden of Eden"
.jpg)
Michelangelo's Sistine Ceiling painting shows the
Serpent giving Adam and Eve fruit from the Tree of Knowledge.
Yet,
in analysing the biblical “healing properties” of the Nehushtan as presented in
the Bible (Num.xxi.4-10), there is a striking parallelism that exists today in
the modern era which was also inherited from the ancient world and that could
also possibly be related to ancient practices similar to that of Moses raising
the snake on a pole to cure the bitten Israelites. In exploring the motif of
the Nehushtan, this fact warrants discussion in order to see that there is
actually some positive imagery or symbolism concerning the snake that was
inherited or transmitted to the West down through the ages. Whether the imagery
of the Nehushtan be responsible directly or not for the artistic motif of the
symbol commonly found for medicine in apothecary store-windows or pharmacies in
North America, assuredly there is either a direct inheritance that has come down
to us from the ancient world if not through biblical lore then perhaps from a
commonly shared cultural source. These other related contemporary Nehushtan-like
divine serpentine figures are the caduceus (see Image 8 below) and the rod of
Asclepius – the name of the Greek god of medicine (Image 9).
.Image 9:
The caduceus
Here is a local example of the use of the
caduceus as part of the Ontario Medical
Supplies logo.
 |
| Image Source: oms.ca |
Both the caduceus and the rod of Asclepius
retain a symbolic significance with their relationship to medicine and healing.
Image 10:
The rod of Asclepius
Another local example from here in Ottawa
in relation to the use of the rod of Asclepius is the logo of The Academy of Medicine Ottawa, a branch
society of the Ontario Medical
Association (the A.M.O. represents Ottawa physicians at the local and
provincial levels).
 |
| Image Source: academymedicineottawa.org |
It appears that even if most people
possibly ignore and often take for granted the existence of these powerful
snake symbols in our everyday surroundings, they do nevertheless possess some
of the same healing powers similar to that of Moses’ Nehushtan, and to a
certain extent those positive Nāga figures in the East. Undoubtedly, many
individuals would be quite surprised to learn of the great antiquity of the use
of these magic snakes in our modern healthcare facilities and medical
associations.
Statue of
Asclepius, exhibited in the Museum of Epidaurus Theatre
 |
| Image Source: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Asklepios_-_Epidauros.jpg |
Although the Nehushtan is mostly relegated
to biblical lore and religious specialists, the symbol of the rod of Asclepius,
on the other hand, can be seen while driving down most main city streets across
North America. Without going too much into any great detail about the
presumably commonly shared ancient origins with Moses’ Nehushtan, it is sufficient
to mention that the rod of Asclepius has undergone a sort of evolution or
transformation in recent times. The reason for this is due to a confusion with
the similar or comparable image of the caduceus (also called the wand of
Hermes), and the fact that it was mistakenly the latter – a staff entwined by
two serpents and a double helix and which is sometimes surmounted by wings –
that was adopted by the U.S. Army Medical Corps in the 19th century
by mistake instead of the rod of Asclepius (1).
 |
|
Image
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:US_Army_Medical_Corps_Branch_Plaque.gif
|
Due to this inherited confusion, the end result
is that the two, both the rod of Asclepius and the caduceus are currently used
in relation to being a popular symbol of medicine. According to a U.S. study, “A 1992 survey of American health
organizations found that 62%
of professional associations used the rod of Asclepius, whereas in commercial
organizations, 76% used the caduceus” (2).
Evidently, even if as an artistic motif the Hindu Nāga does not enjoy
such commercial popularity as does the imagery of the Nuhushtan et parenté, it can still be said that the
fact remains – that both in the East and West – the divine serpentine tradition
continues to exist in various ways as it did in ancient times, and it plays an
important part in our symbolic values, whether they be cultural, religious or
commercial.
Endnotes
(1)
In regards to the history of this confusion between the caduceus and the rod of
Asclepius, see the following: Wilcox, Robert A; Whitham,
Emma M (15 April 2003). "The symbol of
modern medicine: why one snake is more than two".
Annals of Internal Medicine; http://www.annals.org/cgi/content/full/138/8/673. Retrieved 2007-06-15.
Lt.-Col. Fielding H. Garrison, "The use of the caduceus in the insignia of
the Army medical officer," Bulletin of the Medical Library Association
9 (1919-20:13-16), noted by
Engle 1929:204 note 2.
(2)
Quoting the Caduceus Wikipedia
article which references Friedlander, Walter J (1992). The
Golden Wand of Medicine: A History of the Caduceus symbol in medicine.
Greenwood Press.
Image Credits
Image
1
Image 2
Image 3
Image 4
Image 5
Image
6: Laocoön and his sons, also known as
the Laocoön Group. Artists: Hagesandros,
Athenedoros, and Polydoros. Marble, copy after
an Hellenistic original from ca. 200 BC. Found in the Baths of Trajan, 1506.
Current location: Museo Pio-Clementino, Octagon,
Laocoön Hall. Source/Photographer: Marie-Lan Nguyen (2009).
Image 7
Image 8
Image 9
Image 10
Selected Bibliography
Apte, Vaman Shivram. The Student's English-Sanskrit Dictionary, Motilal
Banarsidass (reprint edition), India, 2002.
Hirsch, Emil G.
& Schulim Ochser. “Nehushtan.” The
Jewish Encyclopedia, 2002.
McCarthy, Erik. William Blake’s “Laocoön”: The genealogy of a form. (Ph.D., University of
Kansas, 2007) ProQuest Information and Learning Company, Ann Arbor (MI), 2008.
Rose, Carol. Giants, monsters, and dragons: An
encyclopedia of folklore, legend, and myth. W.W. Norton & Company,
Inc., New York (U.S.) & London (U.K.), 2000.
Turner, Patricia
& Charles Russell Coulter. Dictionary
of Ancient Deities, Oxford University Press, 2000.
Vogel, Jean
Philippe. Indian serpent-lore: or, The
nāgas in Hindu legend and art, Kessinger Publishing, London, 1926.
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