The Goddess of Snakes in Medieval Bengali Literature. Part II Author(s): Edward C. Dimock, Jr. and A. K.

Ramanujan Source: History of Religions, Vol. 3, No. 2 (Winter, 1964), pp. 300-322 Published by: The University of Chicago Press Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1061995 . Accessed: 20/10/2011 13:10
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Edward C. Dimock, Jr. and

THE OF

GODDESS SNAKES IN BENGALI

A. K. Ramanujan MEDIEVAL

LITERATURE
PART II

INTRODUCTION

MirceaEliade has written:

myth reveals a region of ontology inaccessible to superficial logical existence.... Heraclitus saw that "God is day and night, winter and summer, war and peace, satiety and hunger: all opposites are in him." . . . The Indian Great Goddesses, (Kali and the rest) like all other Great Goddesses, possess at once the attributes of gentleness and dread. They are at once divinities of fertility and destruction, of birth and also of death (and often also of war). Kali, for instance, is called "the gentle and benevolent," although the mythology and iconography connected with her is terrifying (Kali is covered with blood, wears a necklace of human skulls, holds a cup made out of a skull, and so on), and her cult is the bloodiest anywhere in Asia.' The first paper in this series2 attempted to show that Manasa, the goddess of snakes in Bengal, conforms to this pattern, and that over the centuries the characteristics of a number of divinities accrued to Patternsin Comparative Religion (New York, 1958), pp. 418, 419. "Goddess of Snakes in Medieval Bengali Literature,"History of Religions, I (Winter, 1962), 307-21, hereafter cited as GS I.
2

300

her, making her a goddess of "fertility and destruction, of birth and death"; she is at once Sarasvati and Jfniguli, goddesses of healing, and the one-eyed Kadru, mother of snakes, with poison in her empty eye; she is at once the mythic viqakanyd, whose touch is death, and the personification of the ancient idea of homeopathy: With poison do I slay thy poison.3 In this, the second of three papers on the goddess, we shall examine in more detail the myth of Manasa, with attention to the elements of folklore which are found in it, the relationship of mythic elements to the myths of other gods and goddesses, and the ways in which various characteristics have accreted to the goddess. The paper will be divided into two parts: 1. The outline of the full myth of Manasa. The basic story is compiled from the texts of Ketaka-dasa (Ksemananda), dating from about the middle of the seventeenth century, and the Manasa-vijaya (VD) of Vipra-dasa, a western Bengal text of the late fifteenth century. Variants will be given in italics, with the following identifications: VP: Manasd-mangal of Vi.nu-pala,a westernBengal text of the mid-eighteenth century. ND: Manasd-mangal of Narayan Dev, an easternBengal text of the seventeenth century. V: Manasd-mangal of VamsivadanaCakravarti (Vamsidas) an eastern Bengal text of the eighteenthcentury. VG: Manasd-mahgal of Vijay Gupta,an easternBengalversionof uncertain date, but perhapsas early as the sixteenth century. JG: the versionby JagatjivanGhosal,a northernBengal (Coochbehar) text of the mid-seventeenthcentury. MD: The complementary fragmentsof a text by two writers,Manakarand Durgavar,from westernAssam, of uncertaindate. JM: the versionof Jivankyrna Maitra, an Assamesetext dated 1744. B: the Bihariversion,anonymousand of uncertaindate. Since not all of these versions have been available to us in full (many of them are still in manuscript form), we have depended in part for our information on the variants upon the notes in Sukumar Sen's excellent edition of the Manasd-vijaya of Vipra-dasa (Asiatic Society, Calcutta, 1953) and upon Bdngdl mafgalkdvyer itihdsa of Asutos Bhattlcaryya (Calcutta, 1958). Also within our text will be code numbers (e.g. A 132.1): these refer to the Motif-Index of Folk Literature by Stith Thompson (University of Indiana, 1955), where the reader will find citation of other occurrences of the motif in question. While we also consulted the misleadingly titled The Oral Tales of India, by Stith Thompson and Jonas
3 Athdrva-veda 5:13:4.

301

The Goddessof Snakes in Medieval Bengali Literature

Babys (Bloomington, Ind., 1958), which is really a motif-index, we found the larger Motif-Index of Folk Literature more useful for our purposes. We have not tried to "motif" every item in the mangal; our numbers indicate the general location of the motif, but any attempt to place each item to the last decimal in the Index seemed to us rather unnecessary at this point. In any case, such attempts at precision are frustrated at the very outset by the absence of any adequate definition of "motif space." Something as general as Pride or wealth of man broughtlow by action of the gods is listed by the Index as a motif (L 473), as well as Bride-test: cooking (H 383.4). So we have contented ourselves with an indication of motif numbers wherever possible. We have also made up a new number or two, and these are identified by an asterisk (e.g., K 255.5*). For many well-known, specifically Indian motifs (such as Indra's dancers being banished to earth for a missed step), we have assigned numbers like V 236 (Fallen angels), though proper assignment has to wait for a full index of Indian motifs. All the same, we feel that these numbers are useful to the general folklorist and indicate the complex variety of motifs as well as their adaptation in a tale like the one we present: for instance, the use of the Compassionate executioner (here, in sections k and p, a snake), classed under K 512; or the Orpheus motif in section r, though here Behula does not go to the land of the dead. In certain cases, we have indicated the lack of complete fit between the motif here and a classification in the Index by a question mark. A final point on this matter: the general type of the Manasa tale seems to be close to Type 939 (The offendeddeity-cf. Types of Indic Oral Tales, by Stith Thompson and Warren E. Roberts, FF Communications No. 180, Helsinki, 1960), of which the Harischandra story4 is a good example. Clearly, we have not been able to cite all possible variants. Given the purpose of this paper, we have not been able to take account, for example, of the fact that an episode which might occur in version A in section a, occurs in version B in section z. Such variations in place of occurrence may or may not be significant; we have chosen merely to try to collate and present a narrative which seems representative of most of the versions available to us. 2. Analysis of the myth with attention to the distribution of characteristics of the chief figures, and conclusions. The analysis is forthrightly speculative, though, we hope, suggestive. The matter of character diffusion, which is one of the major points of the analysis, is a complex and difficult one, and one which for proper understanding
4 See The Thief of Love,ed. and trans. Edward C. Dimock, Jr. (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1963), pp. 140-168. 302

requires many more data than Indianists currently have at their disposal. If we can stimulate concern with the importance of gathering such data, we shall have gone a long way toward accomplishing our purpose.
I. THE MANASA MYTH A. THE BIRTH OF MANASA

One day, while sitting beside a lotus pond, ~iva was overcome by the beauty of the place (B: Siva went to bathe in a lake called Sonddaha). Thinking of his wife, he discharged his seed (T 541.10.1*)5 (B: he shed five strands of hair). The seed fell on a lotus. (B: thefive strands of hair attached themselvesto five lotuses). It ran down through the lotus stalk to the nether regions, where it fell upon the head of Vasuki, king of the Nagas.6 From the seed, Vasuki's mother Kadru7 fashioned a beautiful girl, who was named Manasa, and to whom Vasuki gave charge of snakes (A 132.1) and of poison (B: from the five lotuses were bornfive girls [T 543.2]8).
B. MANASA AND CANDI9

