Talks on the Gita -Vinoba 112

Chapter 10 CONTEMPLATION OF GOD’S MANIFESTATIONS 53. God In The Animals 19. This is true of the snake too. People are very much afraid of it. But look, how scrupulously clean and beautiful it is! In its stern regard for cleanliness, it is comparable to an orthodox Brahmin. Dirty Brahmins are, however, in abundance; but has anybody ever seen a dirty snake? A snake is like a hermit living in solitude. It looks like a pure, bright and charming garland. Why should one be afraid of it? In fact, our ancestors have prescribed snake-worship. You may call it an idiotic superstitious practice in Hinduism, but anyway it is there. In my childhood, on the Nagpanchami day, I would draw a snake with sandalwood paste for my mother to worship. I would tell her, “Nice pictures of snakes are available in the market.” But she would say, “They are no good. What is drawn by my child is the best for me.” What does snake-worship mean? Is it craziness? Let us think over it. In the month of Shravana (in the rainy season), the snake comes as a guest to our house, as its habitat is swamped by water. What can the poor creature do then? This sage-like, solitude-loving creature wants to give you the least possible trouble and therefore coils itself taking minimum space. But we go after its blood. Does it behove us to kill a guest in difficulty? It is said of Saint Francis that he would call the snakes in the forest and they would come and play and crawl all over his body. Do not disbelieve this. Love does have such a power. The snakes are believed to be poisonous. But is man less so? A snake bites very rarely; it never bites without provocation. Nine out of ten snakes, at any rate, are nonpoisonous. They protect your fields by killing pests that would otherwise destroy the crops. Such a helpful, clean and shining snake, the lover of solitude, is a form of the Lord. Snakes are associated with all our gods in some way or the other. Lord Ganapati wears a snake round His waist, Lord Shiva has it round His neck and Lord Vishnu reclines on the bed of a cobra. Try to understand the secret of it. All this means that the Lord has manifested Himself in the snake too. Get acquainted with Him in that form.