Giant Serpents in Ancient Indian Literature: A Study of Vasuki, Shesh and Other Serpent Traditions

Author

Nachikait Aradhye

Abstract

 Serpents occupy an important place in ancient Indian literature, mythology, religion and cultural traditions. Sanskrit texts describe several extraordinary serpents, including Vasuki, Shesh, Takshaka, Karkotaka and Kaliya. These beings are variously presented as powerful, enormous, poisonous, water-associated, divine and cosmically significant. Traditionally, such descriptions have generally been understood within the framework of mythology and religious literature. Modern palaeontological research, however, has demonstrated that snakes of extraordinary size did exist in the geological past. Particularly significant is the discovery of Vasuki indicus from the Eocene deposits of Kutch, India, whose body length has been estimated at approximately 11–15 metres (Datta & Bajpai, 2024). Earlier fossil evidence, including Madtsoia pisdurensis from the Upper Cretaceous of central India, also demonstrates the existence of large prehistoric snakes on the Indian subcontinent (Mohabey et al., 2011).

The present study examines descriptions of extraordinary serpents in selected ancient Indian Sanskrit texts and compares them with modern scholarly literature on prehistoric giant snakes. The study is entirely based on secondary data and follows a qualitative, descriptive and comparative approach. Ancient texts are treated as literary and cultural evidence, while modern palaeontological and zoological publications are treated as scientific evidence. The study does not attempt to prove that any particular mythological Naga was a fossil species. Instead, it investigates whether the general idea of extraordinarily large serpents found in ancient Indian literature is scientifically possible. The study finds that the existence of giant snakes is scientifically established through fossil evidence, including evidence from India. At the same time, the supernatural and cosmological characteristics attributed to individual Nagas remain within the domain of mythology and religious tradition. The study therefore argues that ancient Indian serpent traditions can be meaningfully examined through an Indian Knowledge Systems perspective while maintaining a clear distinction between cultural tradition and scientific evidence. This research investigates whether extraordinary serpents described in ancient Indian literature may reflect biological realities rather than being exclusively products of mythological imagination. By examining Sanskrit texts alongside living snake species and prehistoric fossil discoveries, the study establishes that giant serpents were a biological reality on Earth, while critically evaluating the possible natural foundations of ancient Indian serpent traditions.

Keywords

Naga, Vasuki, Shesh, Takshaka, Kaliya, Mahabharata, Indian Knowledge Systems, Giant Snakes, Palaeontology, Sanskrit Literature

Full Text:

Download Paper PDF

References

Alirol, E., Sharma, S. K., Bawaskar, H. S., Kuch, U., & Chappuis, F. (2010). Snake bite in South Asia: A review. PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, 4(1), e603. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0000603

Datta, D., & Bajpai, S. (2024). Largest known madtsoiid snake from warm Eocene period of India suggests intercontinental Gondwana dispersal. Scientific Reports, 14, 8054. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-58377-0

Datta, D., & Bajpai, S. (2025). Fossil snakes from the Eocene of India: New material with comments on phylogenetic relations and biogeographic and paleoecological implications. Journal of Palaeontology, 99(2), 403–429. https://doi.org/10.1017/jpa.2025.10101

Dey, A., & De, J. N. (2012). Traditional use of plants against snakebite in Indian subcontinent: A review of the recent literature. African Journal of Traditional, Complementary and Alternative Medicines, 9(1), 153–174. https://doi.org/10.4314/ajtcam.v9i1.20

Ganesh, S. R., Nandhini, T., Samuel, V. D., Sreeraj, C. R., Abhilash, K. R., Purvaja, R., & Ramesh, R. (2019). Marine snakes of Indian coasts: Historical resume, systematic checklist, toxinology, status, and identification key. Journal of Threatened Taxa, 11(1), 13132–13150. https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.3981.11.1.13132-13150

Head, J. J., Bloch, J. I., Hastings, A. K., Bourque, J. R., Cadena, E. A., Herrera, F. A., Polly, P. D., & Jaramillo, C. A. (2009). Giant boid snake from the Palaeocene neotropics reveals hotter past equatorial temperatures. Nature, 457, 715–717. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature07671

Head, J. J., & Polly, P. D. (2007). Dissociation of somatic growth from segmentation drives gigantism in snakes. Biology Letters, 3(3), 296–298.

Lange, G. (2019). Cobra deities and divine cobras: The ambiguous animality of Nagas. Religions, 10(8), 454. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel10080454

Mohabey, D. M., Head, J. J., & Wilson, J. A. (2011). A new species of the snake Madtsoia from the Upper Cretaceous of India and its paleobiogeographic implications. Journal of Vertebrate Palaeontology, 31(3), 588–595. https://doi.org/10.1080/02724634.2011.560220

Stothers, R. B. (2004). Ancient scientific basis of the “great serpent” from historical evidence. Isis, 95(2), 220–238. https://doi.org/10.1086/426195

Punde, D. P. (2005). Management of snake-bite in rural Maharashtra: A 10-year experience. National Medical Journal of India, 18(2), 71–75.

