254 • THE ZOOLOGIST. 



he gave out his venom at the churning of the milk-ocean. This 

 vast amount of deadly fluid would have poisoned every living 

 thing had not Shiva himself come to the rescue and drunk it 

 up. But even he did not escape scatheless, for the virulence of 

 the draught was such as to turn his throat to a blue-black 

 colour, whence arises one of his names, Nilakantha. 



Four other Snakes are Ananda — who was an ardent 

 worshipper of Vishnu, and whose name is a common one among 

 Vaishnavites to-day — ^^Kuliha, Padma, and Mahapadma. 



Karkotaka is very venomous. He is one of the eight smaller 

 Snakes that accompany Adisesha. He also enters into the story 

 of Nala and bites him during his wanderings in the forest, and 

 so delivers him from Kalki, the god of strife, who is to be the 

 tenth and last avatar of Vishnu. Karkotaka is held to be very 

 sacred, and is remembered by the orthodox Hindu on rising 

 every morning. 



There are nine Snakes employed in upholding our world. 

 Adisesha is the largest, and directly supports the globe, while 

 round him the eight others lie towards the points of the compass 

 in the following order: Vasuki (B.), Ananda (S.E.), Takshaka 

 (S.), Sankapalah (S.W.), Kuhha (W.), Padma (N.W.), Maha- 

 padma (N.), and Karkotaka (N.E.). 



Takshaka, the most poisonous of all, is the king of the 

 Snake-folk who live in the under-world. He once stole the 

 jewels that Uthanga was taking to his guru's wife. He it is 

 also who narrowly escaped being burnt alive with all his 

 kindred before Janemajaya, whose father, Parikshit, he had 

 slain. 



Kaliya was a Snake with a hundred heads, who dwelt in a 

 tank and was so poisonous that not only the water in the pond, 

 but the grass on its banks was envenomed, and even a bird 

 flying over the fatal water fell dead from the poison-laden air 

 and moisture. Krishna fought with him under the waters and 

 destroyed all his heads save one, when he allowed the Snake to 

 depart. Kaliya was afraid to go, for he knew that Krishna's 

 bird (Garuda) would fight him at sight and kill him. Krishna 

 then put his foot-print on the Snake, leaving a mark which 

 Garuda would respect. The namum remains to this day on the 

 inflated hood of the Cobra. 