Manasa and her snakes used to come up to Siva's lotus pond to play (JM: in leaving, she omitted the proper courtesies to Vasuki, who cursed her; becauseof the curse, one of her eyes was destroyed[A 128.2]). Because of the snakes, giva was no longer able to pick lotuses there, and so he summoned Garuda to come and eat the snakes.10 Manasa
6 In the VP version, there is a story that Varuna was doing penance one day; his wife Maitra came to persuadehim to come home. He spilled his seed, and from it his son Agastya was born. 6 Cf. Mahabhdrata 1:38, 49-58, and GS I, p. 313. 7 Who was one-eyed; Manasa is also one-eyed: see GS I, p. 315. 8 The five girls jointly play the role of Manasa. Sen (MV, xxvi) has: "This has been brought about by conceiving individuality for five of the usual names of the after the goddess, analogy of the five water nymphs (paicapsaras). The five sisters are Maina Visahari, Dotola Bhavani, Devi Vivahari,Jaya Visahari, and Paduma Kumar. ... Maina (lit. "deadly") is the leader of the pentad." 9 The role of Candi in the Manasa myth is a defensive one, thus suggesting the possibility that it representsthe encroachmentof the Manasa cult upon her own. Whether or not this is true, there is a curious similarity between some aspects of the Manasa myth and that of Candi herself. For example, in the Candz-mahgal poems, Candi wants to have her worship established upon the earth. She decides that this will have to be done through Nilambara, the son of Indra. So she goes to Siva and says, "Put a curse on Nilambara and send him to the mortal world." Siva replies that he cannot do this without cause; so Candi takes the form of an insect and hides in a flowerwhich Nilambara is about to pick for offering in Sivapuja. During the puja, Candi as the insect comes out of the flower and bites Siva. The god, burningwith anger, cursed Nilambara, who descended to earth and was born as Kalketu, in the house of Dharmaketu the hunter (MKI, p. 354, and Kabikankancandz,pp. 153 ff.). 10Garuda, the divine bird, is son of Vinata and the mortal enemy of snakes (Mahabharata 1.38, 45-48). 303

The Goddess of Snakesin Medieval BengaliLiterature

went to 8iva to protest; when Siva saw her beauty, he lusted for her (A 188.1)11(ND: he tried to make love to her and was struck down by the deadly glancefrom Manasd's eye [D 2061.2.1]). Manasa prevailed upon Siva to take her home with him. 8iva, aware that his wife Candi would be very jealous (A 164.7), did not agree at once. But eventually Manasa persuaded him, and he took her home in a flower basket (A 137.4? K 312.3*).12 (VP: Manasa turned herself into a white spider [D 190],13and was broughthome in the basket in that form; B: the five girls were hiding in lotuses, and Siva picked the lotuses and took them home.) (ND: As Siva was taking Manasa home in the basket,she asked some cowherdsfor milk. They refused, and she killed them. At Siva's request,she broughtthem back to life, and they worshipedher. They also met thefarmer Bachdi, who wanted Manasd for his wife. Manasa killed him also, restoring him to life only after Bachai's motherhad promised to worship her.)'4 Candi discovered Manasa in the basket (JG:) by weighing each lotus and, if it seemed too heavy, throwingit into thefire, thus forcing Manasa to reveal herself (J 1143.1*). Despite Manasa's pleas that Siva was her father and Candi her stepmother, Candi accused her of being Siva's mistress. The argument grew more heated until Candi, in a fit of rage, put out Manasa's eye with a hot coal (F 512.1) (B: Candzthrewa log and struck Maind Viiaharz in the eye). Manasa darted death from her poison eye, and Candi fell down life1 Siva in many of these texts is a lustful person. As Bhattacaryya (Bai6 kabir manasd-maigal,2/90, n. 1) points out, in the Sivayanapoem of Ramesvara,he is involved in an affair with a Bagdi woman, in various folk rhymes he has affairs with Koc women, and in the VG version of the Manasa myth he is involved with a Dom woman. This leads Bhattacaryya to the conclusion that Siva was a god adopted by the "lower social orders," and identified, for example, with Muram Buro of the Koc-Munda people, a terrible god pacified only by animal sacrifice (MKI, p. 104). This is very possibly too simple,for as Bhattacaryyahimself points out (MKI, p. 102), the naked Siva is depicted in other texts as seducing the wives kedarakhanda of rsis in an a?ram (Skanda-purana, adhydya6: mahegvara-kanda, 18-19); this may be a puranic assimilationof a tribal god. For Siva's seduction of (bhavanipatermunipatnisahasra sages' wives, see also Dandin's DaAakumdracarita sandfuan.am):Sen MV, p. 294. A rather curiousstory is told in the VP version of the myth. Durga (or Candi) was angry with Siva for bringing Manasa home and started off for her father's house. Siva turned himself into aMuslim soldier and stationed himself in Dirga's path. He then caused a storm; to escape it, Durga ran into the sentry house where Siva was. He raped her, and as a result she gave birth to two sons, Hasan and Hosen, whom we shall meet below. 12 Note the associationof Manasa with to this we women-fertility-trees-flowers; shall return. 13 Later in the Ketaka-dasa version, Manasa turns herself into a white fly and from her vantage point on the wall hears the secret of Dhanvantari's power (below, Sec. J). The colorwhite is associatedwith Sarasvati,perhapsherselforiginally a goddess of water and poison cure (MS, pp. 316, 317, n. 39). 14 Here and in several places in the composite myth, it is a woman who first agrees to worship Manasa. Note again the connection with women and fertility. 304

in the foot;15 less. (V: Manasd became a snake [D 191] and bit Car7d.j B: Maind Vi6ahar, then caused Caod.zin this version called Pdrvatz, to be bitten by a snake; Manasd then went to hide in a sij tree.l6) Siva, returning, pleaded with Manasa to restore Candi to life, and she did so.17 iva and Manasa then left the house.'8
C. THE CREATION OF NETO

After walking a long way, Manasa and Siva were very tired, and sat down on top of a hill underneath a sij tree to rest. Manasa, exhausted, fell sound asleep. Siva saw his chance to escape and sneaked away, but not without sorrow, and as he was leaving a tear fell from his eye. From this tear drop he created a full-grown girl whom he called Neto (T 541.3),19 and whom he appointed the companion of Manasa (A 195). Siva then went away.20
D. THE CHURNING OF THE SEA21

