The Untold Story of Vasuki: The King of Snakes

The Untold Story of Vasuki: The King of Snakes

Have you ever imagined a creature whose breath is poison, whose touch is death, whose eyes contain the entire universe. And then think that Mahadev himself wore that creature around his neck. Why? Because he was no ordinary snake. He was Vasuki, the king of snakes. The snake who once gave his entire body like a rope so that the gods and demons could together save this universe. The king who did not open his mouth even in unbearable pain. That devotee about whom Lord Krishna himself spoke in the Gita.

Among the serpents I am Vasuki. But friends, the story of Vasuki does not stop only at the churning of the ocean. His story involves a rigorous penance that melted Shiva. A curse that broke the entire Naga race and a sacrifice that was remembered in all three worlds. Was Vasuki just a serpent or a philosophy, a life truth? In today’s journey, you will know those stories of Vasuki which remained buried in the texts. Truths that relate directly to your own life. So stay with us because this is not

just a story. This is the story of a king who sacrificed himself to save the world. Friends, first of all let us talk about who was Vasuki? Vasuki is mentioned with great respect and reverence in our Puranas, especially in the Mahabharata, Vishnu Purana, Shiva Purana and Bhagavata Purana. Vasuki was the son of Maharishi Kashyap and his wife Kadu Mata. Kadu is called the mother of snakes. Thousands of snakes were born from her womb. Sheshnag, Vasuki, Takshaka,

Karkotaka, Padma and many more. But Vasuki was different from all of them. You must have heard the name of Sheshnag. Sheshnag who is the bed of Lord Vishnu. On whose hood the entire earth rests. Sheshnag Jyeshtha was the eldest. But Vasuki was the king of snakes. King of Nagok. The work he did was neither done by Sheshnag nor by anyone else. If Sheshnag is a symbol of strength and patience, then Vasuki is a symbol of sacrifice and devotion. Sheshnag is in the service of Vishnu. Vasuki is around Shiva’s neck. Both are great

but their paths are different. Both have different stories. The texts about Vasuki say that he possessed a wonderful Nagamani that shone on his forehead. The light of this gem was so bright that the entire Nagaok would glow even in the darkness. He is also said to have nine hoods. Every hood of One Direction a symbol of power. There was a strange hypnotism in his eyes. Anyone who looked into his eyes would automatically remember his own mistakes. He was the king of justice. Neither did he oppress the weak, nor was he afraid of the powerful. But his biggest identity was his devotion. Vasuki was the king of Nagaka. Nagok means that part of the underworld where there was the kingdom of snakes. Where there were palaces filled with gems and rubies. Where snake girls used to dance. Where rivers of knowledge flowed and where Vasuki ruled with justice and love. There was no discrimination in his court. Be it a small snake or a big one, everyone got equal justice. This was their greatness. This was his religion.

But friends, the real story of Vasuki begins with the penance he did for Lord Shiva. It is from a long time ago. When Nagok was just settled. When Vasuki was still young. Vasuki had heard about Shiva, about Mahadev who is the lord of the three worlds, who applies ashes, who lives in the cremation ground, who is not afraid of even death and a desire arose in Vasuki’s mind that I will serve him, I will give him everything I have. Vasuki started penance, very hard. Vasuki sat in a cave in the Himalayas in meditation, he gave up food, gave up water.

Om Namah Shivay. Days passed, months passed, snakes passed, storms came in the forest, snow fell, the earth shook but Vasuki did not move. Moths fell on his body but he did not move. Forest fire broke out around him but he did not move. There was only one name, Shiva, Shiva. And then one day that power came, the earth shook, the sky roared and Lord Shiva appeared in front of Vasuki, Ganga in his hair, moon on his forehead, Rudraksha around his neck, a strange peace in his eyes. Shiva looked at Vasuki, smiled and

