All Topics  
Shesha

 
Shesha

 
   Email Print
   Bookmark   Link
 

 

Shesha
 
 
  Topics Shesha Topic Home

In Hindu (Vedic
Historical Vedic religion

The religion of the Vedic period is the historical predecessor of Hinduism. Its liturgy is reflected in the Mantra portion of the four Vedas, which are compiled in Sanskrit....
) tradition, Shesha ( in IAST
IAST

The International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration is a popular transliteration scheme that allows a lossless romanization of Brahmic family....
 transliteration, Devanagari
Devanagari

, or 'Nagari', is an abugida alphabet of India and Nepal. It is written from left to right, lacks distinct letter cases, and is recognizable by a distinctive horizontal line running along the tops of the letters that links them together....
: ???) is the king of all nagas
Naga

Naga may refer to:* Naga, a group of serpent deities in Hindu and Buddhist mythology....
, one of the primal beings of creation, and according to the Bhagavata Purana
Bhagavata purana

The Bhagavata Purana is one of the "Maha" Puranic texts of Hinduism literature, and is Sanskrit for "The Book of God". Its primary focus is the process of bhakti yoga, which is Sanskrit for "Union with God through devotion for Him", in which Krishna is unequivocally declared to be Svayam Bhagavan....
, an avatar
Avatar

Avatar or Avatara , often translated into English as incarnation, literally means descent and usually implies a deliberate descent from higher spiritual realms to lower realms of existence for special purposes....
 of the Supreme God known as Sankarshan. In the Puranas
Puranas

The Puranas are a group of important Hindu religious texts, notably consisting of narratives of the history of the Universe from creation to destruction, genealogies of the kings, heroes, sages, and demigods, and descriptions of Hindu cosmology, philosophy, and geography....
, Shesha is said to hold all the planets of the Universe
Universe

The universe is defined as everything that physically exists: the entirety of space and time, all forms of matter, energy and momentum, and the physical laws and physical constants that govern them....
 on his hoods and to constantly sing the glories of Vishnu
Vishnu

Vishnu , , is the Supreme God in Vaishnavite tradition of Hinduism. Smarta followers of Adi Shankara, among others, venerate Vishnu as one of panchadeva, and his supreme status is declared in the Hindu sacred texts like Yajurveda, the Rigveda and the Bhagavad Gita....
 from all his mouths.






Discussion
Ask a question about 'Shesha'
Start a new discussion about 'Shesha'
Answer questions from other users
Full Discussion Forum



Encyclopedia


Anantavishnu
In Hindu (Vedic
Historical Vedic religion

The religion of the Vedic period is the historical predecessor of Hinduism. Its liturgy is reflected in the Mantra portion of the four Vedas, which are compiled in Sanskrit....
) tradition, Shesha ( in IAST
IAST

The International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration is a popular transliteration scheme that allows a lossless romanization of Brahmic family....
 transliteration, Devanagari
Devanagari

, or 'Nagari', is an abugida alphabet of India and Nepal. It is written from left to right, lacks distinct letter cases, and is recognizable by a distinctive horizontal line running along the tops of the letters that links them together....
: ???) is the king of all nagas
Naga

Naga may refer to:* Naga, a group of serpent deities in Hindu and Buddhist mythology....
, one of the primal beings of creation, and according to the Bhagavata Purana
Bhagavata purana

The Bhagavata Purana is one of the "Maha" Puranic texts of Hinduism literature, and is Sanskrit for "The Book of God". Its primary focus is the process of bhakti yoga, which is Sanskrit for "Union with God through devotion for Him", in which Krishna is unequivocally declared to be Svayam Bhagavan....
, an avatar
Avatar

Avatar or Avatara , often translated into English as incarnation, literally means descent and usually implies a deliberate descent from higher spiritual realms to lower realms of existence for special purposes....
 of the Supreme God known as Sankarshan. In the Puranas
Puranas

The Puranas are a group of important Hindu religious texts, notably consisting of narratives of the history of the Universe from creation to destruction, genealogies of the kings, heroes, sages, and demigods, and descriptions of Hindu cosmology, philosophy, and geography....
, Shesha is said to hold all the planets of the Universe
Universe

The universe is defined as everything that physically exists: the entirety of space and time, all forms of matter, energy and momentum, and the physical laws and physical constants that govern them....
 on his hoods and to constantly sing the glories of Vishnu
Vishnu

Vishnu , , is the Supreme God in Vaishnavite tradition of Hinduism. Smarta followers of Adi Shankara, among others, venerate Vishnu as one of panchadeva, and his supreme status is declared in the Hindu sacred texts like Yajurveda, the Rigveda and the Bhagavad Gita....
 from all his mouths. He is sometimes referred to as "Ananta-Shesha" which means "Endless Shesha" and as "Adishesha", which means First snake.