The sea was churned by Siva, with the great serpent as instrument. Out of the sea came poison, compounded from the wrath of Siva and the venom of the serpent. Siva drank the poison to prevent the world from being destroyed by it, and when he had drunk it he fell down dead. In grief, Candi sent for Manasa, informing her of her father's
15 This is, to our knowledge, the only place in the myth in which Manasa herself assumes the form of a snake. More usually, she sends her servants the snakes to do such work. 16 A tree sacred to Manasa, and under which, in village Bengal, offerings to her are placed. It is possible that the sap of this tree is considered to have medicinal value (see GS I, p. 320). 17 The means of her restoration is not given. In the Bihari version, a mantri (one who possesses knowledge of the mantras or sacred formulas) called Keso was summoned. He began his ministrations with the help of a water pot, but Visahari caused the water to dry up. Then Siva interceded, and Candi was restored to life. 18 The VG version has an additional episode. Manasa had given birth to eight naga sons. Candi, being jealous, hated her for this. By Candi's command, Manasa became dry and could not nurse. Siva then commanded the divine cow to fill the river with milk. But the serpents drank from the river and contaminated it. When Siva drank from it, he was slain by the poison (a clear variant of the churning of the sea story in MhBh 1:15-17; see below, Sec. D). Manasa then restored him to life. 19 The most obvious derivation of the name is from the Sanskrit netra, "eye." Sen (MV, xxxv), however, derives it in the following way: "The main function of Neto in the saga is to give advice to Manasa as to how some persons could be killed and when that was done to take charge of the dead bodies. This reminds us of the /tgvedic imagery of death as the lap of Nirrti. Neto therefore represents the vedic Nirrti, and the derivation of the Bengali name from the Vedic is linguistically probable. 20 In JM, Manasa and Neto are both born from the seed of Siva. In VP, Neto is born from the sweat of Brahma (A 114.1.1.1). In ND, Neto is called the elder sister of Manasa. 21 The story is common to all versions, and is clearly drawn from MhBh 1:15-17.

305

The Goddessof Snakes in Medieval Bengali Literature

death and urging her to come and restore him to life. Manasa replied that she could not come out into the world, as she had no clothing but a tiger skin; however, she said that if Candi would provide her with clothing, she would come. Candi gave her some old rags, which led to another argument between the two. Manasa shot death from her poison eye, and Candi fell lifeless. Manasa then revived Siva by utterand as the poison began to come out of him she ing certain mantras,22 collected it, giving half to the snakes, scorpions, and poisonous insects (A 2532), and storing the other half in her empty eye. At ~iva's request, she revived Candi once again.
E. THE MARRIAGE OF MANASA23

Siva was advised by the gods to find a husband for Manasa. He discovered that a marriage between her and a sage (T 111) named Jaratkaru was predestined (T 22). The two were married (JM: Jaratkdru getting Neto as part of the dowry) and Manasa had a son named Astika. (JM: Once, when Jaratkaru was away, the sage Aqtdvakra fell in love with Manasa and wanted her. But Manasa sent Neto to him in her place [K 1911]. As a result of their union, Neto gave birth to the sage Dhananjaya. When Jaratkaru returned, he saw Manasa nursing the infant, misunderstoodthe situation, and abandonedher [S 41.1].)24
22 Auto$ Bhattacaryya ("The Serpent in Folk Belief in Bengal," in IF I, 26-27) discusses the method of snakebite cure, and gives the following exemplary incantation: 0 churning poison, in the water of the seven seas, by your power the blue-necked one [i.e., Siva] fell swooning. It bursts from the lower world [i.e., the abode of the nagas] and penetrates, and makes blood water. But to one who takes bhaig [a variety of drug] even much poison has no strength. Go to him who has prepared you, 0 poison. Eat creepers and leaves and frogs and seja [sij?]. Leave the head and body and depart, 0 poison. By the order of Cand.i, daughter of Hara, return slowly to your home.

O poison, you are a slayer of living things. The strength of the poison of the Mother [?] remains no more. By the order of the angered Candi, whom all fear, Go, poison, ineffective poison; there is no poison left in you. By the order of Vi$ahari, go, poison, go.
23 The story is parallel to that in MhBh 1:38:12, 16, and 45-48 and is accepted by all versions. In some places in the VD version, however, Manasa is called a "virgin goddess." 24 See GS I, p. 314, n. 29, for a somewhat different interpretation. 306

F. MANASA'S DESIRE TO BE WORSHIPED25

Manasa wanted to be worshiped in the world of men. She asked Neto and Siva how this could come to be. Siva promised that it would be arranged, but despite this, the establishment of her worship was not easy. (VG: First, she was worshiped by Ldtika, a Candala who had lost Manasa then disguised herself as an old Braheverything gambling.)26 man woman (D 610.1, K 1811) and went to a group of cowherd boys who were grazing a herd of sixteen thousand cows on the bank of a river.27(JG and ND: she beggedmilk from them; they refused to give her any, and she killed them). The boys taunted her and beat her, so she summoned her snakes to frighten the boys into submission. When even this was not effective, she demonstrated her divinity by milking a cow into a wicker basket and drinking from it upside down (H 413.3, H 1023.2?). The boys were still not convinced and rushed at her again. She disappeared, taking with her all the cows. In order to get their cows back, the boys agreed to worship her on the tenth day of the bright fortnight of the month of Jaistha.
G. HASAN AND HOSEN28

Near the place where the cowherd boys were tending cattle was the estate of the Muslim landlord Hasan and his brother Hosen (VP: This estate was contiguous to that controlledby Manasa. One day she went out in her chariot to survey her realms and saw that her neighborHasan had become very powerful). One day, when the cowherd boys were worshiping the sacred pots of Manasa, the overseer of Hasan's estate, Gora Mina by name,29 saw them; he became very angry and drove them off. Manasa became in her turn very angry at this (VP: Brahmans complained to Manasa that Hasan was persecuting Hindus, and Manasa becameenraged). She sent one of her smallest and most deadly
25 The motif is not uncommon in the maingal texts. Candi also had to exert herself considerably in order to have her worship accepted on the earth; see n. 9,

above.

26 Perhaps an argument for Bhattacaryya's position (MKI, pp. 160-71) that the worship of Manasa began among non-caste and tribal groups. 27 The reference to the Kr?na legend is clear: Krsna and the other gopas herded cows on the banks of the Yamuna; Krsna had 16,000 consorts. This is either an historical statement (i.e., that some Vaisnavas were among the first to accept the worship of the Devi), or it is a method of statement of the superiority of the Manasa cult over the Vaisnava. 28 Hasan and Hosen are brothers, heroes and martyrs of Shi'a Islam; the reference may be to a historical conversion of Muslims to the Devi cult. 29This may well be a reference to a conflict with the Natha cult, the legendary founders of which are Minanatha and his disciple GorakSanatha. The names apin pear frequently many mangal poems, such as the eighteenth-century Dharmamangal of Sahadeva Cakravarti.

