18 



And then the snake Paravataksha had gained his opportunity, 

 and he came out from that palace like the dense cloud of the day 

 of doom. Then the heavenly nymph vanished, and the ascetic 

 beholding the snake terrible with flaming eyes, roaring horribly \ 

 died of a broken heart. When he was destroyed, the snake lay 

 aside his awfril form, and cursed Mrigankadatta (the prince) and 

 his followers, for helping the ascetic, in the following words : 

 'Since you did what was quite unnecessary after all coming here 

 with this man, you shall for a certain time be separated from 

 one another'. Then the snake disappeared, and all of them at 

 the same time had their eyes dimmed with darkness, and were 

 deprived of the power of hearing sounds. And they immediately 

 went in different directions, separated from one another by the 

 power of the curse, though they kept looking for one another 

 and calling to one another". 



Nagas injuring the crops are mentioned in another passage, 

 where Svayamprabha, queen of the Asuras residing in Patala 

 land, "makes herself surety (to king Merudhvaja) that the Nagas 

 shall not injure the crops" ^. The seven Patalas are the nether- 

 world ', the *home of the serpent race below the earth" *, but 

 also the Asuras, "who escaped from the slaughter in the great 

 fight long ago between the gods and asuras", had fled to Patala-^ 

 and lived there. As to the Nagas having their abode in Patala 

 land, we may refer to the following passages of the Kathasarit- 

 sagara. "On the extreme shore he set up a pillar of victory, 

 looking like the king of the serpents emerging from the world 

 below to crave immunity for Patala" ". "Do you not remember 

 how he went to Patala and there married the daughter of a 

 Naga, whose name was Surupal"' When Kadru and Vinata, two 

 wives of KaQyapa, had a dispute as to the colour of the Sun's 

 horses, they made an agreement that the one that was wrong 

 should become a slave to the other. Kadru, the mother of the 

 snakes, induced her sons to defile the horses of the Sun by 

 spitting venom over them; thus they looked black instead of 

 white, and Vinata, the mother of Garuda, king of birds, was 

 conquered by this trick and made Kadru's slave. When Garuda 

 came to release her, the snakes asked the nectar from the sea 

 of milk, which the gods had begun to churn, as a substitute, 



1 This is probably thunder and lightning. 



2 Ch. CXIX, Vol. II, p. 551. 3 Vol. II, p. 549, note \. 



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