Read this article to know what is the importance of worshiping the snake god who is called the garland around the neck of Lord Shiva in the month of Sawan and why milk is offered to him on the Panchami of Shuklapaksha i.e. Nagpanchami of the month of Shravan.
The month of Shravan, which is considered very auspicious and fruitful for the worship of Mahadev, the god of gods, the festival of worshiping the snake god, who adorns his neck, is celebrated every year on the fifth day of Shuklapaksha of the month of Shravan. According to the Panchang, this year the holy festival of Nag Panchami will be celebrated on 21 August 2023. Due to falling on Monday this year, the importance of this festival has increased even more. What is the religious importance of offering milk to the snake god on Nag Panchami and how this tradition started, let us know in detail about the truth and its story related to it.
Religious significance of offering milk to the serpent god
According to Hindu belief, the worship of the serpent god is considered to remove all kinds of defects, fears etc. related to life and bestow happiness and good fortune. It is believed that the person who offers milk to the snake god on Nag Panchami does not have the fear of snakebite in future. Nag Devta removes all his troubles and gives him every happiness related to life.
How did the practice of offering milk to cobras start?
There is a legend associated with offering milk specially to the serpent god on the day of Nagpanchami. According to which King Parikshit, son of Abhimanyu, died due to the bite of a snake named Takshak. After which his son Janmejaya performed a yajna to eliminate all the snakes from the earth, as a result of which all the snakes around the world started falling into the fire of that yajna kund. In such a state of panic, Takshak went and hid in the throne of Nag Indra Devta.
Then the throne of Lord Indra started pulling
After this, due to the effect of Yagya, the throne of Indra Dev started pulling towards Havankund along with Takshak Nag. Seeing this happening, the gods and sages asked Janmejaya to stop the yagya. The deities argued that if all the snakes were destroyed due to this yagya, then the balance of nature would be disturbed. After this, King Janmejaya forgave Takshak Nag and ended the yagya. It is believed that after the end of the Yajna, to remove the burning sensation of the burnt snakes, they were bathed with milk. It is believed that this day was the day of Nag Panchami. After which the tradition of bathing the snake god with milk started.
Is milk really given to snakes?
On the festival of Nag Panchami, people often give milk to the snake god to feed, but the truth is that neither the snake drinks milk nor there is any tradition of feeding it. According to Hindu belief, there is a tradition of bathing different types of snakes with milk on Nag Panchami and not feeding them milk. This is the reason why special anointing is done with milk in the worship of Nag Devta.
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