307

The Goddess of Snakes in Medieval Bengali Literature snakes, in the form of a golden insect (D 418.4*), to hide within a pot. When Gora Mina reached inside the pot to pick up the golden insect, he was bitten and killed. Then the snakes, under orders from Manasa, proceeded to kill all the Muslims in the area. When Hasan heard of this, he prepared an army to combat Manasa and her snakes; this was against the advice of his wife, who pleaded with him not to contest the will of the goddess. Manasi's serpent-army (D 2091.2.2*) surrounded that of Hasan and slaughtered everyone. Snakes also began to infest the house of Hasan himself, and so plagued him that at last he installed a sacred pot of Manasa in a temple and began to worship it.
H. MANASA AND THE FISHERMEN

Continuing her campaign to have her worship established on earth, Manasa appeared before two fishermen as an old Brahman woman (K 1811.2) and asked them to carry her across the river. Angered and afraid that it would delay their fishing, the fishermen insulted her and refused to honor her request. By her magical power, then, Manasa prevented them from catching any more fish (D 2085.1). So they relented and carried her across the river; on their next cast they found their nets full of fish (D 2106.1.1). Their last catch was a pair of the pots sacred to Manasa, all made of gold (D 2102). Manasa blessed the fishermen, and a shower of gold fell around them (D 2102). They worshiped the pots of Manasa, and their whole family prospered greatly.
I. THE MEETING OF MANASA AND CANDO30

The episode with the fishermen had occurred in the city of Campakanagara, the home of Cando, a wealthy and powerful merchant (or king), and a faithful worshipper of Siva and Candi. One day, on her way to the river, Cando's wife Sanaka passed the place where the two fishermen lived. Hearing sounds of merriment from within the house, Sanaka entered and heard from the mother of the fishermen the story of the old Brahman woman and the pots. Sanaka asked for the pots, which were given to her. She took them home and worshiped them, accompanied by her six daughters-in-law.31Enraged, Cando seized his staff and smashed the pots (C 937?). (VP: After Hasan's submission, Manasa came to Cando's lands and perchedon the branchof a white simul tree. Manasa was very attractedby the wealth and orderof the lands of Cando and thoughtthat she would kill all the inhabitants and transport the whole place to her own domain. But
30 Accordingto some texts, Cando is so called because he has caught the moon cf. ND and Sitara-das versions). "moon-holder": (cand, "moon," candradhara, 31 Note again the prominenceof women in the cult. 308

as she was sitting in the tree, Cdndo saw her and struck her with his staff. She shot a fire arrow at him but only singed his moustacheand beard. He mocked her, saying that she did barber'swork.) (V: In a former birth, Cdndo was the hermit Pasusakha ["friend of beasts"]. Once he rescued two birds from a swollen stream and cared for them. But the birds were eaten by snakes, and ever afterwardshe was the mortal enemy of snakes.) (VG: The reason that Manasd hated Cando was that once the snakes which coveredher person had fled from Cdndo, leaving Manasd naked in his presence [C 312.1.1?].) Manasa then resolved to conquer Cando, on the advice of Neto, who said that if Cando would worship Manasa, the whole world would follow suit. Manasa then appeared to Cando in the form of a beautiful young girl (K 1811) (VP: his sister-in-law; VG: a dancing girl). Cando met her in the forest. She told him that she was doing penance there in order to take revenge on the snakes which had killed her sister's husband. When he saw her, Cando lost his head completely over her. They arranged a meeting, and Cando, witless with passion, revealed to Manasa the secret of his great power (K 975).32 (V: The beautiful girl told Cdndo that she would marry the man who possessed the mahajndna, the "great knowledge"which was the source of power; to prove that he possessed it, he told her his magic mantra. VG: The dancing girl said that she was a poison-girl, a visa-kanyd,33but that one who survived his first contact with her would gain immunity from poison forever. So Cdndo taught her the great knowledge,so that she could restorehim to life after his contact with her. When she had heard the mantra, she disappeared.) Manasa then took advantage of her possession of Cando's power and razed his estates to the ground.
J. DHANVANTARI34

After razing his estates, Manasa appeared to Cando in a dream, commanding him to worship her. But in the morning Cando summoned
32 In many places throughout most of the versions Cando is called ojha, which means one with magical power, especially over snakes and in the cure of snakebite. Some versions say that the secret of his power was a scarf given him by Candi, others that it was his knowledge of an especially powerful mantra. 33The notion of the femmefatale is of course familiar to the folklore of Europe, as well as from Tobitof the Old Testament Apocryphaand the Alexanderlegends. to however According Penzer, (Oceanof Story, II, 275-313), the motif originatedin India. 34Dhanvantari is a puranic figure, who, accordingto the legend, had emerged from the churningof the sea holding a cup of nectar. Having been endowed by the gods with marvelouspowers of cure, especially powers over snakebite, he defeated a rival magician named Sankha. Sen comments on pala 2.14 of the Vipra-dasa version: "In the Middle Bengali saga the puranic Dhanvantari, the custodian of 309

The Goddessof Snakes in Medieval Bengali Literature

some of his friends and consulted them. They advised him to employ the great ojhd Dhanvantari to protect himself from Manasa. Cando did so, and on his arrival in Campakanagara, Dhanvantari by his magic restored all of Cando's estates. Manasa again consulted Neto, who advised her first to destroy Dhanvantari, thereby making Cando easier game. Her advice was to attack Dhanvantari through his pupils, for "if you cut the branches of a tree, it will not bloom again for many days, even though the root remains." So Manasa set out to kill the 126 pupils of the ojhd. Manasa first disguised herself as a flower-woman (K 1811) and wove 126 poisoned garlands. Dhanvantari bought these garlands for his pupils (K 1817.4), and when they put them on they began to burn with the poison. But Dhanvantari saved them with a mantra and a prayer to Brahma. Then Manasa disguised herself as a cowherd girl and manufactured poisoned curd (K 1817.4). She wandered through the city hawking her wares, but her prices were so high that no one bought from her (K 255.5*). Finally she came to the place where Dhanvantari was teaching his pupils. She fell into conversation with him, telling him that her name was Kamala; he replied that she was then his sister, since his wife's name was the same. But he did not buy the curd. The pupils then got together and decided to steal it. They scuffled around the woman, and each boy took a piece. They ate the curd and began to die (A 1335.12?). But Dhanvantari, seeing them writhing on the river bank, once again saved them from the poison. Manasa was then advised by Neto to make friends with Kamala, Dhanvantari's wife. Dressing as a Brahman woman (K 1811), she went to Kamala, who was only too eager to make friends. As the conversation went on, Manasa asked Kamala what would happen if Dhanvantari were to die. Kamala was tormented by the idea after Manasa had left and was weeping when Dhanvantari came in. In response to her question, Dhanvantari replied that he could not die unless the seven marks of Brahma on his head were obliterated, and that this could be done only if the udaykdl snake were to enter his nostril. Manasa, perched on the wall in the form of a white fly, heard all this
ambrosia, had merged into the mythic naga prince Safkha.... The position of Dhanvantari-Safkha was prominent in the ndga cult that was once prevalent throughout northern India." VD has this to say on the origins of Dhanvantari. He was first born from the churningof the ocean. He was then rebornin the royal family of Ka?i and became known as Safkha. One day he caught an udaykal snake, which, it happened, was the pet of a certain sage. The sage laid this curse upon him: that he would die by the bite of an udaykalsnake. 310

