Naga’s Connections

About Naga →

Enemy of

• Garuda

  The garudas are the ancient and implacable predators of the nagas, seizing serpents in their golden talons and devouring them whole, until the Buddha intervened and brokered peace between the two races.

Serves

• Virupaksa

  Virūpākṣa commands the nagas from the western slopes of Mount Meru, marshalling the serpent hosts as part of his charge to guard the western quarter of the world.

Member of

• Ashtasena

  The Ashtasena gathers before the Buddha as the great assembly of eight non-human classes — devas descending from their heavens, nagas rising from underwater palaces, yakshas and asuras setting aside their warfare, gandharvas and kinnaras filling the air with celestial music, garudas folding their vast wings, and mahoragas dragging their serpent coils forward — all drawn by the power of the dharma to hear, protect, and transmit the teaching.

Equivalent to

• Lu(Tibetan),Nagas(Hindu)

  The Nagas appear across Hindu, Buddhist, and Tibetan traditions as semi-divine serpent beings. In Tibet they are known as Lu, derived from the Hindu and Buddhist originals through cultural transmission.