Rio, J. P., & Mannion, P. D. (2017). The osteology of the giant snake Gigantophis garstini from the upper Eocene of North Africa and its bearing on the phylogenetic relationships and biogeography of Madtsoiidae. Journal of Vertebrate Palaeontology, 37(4), e1347179.

Slouber, M. (2012). Gāruḍa medicine: A history of snakebite and religious healing in South Asia [Doctoral dissertation, University of California].

Upasani, M. S., Upasani, S. V., Beldar, V. G., Beldar, C. G., & Gujarathi, P. P. (2018). Infrequent use of medicinal plants from India in snakebite treatment. Integrative Medicine Research, 7(1), 9–26.

Upasani, S. V., Beldar, V. G., Tatiya, A. U., Upasani, M. S., Surana, S. J., & Patil, D. S. (2017). Ethnomedicinal plants used for snakebite in India: A brief overview. Integrative Medicine Research, 6(2), 114–130. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.imr.2017.03.001

Vogel, J. Ph. (1926). Indian serpent-lore: Or, The Nagas in Hindu legend and art. Arthur Probsthain.

Warrell, D. A. (2010). Snake bite. The Lancet, 375(9708), 77–88. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(09)61754-2

Alfonso-Rojas, A. F., Carrillo-Briceño, J. D., Sánchez, R., Sánchez-Villagra, M. R., & Head, J. J. (2025). An early origin of gigantism in anacondas (Serpentes: Eunectes) revealed by the fossil record. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 45(4), e2572967. https://doi.org/10.1080/02724634.2025.2572967 [Corrected online version; publisher correction: https://doi.org/10.1080/02724634.2026.2646012]

Bhaisare, D., Ramanuj, V., Gowri Shankar, P., Vittala, M., Goode, M., & Whitaker, R. (2010). Observations on a wild king cobra (Ophiophagus hannah), with emphasis on foraging and diet. Reptiles & Amphibians, 17(2), 95–102. https://doi.org/10.17161/randa.v17i2.16088

Das, I., Gowri Shankar, P., Swamy, P., Williams, R. C., Lalremsanga, H. T., Prashanth, P., Sahoo, G., Vijayakumar, S. P., Höglund, J., Shanker, K., Dutta, S. K., Ganesh, S. R., & Wüster, W. (2024). Taxonomic revision of the king cobra Ophiophagus hannah (Cantor, 1836) species complex (Reptilia: Serpentes: Elapidae), with the description of two new species. European Journal of Taxonomy, 961(1), 1–51. https://doi.org/10.5852/ejt.2024.961.2681

Gowri Shankar, P., Swamy, P., Williams, R. C., Ganesh, S. R., Moss, M., Höglund, J., Das, I., Sahoo, G., Vijayakumar, S. P., Shanker, K., Wüster, W., & Dutta, S. K. (2021). King or royal family? Testing for species boundaries in the king cobra, Ophiophagus hannah (Cantor, 1836), using morphology and multilocus DNA analyses. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 165, 107300. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ympev.2021.107300

Rao, C., Talukdar, G., Choudhury, B. C., Gowri Shankar, P., Whitaker, R., & Goode, M. (2013). Habitat use of king cobra (Ophiophagus hannah) in a heterogeneous landscape matrix in the tropical forests of the Western Ghats, India. Hamadryad, 36(2), 69–79.

Whitaker, R., & Captain, A. (2004). Snakes of India: The field guide. Draco Books.

Classical and Primary Texts

Śrīmad Bhāgavatam. (n.d.). Canto 5, chapter 25, verse 2; Canto 8, chapter 7, verse 1; Canto 10, chapter 16, verse 4. Sanskrit text consulted at https://vedabase.io/en/library/sb/ (translation and commentary belong to the site’s edition).

Shiva Purana. (n.d.). Primary Sanskrit text; passage-level edition details not independently verified. Used for contextual interpretation only.

Valmiki Ramayana. (n.d.). Yuddha Kanda, Indrajit narrative. Passage-level edition details not independently verified; paraphrase only.

Vishnu Purana. (n.d.). Book 5, Kaliya narrative. Edition-specific verse numbering not independently verified; paraphrase only.

Mahabharata. (n.d.). Adi Parva, Samudra Manthan narrative; Nala–Karkotaka narrative. Edition-specific verse numbering not independently verified; paraphrase only.

Garuda Purana. (n.d.). Traditional snake-poison and snakebite discussions; passage-level edition details not independently verified; paraphrase only.

 

 

Share your valuable work from Social Media Buttons