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Laurie Cozad,
Sacred Snakes: Orthodox Images of Indian Snake Worship
(Contexts and Consequences)
Snakes possess the capacity to provoke in most of us an
instantaneous apprehension of what Rudolph Otto called “the Wholly
Other.” Given their capacity to produce such a response, it is not
surprising that snakes have been worshipped in India for more than
two millennia. While snake worshippers did not document their own
practices, their rich tradition is manifest within the pages of an
unexpected source: sacred texts of the Hindu and Buddhist
traditions, including the Rig Veda, the late Vedas, the
Ādi Parvan of the Mahabhārata, the Mahāvagga, the
Jātaka Tales, and the Mahāvastu. What the author has
found in examining these orthodox texts is that some of the
mythic/ritual elements used to construct the Hindu and Buddhist
traditions derive from snake worship. The redactors of these texts,
over the centuries, collected, edited and amended the myths, rituals
and hymns that comprise the building blocks of these traditions,
sometimes borrowing and at other times stealing the figure of the
sacred snake, along with its powers, sites and rituals, from a
preestablished tradition of snake worship in order to promote their
own respective traditions. As a result, these Hindu and Buddhist
texts provide us with a tremendous resource for viewing the
development of snake worship over the centuries.
Contents
Textual Timeline
Chapter 1 Introduction: Snake Worshippers, Orthodox Redactors and
Their
Contextual Tug-of-War
Chapter 2 The Rg Veda and the Threat of the Sovereign Snake
Chapter 3 The Late Vedas: Revering the Snake’s Power and Preserving
Snake-Centered Rituals
Chapter 4 The Ādi Parvan of the Mahābhārata: The Epic Redactors Take
On the Snake
Chapter 5 The Pāli Texts: The Buddhist Redactors [c]Harm the Snake
Chapter 6 The Mahāvastu: The Buddha Shares in the Snake’s Largess
Chapter 7 Conclusion: It is Hard to Keep a Good Snake Down
Bibliography
Notes
Index
Reviews
"Laurie Cozad follows the serpent trail in south Asia, and
scrutinizes orthodox Hindu and Buddhist texts with the eagle eyes of
one searching the earth for subterranean activity; in the process,
she gives us a fine example of the comparative method executed with
precision and flair."
Liz Wilson — Comparative Religion, Miami University
“A worthwhile exploration of…established sources, a contribution to
Indology and of interest to groups in anthropology, Buddhist
studies, and Hinduism.”
Todd Lewis — Religious Studies, College of the Holy Cross
Author
Laurie Cozad received her Ph.D. in
the History of Religions from the University of Chicago Divinity School, where she specialized in Hinduism and Buddhism. She is
currently an Assistant Professor at the University of Mississippi
and holds a joint appointment in the Department of Philosophy and
the Croft Institute for International Studies
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