So I have heard. At one time the Buddha was staying near Rājagaha, on the Vulture’s Peak Mountain. Then, late at night, the Four Great Kings—with large armies of Yaksha, Gandharva, Kumbhāṇḍa, and Naga—set guards, troops, and wards at the four quarters and then, lighting up the entire Vulture’s Peak with their beauty, went up to the Buddha, bowed, and sat down to one side. Before sitting down to one side, some spirits bowed, some exchanged greetings and polite conversation, some held up their joined palms toward the Buddha, some announced their name and clan, while some kept silent.

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Let us discuss the class of spirits known as Naga in this post.

Naga refers to spiritual beings in the form of a serpent or half-man, half-snake. They have the ability to assume human form and were mentioned in various Buddhist scriptures. To kickstart our study, let us examine two stories with naga in them.

In one story, the Naga King Mucalinda protected Buddha from a storm by encircling Buddha’s body seven times with his body coiled up and standing with his hood spread over. Artistic depiction of this story is widely found in Buddhist Temple in S.E Asia. In this story, the naga served as a protector who is wise to cherish the Buddha. After the torrential rain, the naga king assumed a human form to pay homage to Buddha.

In another story, a malicious naga was subdued by Buddha after it tried to harm Buddha by spewing poisonous smoke and fire. In this story, the naga is beastly and a local menace. It is devoid of wisdom, did not communicate, and behaved more like a ferocious animal. From this animalistic perspective, the naga is malicious, venomous, and sly. It is noteworthy to appreciate that the source of harm is coming from the serpent’s mouth.

There are various classes of Naga, the lowest type of Naga are the beastly ones. In terms of classification, they are more like animals. On the other end of the spectrum, the highest type of Naga refers to those that are imbued with magical qualities. In this case, they have the ability to shed their gross appearance and can appear as divine beings.

Buddhist believe that Naga lives below ground, in caves, and in bodies of water, such as lakes, rivers, seas, etc. They are treasure keepers and guardians of the environment. As guardians of the environment, naga are hostile to intrusion by man, especially when we damage the environment and water.

In another story, a naga attempted to become a monk by assuming a human form. Unfortunately, for the naga, his disguise fell through, and he was disqualified. In this story, the naga was keen to attain enlightenment and aspired to train alongside the monks. Unfortunately, the monastic order is exclusively meant for humans only.

The Heavenly King who oversees the Nagas is Virūpākṣa and he is depicted holding a serpent. Until here, we are told how the various classes of spirits assembled and how they prepared themselves for the meeting.

Reflecting back on the past four posts, it seems like the characteristics of these four classes of spirits are interrelated with the precepts and our behaviours. This is a personal interpretation.

The Yaksha is representative of violence and killing. The Gandharva is sensuous and related to sexual misconduct. The Kumbhāṇḍa is known for stealing vitality or life force and is therefore associated with the precept against stealing. Lastly, the Naga is known for the poison tongue and thus related to the precept against malicious lie. When they behave according to their inherent inclinations, these spirits are perceived as vile and something to be feared. On the other hand, they can choose to be better versions of themselves. In that case, they become protector of Dharma (the Truth).

Based on this narrative, we can also self-reflect and ask ourselves, “Do we want to be vile spirits or do we aspire to be something more?”

May all be well and happy.