(K 975).35 She went immediately to Siva, in whose possession the udaykdl snake was, and persuaded him to give the snake to her. The snake entered Dhanvantari's nostril and struck. Awakening and knowing that he was dying, Dhanvantari summoned his two chief pupils, Dhana and Mana, and told them that the only antidote for the poison was in the galya tree. The pupils went at once to the mountainside and found the tree; but as they were coming down the path with it, Manasa appeared before them in the disguise of an old Brahman woman (K 1811), weeping. When they asked her why she cried, she replied: "0 children, what is the use of medicine? Your guru just gave up his life because of the enmity of Manasa. The smoke you see is that of your guru being burned. Listen-you can hear the sounds of wailing in the city." So the pupils dropped the tree and ran to the side of Dhanvantari, who was alive. His last request to his pupils was that they cut his body into four pieces and bury them in the four directions.36 The boys then began to cut the body into pieces, but before they had had time to finish the task, Manasa appeared again in the form of an old Brahman woman. She rebuked the boys, telling them that they should have more respect for their guru's body. Ashamed, they buried the body whole.37 VP: The gods brought Dhanvantari back to life by pouring water on the remains. But Dhanvantari saw in a mirror that his face had been badly disfigured; by his own choice he became a snake (D 191) and "remained around the neck of the mother." VD: Manasa as the old Brahman woman told the boys to place the body on a raft and set it adrift on the river. The raft floated to Manasa, who revivedDhan36 In the Vipradasaversion, Dhanvantari is infatuated with Manasa in disguise and foolishly reveals the secret. 36 The KD text reads: "Cut my body into four pieces and bury the pieces in the four directions, so that the snakes of Manasa will not be able to bite." The VD version is slightly different:"Cut [my body] into eight pieces, and bury them carefully from place to place in the eight directions; then the nagas will not be able to move" (6.18, p. 113). 87A person dead of snakebite is not burned (see GS I, p. 319). The ending of the story is a little different in the VD version: Dhana and Mana decided to test the powers which they had gained from Dhanvantari, and they succeededin restoring to life a banana tree which Manasa had killed. Seeing this, Cando appointed the boys in Dhanvantari's place. Their mother did not approve, being afraid of their conflict with the goddess. So Manasa approachedtheir mother as a friend, on the grounds that their names (Kajala) were the same. Manasa put a tiny snake in the dust, and as Dhana was returningfrom bathing in the river, it bit him in the foot. Seeing his brother dying, Mana kicked the dust to kill the snake, and he too was bitten. Manasa then made a bargainwith the boys' mother, saying that she would restore them to life if they could be hers. Kajala agreed. Manasa restoredthe boys to life and they became her personalattendants. Clearly this story is the Dhanvantari story told over again.

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vantari, turned him into a ram (D 135), and kept him by her side. VG: Dhanvantari's body was depositedwith the river goddess Gargd.
K. THE KILLING OF CANDO'S SONS

Cando's first strength lay in his six sons, and Manasa's first task was to kill them.38 She first sent a snake called Dhora to do the job. but Dhora got caught in a fisherman's net and failed.39Manasa then sent the snake called Kali. Kali went to Cando's house and hid herself until the young men were asleep. As vicious as she was, Kali could not bring herself to strike the sleeping boys (K 512); she therefore went into the kitchen and discharged her poison into the rice which the boys would eat in the morning. When they arose, they ate the rice and dropped to the ground writhing in agony. Their wives thought that they were playing and laughed merrily. Sanaka knew however that they had been poisoned, and tried various antidotes, but too late. (MD: Dhanvantari, in this version not yet dead, was bringing medicine to cure them, but Manasa in the guise of a kite swept down and stole it from him.) Cando and Sanaka were deeply grieved; but Cando, knowing that it had been Manasa who had killed his sons, only cursed and reviled her the more. He resolved to put his sons' bodies on a raft and float them down the river; but the priests advised against it, saying that the boys should be cremated. Cando replied that the pall of smoke from the pyres would be like a banner of triumph to Manasa, and that he would not give her such satisfaction. The bodies were set afloat on the river, and Manasa took them to her domain. (V: Manasa took the bodies and put them in the charge of a rakaas8, as she had done with Dhanvantari.)
L. THE VOYAGE OF CANDO

Manasa, disguised as Siva, appeared to Cando in a dream, and advised him to go on a trading voyage to Anupama Patana.40 (B: the voyage 38 MD tells the to it, of the birthof the six. In this text Cando story,peculiar cameto the town Dhanvantari Oneday the ojhd andSoneka [sic]hadno children. toldSoneka at theirdoor.Dhanvantari in which theywerelivingandbeathisdrum his deity,whowasrepresented that if sheworshiped by a pot of water,she would didso, at firstwithoutresult.Shewas aboutto throwherfertile.Soneka become her six sons, and promised self into the riverwhenthe goddess Gangaappeared who weredulyborn.Not the least interesting aspectof this little storyis that it in the wholeManasa in a cluster the motifswhichareso prominent saga: presents the ojha). (Dhanvantari pot-river-snake fertility-water 39In modern took away of this failureManasa Bengal,it is saidthat because to this day. 1?hora's poison,andthe snakeis harmless 40 This is according of the voyage to VD, who gives an elaborate description to the AjayRiver, saileddownthe Dharmakhana to him,Cando itself.According andout intothe opensea. He sailedforseveraldayson the open intothe Ganges, 312

was to Lanka.) MD: Cando, about to embark, needed a magur fish for the ceremonyof embarkation.Soneka [sic] went to the fisherwoman to get the fish and found her worshiping the sacred pot of Manasa. Soneka too, to insure Cdndo's safety, worshiped the pot. When Cdndo heard of this, he left his ship and smashed the pot. After worshiping Siva, Cando set out upon his journey, stopping at various places along the way to worship Siva and local deities. When he arrived at Kalidaha (B: Triveni), a place sacred to Manasa, he frightened away Manasa's serpents and then went ashore and smashed her pots and destroyed her temple. But he and his ships were beset by a great storm sent by the goddess (D 2091.5). The hero Hanuman,4' at Manasa's command, crushed the seven ships.42 But Manasa knew that she could not let Cando drown, or her worship would never be established on the earth. So she caused the trunk of a banana tree to float by him, and, clinging to it, Cando reached the shore. Exhausted, he lay naked on the beach, and was found thus by Manasa, disguised as a Brahman woman. She gave him a winding-cloth to cover his nakedness.43
M. THE TRIALS OF CANDO

Because of the hatred of Manasa, Cando wandered alone and penniless in the forest, begging his food. No sooner had he accumulated a little grain by begging than Manasa sent a rat to destroy his store. No sooner had he begun to earn his living by cutting wood than Manasa sent Hanuman to climb upon the load, which then became so heavy that Cando could not carry it. And when at last Cando came to the house of an old friend, he found that the friend had become a worshiper of Manasa; in anger Cando tried to break the sacred pots but was restrained, beaten, and expelled from his friend's house. At last, after many months of wandering, he arrived at his own home. Ashamed
sea, perhaps suggesting that their destination was on the coast of Burma or even further down in southeast Asia (see MV IX: 3-9). This text says that Cando's cargo included conch shells, gold, silk, animals, and jewels; Ketaka-dasa mentions textiles and poppy seed. 41Hanuman was the monkey-chief who assisted Rama in his conquest of the rak?asaRavana in the epic Ramdyana.He is associated with storms, and one of his epithets is marutaputra,"the son of the wind." He is also indirectly related to Manasa through Siva: Siva, at the plea of his wife Parvati, had shaped the maruts (winds) from formless lumps of flesh. VD says that Cando reached his destination, made a successful trade, and that it was not until he passed Kalidaha again on his way home that the storm overtook him. 42 Some texts, including B, number the ships six. 43From this point on, the parallels to the trials of Odysseus are striking. The winding sheet would be a most unclean garment, indicating both the depths of Cando's degradation and one of Manasa's supreme insults. 313