said, Vasuki, your devotion has drawn me here. Ask What do you want? Vasuki opened his eyes. He looked at Shiva and said, Lord, I don’t want anything. Just so that I can always be with you. Shiva is pricked for a moment in your service and then says Tathastu from today you will be the ornament around my neck. Friends, think about this moment when God is the master of all three people and who had everything to give. What did Vasuki ask for: wealth, power, amrita and Just the right to serve, this is

true devotion, which does not ask, which gives and Shiva also understood this, that is why he gave such a place to Vasuki which no other god got, in his own neck even today when you see the picture of Shiva, the nose wrapped around his neck is Vasuki. Even today, every moment. But friends, the story of Vasuki does not end here. Now the day was about to come which was the real test for Vasuki. The day when his life was at stake. When he had to say yes to such a work. Whose pain was perhaps greater than death. This dates back to the

treta yuga. There was always a war going on between the gods and the demons. The gods win, the demons lose. Then the demons win and the gods lose. Once the gods were cursed by the demon Durvasa. His divine power diminished. Indra, the king of gods, lost his kingdom. Heaven was captured by demons. The gods ran and reached Lord Vishnu. Vishnu ji said, don’t panic. Churn the thin ocean. Amrit will come out from it. By drinking that nectar you will become immortal. Then no demon will be able to defeat you. But churning the ocean was not easy.

For churning, Mount Mandarachal had to be made the churning platform and a rope was needed for churning. It was not an ordinary rope, but a rope that could hold the entire Mount Mandarachal, which had so much power that it would not break even if both gods and demons pulled it together. Brahma ji said that only one rope would be useful for this work. Which one? Brahma ji said Vasuki. And hearing this, there was silence in the entire universe for a moment. Both gods and demons together went to Naglok. Vasuki was sitting on his royal throne. The

gods folded their hands. The demons bowed their heads. said hey Nagraj we need you. For churning the ocean, for protecting the universe, Vasuki understood what was being asked. He knew what would happen in this work. The weight of the mountain will be on his back. There will be tension from both sides. His body will break. They will have wounds. Their poison will come out. Vasuki remained silent for a moment and then said, I am ready. The

churning begins. Mount Mandrachal was placed in the middle of the ocean. Vasuki wrapped his body around her. The gods stood aside. Asura came to the other side and the pulling started. One, two, three mountains. The sea shook. But at the same time the flute started paining. The weight of the mountain was on his reed. There was tension from both sides. His body was peeling at many places. But he did not say anything. Kept suffering silently. Lord Vishnu had made a clever plan. He said to the gods, stand towards the tail of Vasuki. The

demons thought that we will stay towards the head. There is power in the head. We will pull with more force. He didn’t know. Vishnu had trapped him. As the churning intensified, smoke started coming out of Vasuki’s mouth. Balls of fire started coming out and they were going straight towards the faces of the demons. The demons started burning, running away and screaming. But Vasuki Vasuki did not even know that his pain was protecting the gods. Their suffering is being useful to someone. The churning continued.

One after another, amazing and unimaginable things started coming out. Kamadhe is the cow that fulfils every wish. Uchchha is the divine horse with seven heads, Rawat, the white elephant with four trunks which became the vehicle of Indra, Kalpavriksha is the tree sitting under which every wish is fulfilled. Apsaras like Rambha who have decorated the heaven. Mother Lakshmi who became the companion of Lord Vishnu, Dhanvantari the physician of the gods, holding the pot of nectar in his hand. One gem after another was

emerging. The gods were pleased, but then something else emerged. Something that made both gods and demons tremble. Halah. The surface of the Mahavash sea began to turn black. A strange smell came. Such that it burns the nose and lungs. The water started boiling. The trees started drying up. Birds started falling from the sky and then came out Halahal. Kalakuta poison mahaav such a poison that could destroy the entire universe in a moment the gods ran away the demons ran away Brahma was stunned and

