INTRODUCTION

The distinction between animal and man, which during the Vedic period the era of the oldest Hindu scriptures, roughly 1500–500 BCE is found only in certain surviving beliefs, is expressed in the belief in creatures like werewolves. Presumably, the "tiger-men" belong to this category, and the Nāgas serpent-deities certainly do, as they seem to be men but in reality are snakes. According to an ancient Buddhist text, their serpent nature reveals itself on two occasions: during sexual intercourse and while sleeping.

The belief in lycanthropic beings capable of transforming from human to animal form beings undoubtedly existed in ancient India, as is evident from various passages in the Rig-veda the oldest of the four Vedas. In these texts, they are designated by the general name Yātudhāna a type of sorcerer or demon and are often associated with Rākshasas malevolent spirits or demons. "Warding off the Rakshas and Yātudhānas, the god Savitar a solar deity stood, praised night after night" (Rig-veda, book 1, hymn 35, verse 10). Elsewhere Agni, the Fire-god, is invoked to destroy the Yātudhānas with his flames and with his arrows. From another interesting hymn (Rig-veda, book 7, hymn 104) addressed to the gods Indra and Soma, it appears that the Yātudhānas are sorcerers and witches who assume the shape of various animals during the night, such as owls, dogs, wolves, eagles, and vultures.

Snakes are not mentioned in this connection. There seems, however, to be a fundamental difference between beings of the werewolf type and Nāgas. The former are conceived as human beings possessed of uncanny powers, but living their lives within human society. The Nāgas may occasionally assume human form, but they do not belong to the human world. Their home is the Nāgaloka the underworld or "snake-world", wherever that mysterious realm of snakes may be located. They are decidedly unhuman (a-mānusha original: a-mānusha; literally "not-human"), and in Buddhist writings, they are frankly categorized as animals. In legends, they usually exhibit a bewildering blending of human and snake-like properties; they may even act entirely as human creatures, yet there can be no doubt that their real nature and form are those of the serpent. In the Nāga, the animal element is more prominent—at least according to the earlier concepts—whereas werewolves appear to be primarily conceived as human beings. Another point of difference is that werewolves are always dangerous and malicious; the Nāgas, on the contrary, though easily moved to anger, are worthy of being honored and pleased, as their activity is generally beneficial to human welfare, especially regarding their power over the element of water.

It is this association with water—a very prominent feature in Indian serpent-lore—which induced another distinguished scholar, Hendrik Kern, to propose that the Nāgas are essentially water spirits.¹ According to Kern, they should be regarded as personified forces of nature; specifically, the snake-like coiling rain clouds that emit flashes of lightning—the "serpents of the sky"—which are then reimagined as living in the lakes and pools on earth.

¹ Kern, On the Probable Origin of Nāga Worship original: Over den vermoedelijken oorsprong der Nāga-vereering, Contributions to the Linguistics, Geography, and Ethnology of the Dutch East Indies original: Bijdr. tot de taal-, land- en volkenkunde van Ned. Indië, vol. 72 (1916), pp. 395 and following. Kern admits the possibility of real ophiolatry snake worship among the indigenous population of Southern India.