Divine form

Shesha is generally depicted with a massive form that floats coiled in space, or on the universal ocean, to form the bed on which Vishnu lies. Sometimes he is shown as five-headed or seven-headed, but more commonly as a many hundred-headed serpent
Serpent (symbolism)

Serpent is a word of Latin origin that is commonly used in a specifically mythology or religion context, signifying a snake that is to be regarded not as a mundane natural phenomenon nor as an object of scientific zoology, but as the bearer of some symbolic value....
, sometimes with each head wearing an ornate crown.

He is closely associated with Vishnu. His name means "that which remains", from the Sanskrit
Sanskrit

Sanskrit is a historical Indo-Aryan language, one of the liturgical languages of Hinduism and Buddhism, and one of the 22 official languages of India....
 root
Root (linguistics)

The root is the primary lexicology unit of a word, which carries the most significant aspects of semantics content and cannot be reduced into smaller constituents....
 , because when the world is destroyed at the end of the kalpa
Kalpa (time unit)

A kalpa is a Sanskrit word meaning an aeon, or a long period of time in Hindu and Buddhist cosmology.There is a mention of the word "kalpa" in the earliest Hindu religious texts....
, Shesha remains as he is.

Other details

Balarama
Balarama

Balarama , also known as Baladeva, Baldau, Balabhadra and Halayudha, is the elder brother of the divine being, Krishna in Hinduism....
, Lakshmana
Lakshmana

Lakshmana was the brother and close companion of Rama, and himself a hero in the famous epic Ramayana. Within a number of Hinduism traditions Lakshmana is considered to be an avatara, in a secondary form to Rama's main appearance....
, and Nityananda Prabhu
Nityananda

Nityananda , a Vaishnavism saint, is famous as a primary religious figure within the Gaudiya Vaishnava tradition of Bengal. Nityananda was Chaitanya Mahaprabhu's friend & disciple....
, are considered avataras of Shesha (or vice versa). Patañjali
Patañjali

Pata?jali is the compiler of the Yoga Sutras, an important collection of aphorisms on Yoga practice, and also the author of the Mahabha?ya, a major commentary on Panini Ashtadhyayi....
 is also considered an emanation or incarnation
Incarnation

Incarnation which literally means embodied in flesh, refers to the Conception and birth of a Sentience creature who is the material manifestation of an entity or force whose original nature is immaterial....
 of Shesha and is iconographically depicted in naga form with naga canopy.

In a story from the Puranas, Shesha loosens Mount Mandara
Mount Mandara

Sorry, no overview for this topic
, to enable it to be used in the churning of the ocean by the deva
Deva (Hinduism)

Deva is the Sanskrit word for "god, deity". It can be variously interpreted as a god, spirit, demi-god, Celestial, deity or any supernatural being of high excellence....
s and asura
Asura

Sorry, no overview for this topic
s.

According to the Mahabharata
Mahabharata

The is one of the two major Sanskrit Indian epic poetrys of History of India, the other being the '. The epic is part of the Hindu itihasa , and forms an important part of Hindu mythology....
 (Adi Parva), his father was Kashyapa
Kashyapa

Kashyapa was an ancient sage , who was one of the Saptarshi in the present Manvantara; with others being Atri, Vashishtha, Vishvamitra, Gautama, Jamadagni, Bharadvaja ...
 and his mother Kadru
Kadru

In the mythology of India, Kadru , is usually the daughter of Daksha, wife of Kashyapa, and the mother of the Naga s. This is according to the Mahabharata ....
.

The city of Thiruvananthapuram
Thiruvananthapuram

, Indian renaming controversy known as Trivandrum, is the capital of the Indian state of Kerala and the headquarters of the Thiruvananthapuram District....
 is named after him as the "City of Lord Ananta".

Quotations

Hampi3
  • "The foremost manifestation of Krishna is Sankarshana, who is known as Ananta. He is the origin of all incarnations within this material world. Previous to the appearance of Lord Krishna
    Krishna

    Krishna is a deity worshiped across many traditions in Hinduism in a variety of different perspectives. While many Vaishnava groups recognize him as an avatar of Vishnu, other traditions within Krishnaism consider Krishna to be svayam bhagavan, or the supreme being....
    , this original Sankarshana will appear as Baladeva, just to please the Supreme Lord Krishna in His transcendental pastimes." (Srimad Bhagavatam 10.1.24)


  • "That Ananta Sesha is the devotee incarnation of Godhead. He knows nothing but service to Lord Krishna." (Sri Chaitanya Caritamrita Adi-lila 5.120)


  • "My dear King, approximately 240,000 miles beneath the planet Patala lives another incarnation of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He is the expansion of Lord Vishnu known as Lord Ananta or Lord Sankarshana. He is always in the transcendental
    Transcendence (religion)

