Why shiva wears snake

Also, the snake is shown looking towards his right side. Once when snake species were on the verge of extinction, they approached Lord Shiva for protection. He shelters them by allowing them to stay in Kailasa. But due to cold weather in Kailasa mountain, snakes used to approach his body for warmth.

Another popular story associated with this is during the Samudra Manthan or churning of the ocean. When devas gods and asuras demons churn the ocean using Vasuki king of snakes as a rope around Mandar mountain, many things came out of it. One of them was Halahala, the deadly poison. This terrified both gods and demons and they were confused that who will consume this lethal poison. The poison was so powerful that it could destroy the whole creation. Then everyone approaches Lord Shiva for protection.

To protect the universe, he drinks the poison himself. In one of them , snakes also drink poison along with Shiva. Pleased with them, he decided to wear them around his neck. Another one is that when he drinks the poison, his consort Goddess Parvati grabbed his throat to prevent him from swallowing the poison. As a result, his neck becomes blue in color. The snake is believed to be the Vasuki Naga, a deadly cobra. Vasuki is believed to be the king of the Sarpas according to Puranas and the snake depicted around the neck of Lord Shiva.

Vasuki was born as the second son of Kashyapa and Kadru, the eldest being Adisesha. Vasuki finds mention in our Puranas and one such mention claims that he became the string of the bow used by Lord Shiva to destroy Tripuradahana or the 3 cities. Vasuki is worshiped by Hindus on different festivals, especially during Naga pujas and Naga Panchami. Vasuki has been represented with multiple heads in some art works of the past. He has also been described as the thousand headed king of serpents.

In some exclusive paintings of Vasuki, the Naga is depicted with numerous heads. Mahabharata states that Vasuki resides in the palace of Varuna, the sea god. According to the Puranas, during the churning of the ocean of milk samudra manthan , the deadly poison halahala came out which Shiva had to drink to save the world. There were some snakes in the water who drank it with him and Vasuki was one of them.

Vasuki also served as the rope that was tied to Mandar mountain during the churning of the ocean of milk. Shiva was impressed by this and hence accepted Vasuki king of sarpas around his neck. The Lord wearing the deadly snake like an ornament signifies that He is independent of time and death and as a matter of fact, is in control of the time. Lord Shiva is also known as Pasupathinath, the lord of all creatures and as another story goes, it is believed that once when the snake species was in danger, they approached Lord Shiva for Shelter.

Lord Shiva gave them shelter by letting them stay in Kailasa. But due to cold weather, the snakes used to approach Lord Shiva for warmth of Body. Thus, He as a protector used to wear these snakes as an ornament to provide warmth to them.

Being a Lord of the animals He also has a complete control on their behavior. Since a snake is one of the most feared and dangerous animals in the world, the garland of snakes around the neck firmly establishes this fact that even the snakes fear Him and remain under His control.

Another legend throws light on a different aspect of Shiva's association with the snake. One school of thought believes that the snake represents the endless cycle of birth and death. And if one wishes to rid themselves from the vicious circle, then they must surrender to him with devotion and devoid of Ahamkara. The coiled snake around Shiva's neck also reminds devotees to keep their ego under control.

When the ego is in check, peace prevails in life forever. Interestingly, Shiva is also known as Nageshwar , meaning Lord of the snakes. There are temples dedicated to this form of the Lord across the country. Follow us on :. Pic for representation purpose only. Key Highlights An image of Lord Shiva is incomplete without a snake coiled around his neck. Lord Shiva is popular as Pashupatinath or the Lord of the animals. Shiva is also known as Nageshwar.

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