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Nagas are moody creatures. According to ancient legends from eastern religions, these beasts are part human and part serpent, and live underground while keeping watch on humans. Nagas usually help people out by making their crops grow well or saving them from other snakes. But they have a dark side. They can cause an array of natural disasters when angry, and can even slip up to the Earth's surface through an anthill and pump venom into people who really make them mad.

Dirty Snake: Nagas are always shown as serpents in some form, usually as human to the waist but with the body of a snake instead of legs. Some are shown as humans with the heads of snakes, and others have seven snakeheads growing from their backs.

Where You From? Legend has it that some Nagas live under the sea, and others live in the mystical underworld city of Bhogavati. Some say that large anthills cover the entrance to the underworld, where the secret city is located.

Naughty Nagas[]

Nagas Back Image

Some temples honor Nagas with golden statues.

In both Hindu and Buddhist mythology, Nagas are usually friendly toward humans, ensuring that people's crops grow well and they stay well fed and healthy. However, these creatures could cause big trouble if humans offended them. Some Nagas could create floods or droughts to punish people who didn't worship the Nagas. Paravataksha, one of the Naga kings, could cause massive earthquakes by striking the ground with his sword. Some stories even say that the Nagas were venomous, and could kill people with a single bite.

Play Well With Others: When on good terms with people, the Naga named Manasa can cure the effects of any snakebite. Another of the Naga kings, Mucilinda, used his cobra-like hood to protect Buddha from violent storms while he was meditating.

Ouch! Nagas are immortal because they drank the elixir of life, but they paid a price. When the gods were giving out the elixir, the Nagas tried to steal some. A few drops spilled, and the Nagas licked it up. However, they cut their tongues on some sharp grass, giving them (and all snakes) forked tongues.

Serpent Vs. Eagle[]

Just as birds and snakes are often enemies in the wild, so they are in some legends. In Buddhist mythology, the Nagas are bitter enemies with a race of god-like creatures called Garudas. Garudas have the bodies of humans with the legs and wings of eagles. The Garudas love to hunt and eat the Nagas.

Trading Card[]

Trivia[]

  • The name origin, "naja" (pronounced nāga, listed on the card as "nag"), is also used for Cobra species' scientific names, such as the Egyptian Cobra (Naja haje) and the in the case of the Brown Snake, whose scientific name (Pseudonaja) means "fake cobra".
  • All of the cobra heads except the furthest right one on the back of the card are the same cobra, flipped depending on which side it is on.
  • The Naga is featured in Monster Mix-Up on Monster Mania 101.
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