Vasuki Vasuki was still there clinging to the same mountain he could not escape he had given a promise he felt the smell of that Halahal. his whole body was burning but he did not move everyone shouted who will stop this who will stop it and then only one name echoed Shiva Lord Shiva came forward Maa Parvati was worried in her eyes Shiva took that Halahal in his palm the breath of the gods stopped and Shiva drank that Halahal Maa Parvati immediately held his throat the poison did not go down the poison got stuck

in Shiva’s throat and his throat turned blue that is why Mahadev is called Neelkanth. From that day till today and friends, at that moment when Shiva drank Halahal, Vasuki was also wrapped around his neck. He also felt that poison. The pain of churning the ocean was different. But the pain of seeing his God drinking poison was even deeper. Vasuki’s eyes filled with tears. He held Shiva tighter. As if saying Lord I am here I am always here and Shiva felt that feeling of Vasuki with his closed eyes and smiled.

Friends, the story of Vasuki did not end even after the churning of the ocean. Once Brahma gave a boon to three demons, Tarakaksha, Vidyun Mali and Kamalaksha. These three built three cities. Of gold, silver and iron. These three cities together were called Tripura. The boon was that these three cities could only be destroyed when they came in a straight line and this could be accomplished with just one arrow. The demons started committing atrocities. The gods became worried again. Lord

Shiva decided to destroy Tripura. He picked up his huge bow. But the bow had no string. Shiva looked here and there. Then Vasuki came forward. He said, Lord, make me the string of your bow. Shiva looked at Vasuki. He smiled and said, ” So be it.” Vasuki became the string of that huge bow. Shiva offered Vasudastra. All three cities came in a straight line and Tripura was destroyed by his arrow. The gods started cheering and Vasuki once again was not happy. The credit wasn’t his,

but the service was his, and that was enough. This was Vasuki, always behind, always selfless, always ready. Friends, this is about the Mahabharata period. The Pandavas were in exile. 12 years of exile. Wandering in the jungle, sometimes hunger, sometimes danger, sometimes loneliness. One day Bhima, who was the strongest among the five Pandavas, had the strength of a thousand elephants in his body. He was wandering alone in a dense forest. Then he found a huge python on the bank of a river. So

huge that in the blink of an eye he caught Bhima in his coils. Bhima used all his strength but he could not even move. Bhima who could break the mountain. Today I was caught in the grip of a snake. This was no ordinary snake. He was a great king of the Naga dynasty who had turned into a python due to some curse. The curse was that they would be saved only when a wise man answered their questions correctly. Bhima had strength but not knowledge, hence he was helpless. When Bhima did not return for a long time,

Yudhishthira went there looking for him. They saw that Bhima was in the grip of that huge snake. Yudhishthira did not panic. He spoke to the snake calmly. He gave correct, deep and religious answers to each of his questions and with that answer the curse of that snake king was broken. He became free. He gave blessings and left. When this news reached Nagaok. When Vasuki came to know that the Pandavas had freed one of his brothers, a snake, from the curse, Vasuki’s heart was filled with sorrow. He

called Bhima and gave him his blessings. The strength of 10,000 elephants. Bheem, who was already invincible, has now become even more powerful. Friends By now you have seen how much sacrifice Vasuki made. How much pain I suffered, how many times I helped everyone. But a day came when Vasuki himself broke down and the root of this pain was his own mother Kadu. It so happened that once a bet was made between Kadu and his step sister Vinata. The condition was what colour is the tail of Uchchhasva, the divine horse of the gods

? Pumpkin said it is black. Vrinda said it is white. The one who loses will become the slave of the winner. Now the reality was that the horse ‘s tail was white. That means Kaddu was going to lose. But Kadu was not to become a slave. So he called his snake sons and said, go and wrap yourself around the tail of that horse. Every hair should appear black. Some snakes said yes out of fear. But many snakes flatly refused. Mother said this is a lie. This is a sin. We will not do it. Mother Kadu got angry.

You all will burn in the fire one day. A mother cursed her own children. Just because he had forbidden lying and he had to bear the burden of a curse on the entire Naga race. When Vasuki came to know about this, his heart became heavy. He knew that this father of his mother would prove to be a burden one day. Friends, this curse came true. After Mahabharata, a king was born in the Kuru dynasty. He was the son of King Parikshit and Parikshit was the grandson of Arjuna. One day the snake Takshak bit King Parikshit. Parikshit died.

