Snakes, Dragons & Nāgas in Tantra

Today is a very sacred day: Nāga Panchami, the Day of the Serpents! Vishnu reposes on a serpent couch named Ananta. Ananta means "un-ending", i.e Infinite. In the Taittīriya Upanishad, Brahman, the Absolute Reality is described as सत्यम् ज्ञानम् अनन्तम् ब्रह्म "satyam jñānam anantam Brahma": that which is Existence, Consciousness and Infinity. Now you might have heard a different formulation of Brahman: Sat-Cid-Ānanda, Existence-Consciousness-Bliss. Notice how Infinity is ...