    In religion, transcendence is a condition or state of being that surpasses physical existence and in one form is also independent of it. It is affirmed in the concept of the divinity in the major religious traditions, and contrasts with the notion of God, or the Absolute , existing exclusively in the physical order , or indistinguishable fro...
     position, but because He is worshiped by Lord Siva, the deity of tamo-guna or darkness, He is sometimes called Tamasi. Lord Ananta is the predominating Deity of the material mode of ignorance as well as the false ego of all conditioned soul
    Soul

    In many religions and parts of philosophy, the soul is the immaterial part of a person. It is usually thought to consist of one's thoughts and Personality psychology, and can be synonymous with the spirit, mind or self....
    s. When a conditioned living being thinks, 'I am the enjoyer, and this world is meant to be enjoyed by me,' this conception of life is dictated to him by Sankarshana. Thus the mundane conditioned soul thinks himself the Supreme Lord." (Srimad Bhagavatam 5.25.1)


  • "Sri Anantadeva has thousands of faces and is fully independent. Always ready to serve the Supreme Personality of Godhead, He waits upon Him constantly. Sankarshana is the first expansion of Vasudeva, and because He appears by His own will, He is called svarat, fully independent. He is therefore infinite and transcendental to all limits of time
    Time

    Time is a component of the measurement used to sequence events, to compare the durations of events and the intervals between them, and to quantify the motions of objects....
     and space
    Space

    Space is the boundless, three-dimensional extent in which Physical body and events occur and have relative position and direction. Physical space is often conceived in three linear dimensions, although modern physics usually consider it, with time, to be part of the boundless four-dimensional continuum known as spacetime....
    . He Himself appears as the thousand-headed Sesha." (Srila Jiva Gosvami, in his Krishna-sandarbha)


  • "Sankarshana of the quadruple form descends with Lord Rama
    RAMA

    Rama is a first-person adventure game developed and published by Sierra Entertainment in 1996. The game is based on Arthur C. Clarke's books Rendezvous with Rama and Rama II and supports both DOS and Microsoft Windows 95....
     as Lakshmana
    Lakshmana

    Lakshmana was the brother and close companion of Rama, and himself a hero in the famous epic Ramayana. Within a number of Hinduism traditions Lakshmana is considered to be an avatara, in a secondary form to Rama's main appearance....
    . When Lord Rama disappears, Sesha again separates Himself from the personality of Lakshmana. Sesha then returns to His own abode in the Patala regions, and Lakshmana returns to His abode in Vaikuntha." (A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
    A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

    Abhay Charanaravinda Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada was a Hinduism teacher and the founder-acharya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, commonly known as the "Hare Krishna Movement"....
    )


  • In the Bhagavad-Gita, when in the middle of the battlefied Kurukshetra
    Kurukshetra

    This article is about a place. For the Malayalam film on Kargil war see Kurukshetra Kurukshetra is a district in Haryana state of India....
    , Krishna explaining his omnipresence, says: "Of Naga
    Naga

    Naga may refer to:* Naga, a group of serpent deities in Hindu and Buddhist mythology....
    s, I am Ananta" indicating the importance of Ananta Shesha.


Other names

  • Sheshanaga (Sesha the serpent)
  • Adisesha (the first Sesha)
  • Anantasesha (Endless Sesha)
  • Ananta (endless/infinite).
  • Nagashayana
  • Alternative spelling: Sesa, Sesha, .


See also

  • Vedas
    Vedas

    The Vedas are a large body of texts originating in History of India. They form the oldest layer of Sanskrit literature and the oldest Hindu scripture of Hinduism....
  • Puranas
    Puranas

    The Puranas are a group of important Hindu religious texts, notably consisting of narratives of the history of the Universe from creation to destruction, genealogies of the kings, heroes, sages, and demigods, and descriptions of Hindu cosmology, philosophy, and geography....
  • Krishna
    Krishna

    Krishna is a deity worshiped across many traditions in Hinduism in a variety of different perspectives. While many Vaishnava groups recognize him as an avatar of Vishnu, other traditions within Krishnaism consider Krishna to be svayam bhagavan, or the supreme being....
  • Ancient India
    History of India

    The known history of India begins with the Indus Valley Civilization, which spread and flourished in the north-western part of the Indian subcontinent, from c....
  • Ouroboros
    Ouroboros

    The Ouroboros , is an ancient symbol depicting a Serpent or European dragon swallowing its own tail and forming a circle.The Ouroboros often represents self-reflexivity or cyclicality, especially in the sense of something constantly re-creating itself, the eternal return, and other things perceived as cycles that begin anew as soon as th...


Footnotes



External links