Janmejaya was devastated. The pain of father’s death was unbearable and that pain gradually turned into anger. Janmeja thought that he would not only destroy Takshak but the entire Naga race. He started a great yagya. Snake sacrifice. This yagya was not an ordinary yagya. In this mantras were recited and with each mantra the name of a snake was taken. And that snake kept pulling me wherever it was. The mantras started directly in that blazing fire. The fire started throbbing and the snakes started

falling into the fire one by one. There was an uproar in the Nagaok, among small snakes, big snakes, old children and mothers. There were screams, cries and pain all around. The curse that Kaddu had once given in anger was coming true. And Vasuki was sitting in Nagok and listening to every sound. With every mantra there’s a name, with every name there’s a face, with every face there’s a friend. He was a servant of my court. He was my brother’s friend. It was just a baby. Vasuki’s eyes filled with tears, the king who had never

cried. Did not cry in pain of churning of the ocean. Did not cry during the burning of Tripura. He was crying today. His people were burning. His brothers were burning and he could do nothing because it was a curse from his own mother. Vasuki had only one question in his mind. Do children always suffer for a mother’s mistakes ? Can one lie destroy an entire dynasty ? Vasuki closed his eyes. Remembered Shiva. Prabhu said in his heart I always helped everyone. Help me today. Lead the way. Friends, Vasuki’s

prayers were heard. Actually, long ago when this curse was given, Brahma ji had told a solution to Vasuki. Vasuki, your sister Jaratkaru will be married to sage Jaratkaru. He will have a son named Aastik and that same Aastik will one day stop this snake sacrifice. Vasuki remembered that incident. He looked at his sister Mansa Devi who was herself in pain. She was crying herself. Vasuki said, sister, your son is our last hope. Mansa Devi wiped her tears and said, brother Astik will go, our lineage will be saved. The

believers were young. He was brilliant. Vedas are full of knowledge. He reached the sacrificial site where the fire was burning. Mantras were echoing. There was fear everywhere. But the believers were fearless. He recited the Vedas so beautifully there. He spoke with such profound wisdom that King Janmejaya was stunned. Janmejaya happily said, ask whatever you want. The believer did not take even a moment. The king said, stop this yagya. There was a conflict in the mind of Janamejaya but he had already given his word. Could

n’t go back on his word. The yagya stopped. The Naga race was saved. There was a celebration in Nagok. Tears and happiness both together and Vasuki bowed down and fell at the feet of Astik. He said, today you gave life to my entire lineage. I owe you. The biggest duty of a king was to save his subjects and Vasuki fulfilled that duty. Friends, the biggest proof of the greatness of Vasuki is found in the Bhagavad Gita. In the battlefield of Kurukshetra, when Arjuna was broken , when Gandiva was slipping from his hand, then

Lord Krishna showed his gigantic form and said, I am in everything. I am Indra among gods, Ganga among rivers , Margashirsha among flesh and Vasuki among snakes. Even today, Nag Panchami is celebrated every year in the month of Shravan. Snakes are worshipped on that day. Milk is offered. What is this puja for? In memory of Vasuki. In memory of his sacrifice, in memory of that king who never asked but just gave. And the snake that wraps around every Shivalinga is Vasuki. Even today,

he is serving his God on every Shivalinga in every temple. So friends, this was the amazing story of Vasuki. Vasuki teaches us that true devotion is not something that demands. True devotion is that which gives. In the next video we will bring the mystery of Sheshnag, the story of Dakshaka and the unknown history of Nagok. If this story has touched your heart then please like it. Write Jai Nagraj Vasuki in the comments and tell us what you liked most about Vasuki. Subscribe to the channel and press the bell icon to never

miss a story. See you in the next video with another mysterious journey. Till then Jai Mahadev. Jai Nagaraj.