The Goddess of Snakes in Medieval Bengali Literature of the condition to which he had been reduced, he approached the house at night. Thinking him a thief, the servants beat him, knowing him as Cando only after he shouted out (H 182).
N. THE BIRTHS OF BEHULA AND LAKHINDAR

After Cando had set sail, Manasa went to the court of Indra to enlist the services of Indra's court dancers (A 166) Aniruddha and U?as for her campaign against Cando. At first, Indra was not willing to part with them. But as they were dancing, Manasa caused Aniruddha to make a misstep. Indra, in a rage, banished the dancers to mortal life (V 236). Aniruddha went into the womb of Sanaka, and she gave birth to a boy of great beauty and intelligence, whom she named Lakhindar. Udas went into the womb of Amala, the wife of a great merchant named Saya in the city of Ujani, and was born as Behula.
O. THE MARRIAGE OF LAKHINDAR

When Cando looked upon the face of his son, he was so happy that he quickly forgot all the afflictions which he had suffered at Manasa's hands. The years passed, and it became time to arrange for Lakhindar's marriage. Cando summoned Janardana the purohit and instructed him to search out the daughter of a merchant family equal in wealth, power, and reputation to his own. Janardana found Behula and, once it was determined that the horoscopes were in order, the marriage was arranged. At the last minute, however, Cando held back, saying: "If the girl is really chaste and loyal, she will be able to cook beans of iron until they are soft. Only such a girl will be married to my son. This has been the practice of my family, down through the generations" (H 383.4). Manasa then appeared to Behula as an old woman sitting on the edge of a ghat. After an exchange between the two, the old woman disappeared, leaving no doubt in Behula's mind as to who she really was. By her faith in Manasa, Behula was able to cook the beans (H 971.1). Cando was satisfied, and the marriage took place.
P. THE WEDDING NIGHT OF BEHULA AND LAKHINDAR

The god of destiny had written on Lakhindar's forehead that he would be killed upon his wedding night (T 172). JG and B: Sanaka, knowing this, opposed the marriage. But Manasa, impatient with the delay, sent an apsari disguised as Lakhindar's maternal aunt to arouse sexual passion in him and thus hasten the proceedings.Due to this prediction, Cando summoned Viivakarma, the architect of the gods, and prevailed upon him to build on a high mountain a house all of iron (F
314

771.1). Manasa got news of this, and threatened Visvakarma with the consequences of her wrath unless he left a chink in the iron in one corner of the house. Vigvakarma, terrified, complied. The wedding took place, and immediately Cando took the couple to the iron house. And around the house he placed as sentries magicians with power over snakes, mongooses, and peacocks (F 771.5.1); he himself also patrolled, his staff in hand. Meanwhile, Manasa had summoned her snakes, having procured from 8iva the star that causes sleep, and having overcome the guards (K 332?). She first chose one called Bankaraj to go and kill Lakhindar. The snake crept through the chink in the iron (T 172.2). But Behula was awake, and, cajoling him with sweet words and milk, Behula captured Bankaraj with a pair of tongs and put him in a snake-basket. When Bankaraj did not return, Manasa sent out two other snakes, who met the same fate. Finally, at the end of the night, she sent the deadly snake called Kalini. (B: The five had gottenfrom Siva the python Maniydr, who was massaged by them until he was thin enough to enter the house.) Behula, exhausted, was dozing beside her husband, overcome at Manasi's command by the goddess Sleep. The couple looked so charming that even Kalini could not bring herself to bite Lakhindar (K 512); instead, she curled up at his feet.44 But Lakhindar, turning in his sleep, struck Kalini's fangs with his foot. Kalini fled, and Behuli, awakening, hurled the tongs as the snake was escaping through the hole and cut off its tail.45 But Lakhindar was dead.
Q. BEHULA 'S FAITHFULNESS AND HER JOURNEY ON THE RIVER46

Cursed by her mother-in-law but confident that she could journey to the domain of Manasa and have her husband restored to life, Behula
44 According to the belief noted by Avuto? Bhattacaryya, "The Serpent in Folk Belief in Bengal" (IF I, 2, p. 33), the snake climbed up on the bed by means of Behula's hair, which was undone; thus Bengali women do not let down their hair at night. 45 According to Bhattacaryya, and in an oral version of the tale told to one of the present writers, Behula's missile was a box of vermilion; the red powder splattered on the snake, which is the reason this particular snake has red spots on its

back. 46Behula's faithfulness is proverbial in Bengal; she rivals Sita and Savitri as a model of Indian womanhood-in fact, her story has clear echoes of that of Savitri. The precise definition of Behula's craft raises some interesting questions. As Sukumar Sen points out ("Folklore and Bengali Literature," IF I, 1, p. 46), the word most frequently used to refer to this craft is maja?a, which is probably derived from Sanskrit manjuad, "box." Two parallels then come immediately to mind. One is recorded in the MD version: Siva recognizes the dead body of his father Dharma as it floats by the place where he is seated in meditation (cf. of Rupram, ed. Sukumar Sen and Pancanan Mandal [Calcutta, Dharma-mangal 1947], pp. 18 ff.). Siva revivifies Dharma by pouring water from a conch shell into 315

The Goddessof Snakes in Medieval Bengali Literature

took Lakhindar's corpse and began to drift down the river on a raft (H 1289.4). Before she went, she told her mother-in-law that if in six months' time a cowrie's worth of oil still burned and if a sprout came forth from boiled rice, she would know that her son was alive again (E 761). Behula, the body of Lakhindar in her lap, drifted on the river. She was beset by many dangers: men who wanted to seduce her, animals which wanted to eat the corpse. Her narrowest escape was from a school of boddlya fish,47one of which tore a kneecap from the body. At last she arrived at Triveni, the sacred place where three rivers meet.
R. THE RESUSCITATION OF LAKHINDAR

