Who is Ananta?
Ananta is a giant serpent king in Hindu mythology. Also called Shesha or Adishesha, he is considered one of the kings of the nagas, the serpent race. In Sanskrit, “Ananta” means “endless” or “infinite,” and “Shesha” means “what remains,” expressing that he remains even after the world is destroyed.
Ananta and Vishnu
Ananta is depicted with a thousand heads (or seven or five). He floats coiled on the primordial ocean (the Ocean of Milk), and on him sleeps Vishnu, the god who preserves the world. His spread hoods shade Vishnu like an umbrella, and from a lotus growing from Vishnu’s navel, Brahma, the god of creation, is said to have been born. Vishnu in this form is called “Anantashayana” (he who lies on Ananta) and is also identified with Narayana.
The serpent who supports the world
In the Puranas and other texts, Ananta is said to hold the earth on his heads in the underworld of Patala, and when he yawns, earthquakes occur. At the end of a kalpa (a cycle of the universe), he is also said to breathe fire and burn up the world.
In the epics the Mahabharata and the Ramayana, Krishna’s elder brother Balarama and Rama’s younger brother Lakshmana are considered incarnations of Ananta (Shesha). Among the serpents of Indian mythology, he is portrayed as a holy serpent serving the gods, in contrast to Vritra, who opposed them.
