Manasa Devi – Indian Goddess of Snakes
Manasa Devi is the Goddess of India. She is believed that she is the daughter of Lord Shiva. The story of her birth begins when Lord Shiva became sexually aroused on the banks of Kalidaha Pond, a pond in West Bengal in the city called Rajnagar. He is dedicated to the goddess Kali. Neta Devi is the sister of Manasa Devi. Lord Shiva feels these two Goddesses in the underground where the Nagas, the serpent beings, live. Hindus worship Nagas every year during the great festival of Nagas called Naga Panchami (all five Nagas are worshiped on Nag Panchami).
Neta is closely related to Manasa and both Goddesses (snakes) are mentioned in some Indian Puranas and other sources. These goddesses are related to a woman known as Behula. Behula was an archetypal Bengali woman full of love. She was the daughter-in-law of Chand Saudagar (a wealthy merchant) who denied worshiping Manasa Devi. According to an Indian myth, two beautiful apsaras, Usha and Aniruddha, were deceived by Manasa Devi and Neta Devi, and these two apsaras thus went to earth to be born as mortals: one as Chand’s seventh son, Lakhinder, and the other as your son. (Lakhinder’s) wife, Behula. With their deceitful plan, they (Manasa and Neta) have already made Chand’s six sons die from snake bite (because he refused to worship them).
Manasa’s symbol is the sun rising over the crescent, but the crescent with the sun embedded in the crescent (not separated from it) – the symbol that looks exactly like an eye (you can see it in temples in India and in other places where Manasa has His devotees). She is often called “the one-eyed goddess”, since Parvati burned out one of her eyes. The Sanskrit word “manasa” means “spiritual”, but it is also closely related to the word Manasarovar (derived from two words: “mana” and “sarovara” – lake, but the name Manasa Sarovara is also used), the lake in al foot of Mount Kailash, the holiest mountain of Shaivism, Bon religion and Buddhism.
Manasa is mentioned in the Puranas and also in the Manasamangal Kavya, the poem belonging to the Mangal-Kavya, a group of Bengali (Hindu) religious texts (poems) composed sometimes after the 12th century and later. Manasamangal Kavya is the oldest of them. Some texts dedicated to the celebration of Manasa Devi are also taken from the Brahma Vaivarta Purana, whose origin is closely associated with the region of Bengal (where Manasa Devi worship is strongest in India). The relevant texts are taken from the second part of the Brahma Vaivarta Purana called Prakriti khanda, which deals with the Goddesses (Shaktis – the manifestations of Prakriti, the basic nature of intelligence on which the universe rests; Prakriti khanda celebrates the greatness of Durga, Lakshmi, Saraswati and Savitri in the creation of the world). These texts are also used to celebrate Manasa Devi. During the Manasa puja ceremony, people bathe the Manasa Devi statues with milk and recite the hymns taken from Prakriti khanda. The poems that people dedicated to Manasa Devi are known as Manasa Mangal in Bengal.
In Chapter 38 (Book 9) of the Devi Bhagavatam Purana it is written: “You should worship Manasa Devi, the giver of all siddhis, on the Samkranti day (when the Sun enters another sign) every year”; here I can say that this is also the reason why the worship of Manasa Devi is based on the lunar calendar. Naga deities are traditionally associated with the number 5, so worshiping them requires a devotee to dedicate milk/prayer on Friday (5th day of the week) or 5th lunar day.
Chapter 48 of Book 9 (Devi Bhagavatam Purana) says: “Now the radical mantra as stated in the Vedas is ‘Om Hrim Shrim Klim Aim Manasa Devyai Svaha’. Repetition of this five lakhs of times brings success to who repeats.”
In Book 9 of the Devi Bhagavatam Purana, Chapter 1, the following text is written (beginning with verse 71): “Then comes Manasa Devi, the daughter of Kasyapa. She is the dear disciple of Shankara (Lord Shiva) and is for therefore very learned in matters of Shastras. She is the daughter of Ananta Deva, the Lord of Serpents and is highly respected by all the Nagas. She Herself is very beautiful, the Lady of the Nagas, the mother of the Nagas and is carried by them. She is decorated with ornaments of Serpents; She is respected by the Nagendras (Lords of Serpents) and She sleeps on the bed of Serpents.”
In Chapter 48 (Book 9) of the Devi Bhagavatam Purana it is written: “I meditate on the Devi Manasa, whose color is beautiful like that of the white champaka flower, whose body is fully adorned with jeweled ornaments, whose clothing is purified by the fire, whose sacred thread is the Nagas (serpents), who is full of wisdom, who is the foremost of the great Jnanins, who is the presiding deity of the Siddhas, who is herself a Siddha and who grants Siddhis to all”.
The Vedas also contain a reference to the Nagas (snakes), for example, the Sama Veda (4.6.13, Sukta 13 – Charm against snake poison) says: “I have surrounded the race of snakes.”