As Behula came to the Triveni, she saw Neto, who was also washerwoman of the gods, come down to the river bank to wash. She had with her a little boy, whom she ordered repeatedly to return home. The boy would not obey. Finally he was bitten by a snake. Neto washed on, undisturbed. When she had finished her washing she said a mantra over the boy's body, and he was restored to life. In joy, Behula went up to Neto, saying that she must be the greatest of goddesses, and begging Neto to restore her husband to life. Neto refused. Behula then insisted on helping Neto wash the clothes. She washed them so well that Neto agreed to take her to the court of the gods (F 62). In the court, Indra was so pleased with the cleanliness of the clothes that he asked Neto to introduce the woman who had washed them. Behula not only presented herself, but began to dance (A 166); her grace and perfect rhythm pleased the gods still more. Finally, when she knew that she had enchanted them, she asked a boon: that her husband be restored to life (F 81?, T 212.1). The gods replied that since Manasa had killed him, Manasa must
his mouth. Dharma then gives Siva charge of his two wives, Gafiga and Dfrga. Siva marries Gafig and puts Darga into an iron box and sets her afloat on the river. The other parallel, recorded by Sen ("Folklore and Bengali Literature"), is from a fourteenth- or fifteenth-century Gujarati text. There was a rich merchant who had a daughter named Rukmini. One day, the priest of the merchant's house, noticing that Rukmini had become a grown woman, wanted to possess her. He told the girl's father that she would bring bad luck upon the house if she were to be married and advised the father to put the girl in a box and float her down the river. The priest, meanwhile, had instructed his disciples to take the box from the river as it floated by and to bring it to his room. As it happened, however, the box was intercepted first by the king's servants, who opened it, found the girl, and replaced her with an ape. The priest's surprise when he opened the box was considerable, and, badly wounded by the ape and in general disgrace, he left the country. The girl was then married to the king. 47 Which the dictionaries identify as the sheat fish. 316

restore him to life. Indra summoned Manasa to the court. At first she denied all knowledge of the affair. But then Behula produced the snakes which she had captured in the iron house and the severed tail of Kalini, the servant of Manasa. Defeated and insulted, Manasa agreed to restore Lakhindar to life. Manasa, with powerful mantras48 (E 73) began to exorcise the poison. It came out of Lakhindar's rotten flesh and bones. She made him whole again, and with a final mantra brought him back to life (E 121.1.2). But his body was missing the kneecap which the fish had swallowed (E 33), so Manasa sent fishermen to catch the boddlyafish. It was done. Manasa fitted the kneecap on Lakhindar's leg, and he rose up alive and whole. Behula gratefully promised Manasa that Cando would worship her. Pleased with this, Manasa agreed to restore as well Lakhindar's six brothers, and the ships and all their crews. They all paid homage to Manasa and set sail for Campakanagara.
S. CANDO CONCEDES

Behula and Lakhindar pondered how they might make themselves known to Cando and Sanaka. Behula's inspiration was to ask Visvakarma to make a magnificent fan, on which were to be painted pictures of the familiar scenes of Behula's departure on the raft, and of Lakhindar and Sanaka themselves (H 11.1.21*). Then Behula and Lakhindar disguised themselves as Doms49 and went to the city. In the city Behula met the widows of the six brothers who had been killed by Manasa; they were fascinated by the beauty of the fan and asked the price Behula wanted for it. Behula named a price that was exorbitant. But the six girls were so taken by the fan that they went to Sanaka and pleaded with her to buy it. Sanaka did not recognize Behula, although she seemed familiar. But when she saw the scenes and figures painted on the fan Sanaka became distraught. Then Behula confessed her true identity and as proof showed Sanaka that the oil was still burning and that the boiled rice had sprouted. Sanaka in joy embraced Behula. Behula then told her mother-in-law that unless Cando worshiped Manasa, the sons and ships and goods would all be taken away again.
48 A few lines from the mostly incomprehensiblemantra recorded by Ketakadasa: "What do you do on the branch of the simul tree, O crow?O powerfulYama crow, my son is bitten by the serpent. Seize the snake and eat it! Make bones and flesh, O poison dwelling in these bones; O peacock, let the poison be drawn out from the body. O black snake, the mongoose bites you; blue poison, come to me. Let the poison be dissipated, let these bones be joined together once again. 49 The Doms are membersof a low-caste group, now often attendants at burning grounds.Behula, however, says that she and her family are weavers of baskets and winnowing fans.

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But Cando, even in his joy at the restoration of his sons and ships, was reluctant. First he said that he would worship Manasa only if the ships were to sail across dry land to his house. So Manasa summoned her serpents, and they transported the ships across the land. Finally Cando agreed to worship her, but with a condition: "Hearing this, Candradhara began to say: With my back turned, and with my left hand, I shall worship you. I do not have it in my heart to worship you with that hand with which I worship the Siva-liigam."50 But Manasa accepted the condition, imposing her own condition that Cando cast away the staff with which he had smashed the sacred pots. Manasa granted Cando and all his people "her highest blessing, and, descending to receive their worship, forgave all their sins."
II. ANALYSIS

The analysis which follows is necessarily tentative: the points that suggest themselves in terms of the internal structure of the myth cannot be proven historically. But they are, we feel, nonetheless suggestive. In the first place, it may be instructive to examine in diagrammatic form the characteristics and names of four of the chief characters of the myth: Manasa, Cando, Siva, and Dhanvantari. Let us first look at the characteristics of Cando, as seen in the Manasa myth, listed in the left-hand column of Table 1. The letters placed against the name refer to the section of the myth as we have given it and mean that the particular characteristic is shared by Cando and Siva/ Dhanvantari. Pluses mark the fact that the characteristic is testified outside the present text. A curious relationship emerges. Cando shares a number of characteristics with Siva himself. Furthermore, it can be seen from the myth that the Dhanvantari episode, far from being accidental, is a reinforcement and restatement of the central Manasa-Cando conflict. Thus the characters of Cando and Dhanvantari merge, though not fully. And thus all the major male characters, with the sole exception of Siva, seem to be victims of the wrath of Manasa. And this omission of Siva, especially in view of his close resemblance in many ways to Cando, is significant. In the Cando story, Siva is nowhere a protagonist; had he been, he would plausibly have interfered with the fate of his worshiper. In the story, despite their similar characteristics, where Cando is, Siva is not: if one may use an analogy from linguistics,
50 The left hand is the one used for unclean bodily functions. The quotation is from ND, given in Bhattacaryya, BKMM, p. 258. This part of the story is glossed over in many of the later texts, including Ketaka-dasa but is present in one way or another in all of them.

318

there is "similarity in content" but "complementarity in distribution." The most obvious deduction is that Siva himself, as Cando, is breaking the sacred pots of Manasa, in "the struggle of decaying Savaism in Bengal against the growth and spread of Saktism,"51 against the growing power of the Goddess. It is perhaps no accident that nearly all the women in the story are worshipers of Manasa.52One reason for such association of women with
TABLE 1
Characteristics of Cando Siva Dhanvantari

Pa?usakha (name)........... Control over snakes ......... Candradhara (name)........ Ojha (name) ................ Scarf of Candi.............. Affair with girl, jealousy of wife..................... mahajAna (great knowledge). udayakala snake ............. Enemy of Manasa......... Manasa as a girl-relative.............

i* i (n. 31): ........ i (n. 33)? b, i +# j .........

.......... +t .......... .......... j[ jll j i

* The Pasupata sect worships Siva as Pa4upati, "the lord of beasts" (see Daniel H. H. Ingalls, "Cynics and Pasupatas: The Seeking of Dishonor," Harvard Theological Review, LV, 4 (1962), for a discussion of the nature of the sect. t See n. 34, text; see also Sen, MV, pp. 258, 300. t Siva is depicted as having the moon in his hair. See Jitendranath Banerjea, The Development of Hindu Iconography (2d ed.; Calcutta, 1956), pp. 466-67. ? This is a characteristic which has undergone a subtle but nonetheless transparent transformation. The viSakaltfha (poison throat) was "given" to Aiva by Parvati when he drank the poison of the churned ocean: she gripped him by the throat to prevent the poison from descending into his body, and the poison congealed there. This is the scarf that Cando received from Caudi and which gave him the power over poison. IISee n. 35, text. # The knowledge of the vitalizing mantra.

TABLE 2
Sarasvati Lakqmi ParvatI/Ca9ndI

Jaguli ................ Padm a, etc .............

* See GS I, p. 316.

.......

Mata (Jagati, etc.) ......

.......

...... +

.......... ..........

......

local cult goddesses might be their exclusion from the rituals of the deities of the great tradition. For Manasa herself shares a number of characteristics with the Great Goddesses of India. Some of her names are given in Table 2. In the text itself, Manasa seems to share the names of all three Great Goddesses, and most persistently those of Laksmi and Parvati/Candi. Her characteristics are listed in Table 3.
51 S. B. Dasgupta, Obscure Religions Cults as a Background to Bengali Literature (Calcutta, 1946), pp. xxxi-xxxii. 62 Those who are not actually worshipers are constrained to prevent their menfolk from coming into conflict with her.

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It is important that the characteristics of regeneration, association with water and the lotus, the swan and the color white, are also those of the two goddesses worshiped primarily by women for fertility, for husband-finding and the protection of husbands, such as in the South Indian cults of Varamahalklmivrata and Mangala-gauri-vrata, apart from well-known cults like the Nagarapaficami and the Sasthi cult.53 The most curious of all these mergers is that of Manasa and Candi. Manasa and Candi, as the latter is described in the Cand.-marigal poems, share not only terror and the desire for worship, but small details such as metamorphosis into an insect.54 Such coincidence of deTABLE 3
Sarasvati* Lak?mi Parvati/ Candi Kadrait ?iva Dhanvantari

...... . Destruction. . ...... + Regeneration. Gold ................ One-eyed .1!....... Lotus........ + + W ater....... + q, 1 Vina, white ...... + color, swan. ..... ........... Pot.................. ............... Eye of death. ...... ........ Snakes....... Desire for ...... ........ w orship .... Hanuman as ........ m inion.. ....... ...... . ...... Insect
* The kirata-kanya

.... + + .......... ....... ....... ....... ....... ....... f ...

......

.. ...... . ....... ...... .... ..... d.... ...... ...... ... ...... ...... ..

+ d ..... .... .... + .... ........ ....

.......... j ......... .......... ......... k, (n. 38) + + ....... + .......... ..........

b, j

of the Atharva-veda (see GS I, p. 316).

t The one-eyed mother of snakes (see GS I, p. 315). t See n. 38, text, and GS I, p. 316.

tail, which is obviously unmotivated by any general belief in regard to Hindu goddesses, is striking. Such coincidence, neither general nor typical in Indian mythology, is strong evidence for diffusion of characteristics, and equally strong evidence against independent origination of motif.55This diffusion includes Kadruithe "mother" of Manasa, from whom she gets her attribute of a single eye. Manasa, however, has a number of characteristics of her own not
53 Folk myths are attached to all ritual days and goddess-worshiping practices, as known to one of the authors, in south India. Few of these, unfortunately, have been collected, much less translated into English. 56See above, n. 9.
66 This type of diffusion, which might be called "character diffusion," has rarely been specified. Such diffusion or merger of goddess-functions is balanced by another process, namely that of character dispersal. Manasa in the B version is represented by five goddesses; and in all versions, Manasa's eye seems personified by Neto.

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shared by other goddesses. She has, for example, a number of obscure folk names, such as Manasa and Cenigamuri;56 there is around her the complex of associations snake-gold-pot, and that of death by bite or glance and revival by water fertility. The cluster of motifs, which we shall call "trait," which is the most interesting of all those surrounding Manasa, is that of snakes. Some of the sources of Manasa's snake trait may be found in the Sanskritic tradition; there is sufficient warrant for it also in folklore. Beliefs are attested for snakes guarding treasure, usually in pots, everywhere from South Indian family histories to phrases that occur in Dravidian languages to mean "guard like that of snakes" (sarpakdval), to the Dragon of the Golden Fleece. The association of snake and pot is perhaps a very immediate one: it seems likely that snakes were caught and imprisoned in pots; there is a Tamilian belief that snakes seek out pots in the summertime because they are cool.57 One may then speculate about the possible relationships between these facts and the very ancient beliefs in the pot of poison and the pot of soma, the panacea. There is no reason to speak further about the well-attested relationship of snakes to women-fertility-vegetation. Another interesting notion is suggested by the chart above. Apart from Manasa as a composite female goddess and the character of Cando as Siva-Dhanvantari, there is another striking aspect to the diffusion of characteristics. Not only does Manasa share the characteristics of other goddesses, but seems also to take over the characteristics of her male opponents. Like Siva, she is the deity of destruction and of snakes; Hanuman, who was created by Siva, is her minion; she has Siva's eye of death;58 snakes, water, and pots, characteristics of Dhanvantari, are also associated with her. Siva and Dhanvantari are unquestionably earlier mythological figures; the inescapable conclusion is that in her triumph over the Saivite gods of Bengal, Manasa assumed their characteristics. The myth is an interesting and instructive one and suggests a good deal about the way in which Manasa, and perhaps by extension any
56

See GS I, p. 315, n. 31.

India; this, however, is probably a reflection of inequality of collection rather than of distribution. The fact that there is a possible, though hotly contested, connection between one of Manasa's most common names, cehgamufi-kad, and a South Indian language is suggestive (GS I, p. 315). In any case, the Thompson-Babys motif index is full of snake motifs for Bengal; this, of course,suggests the Manasa story as a base for the accretion of other goddess cults. 58 Siva destroyed Kama, the god of love, with fire from his eye, when Kama III: attempted to tempt him from his meditation. See Kalidasa's Kumarasambhava 71. 321

57 Snake-worshipis recordedchiefly for Bengal, in

The Goddessof Snakes in Medieval Bengali Literature

local god or goddess, began to make her presence felt and extend her power by epitomizing in her own character the characteristics and realms of lesser or previous deities. The tale of Manasa is no less interesting from the point of view of a simple folk tale, and a final mention of this aspect of the Manasa story might be in order. The basic theme of the tale is that of killing and revival, repeated and varied from episode to episode. All the chief protagonists except Lakhindar have the power to do both: Siva, Dhanvantari, Cando, Manasa; and Behula is instrumental in both the death and the revival of Lakhindar. All Manasa's antagonists are killed and revived at least once; every act of the tale contains this motif. Power is power for life as well as death. There are other, more minor, repetitions which come to mind: Manasa as a flower-seller, as a temptress, as an old Brahman woman, the high price of rice and curds and later of the fan (once for death, the second for recognition); and the most artistic of these repetitions seems to be the incident where Cando lies naked on the seashore and Manasa gives him the winding cloth-this harks back to the time when the snakes that covered Manasa's nakedness fled before Cando and thus originated the conflict. A very plausible conclusion is that, like Manasa herself, her tale is a composite thing, told, retold, the theme of destruction-regeneration drawing to itself different folk tales and myths, becoming episodes in a single story of the triumph of the goddess Manasa.

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