Mahabharata The
Mahabharata mentions Manasa (known here as Jaratkaru) in passing reference in the tale of Jaratkaru and Astika. Sage
Jaratkaru practised severe austerities and had decided to abstain from marriage. Once, he came across a group of men hanging from a tree upside down. These men were his
ancestors, who were doomed to misery as their children had not performed their last rites. So, they advised Jaratkaru to marry and have a son who could free them of those miseries by performing the ceremonies.
Vasuki offered his sister Manasa's hand to Jaratkaru. Manasa gave birth to a son,
Astika, who freed his ancestors. Astika also helped in saving the naga race from destruction when King
Janamejaya decided to exterminate them by sacrificing them in his
yajna, called the
sarpa satra.
Puranas of goddess Manasā standing on a snake with a few wrapped in her hand,
Cleveland Museum of Art The
Puranas are the first scriptures to speak about her birth. They declare that sage Kashyapa is her father, not Shiva as described in the later
Mangalkavyas. Once, when serpents and reptiles had created chaos on the Earth, Kashyapa created the goddess Manasa from his mind (
mana). The creator god
Brahma made her the presiding deity of snakes and reptiles. Manasa gained control over the earth, by the power of
mantras she chanted. Manasa then propitiated the god Shiva, who told her to please the god
Krishna. Upon being pleased, Krishna granted her divine
Siddhi powers and ritually worshipped her, making her an established goddess.
Mangalkavyas The
Mangalkavyas were devotional paeans to local deities such as Manasa, composed in Bengal between the 13th and the 18th centuries. The
Manasa Mangalkavya by
Vijay Gupta (Bijoy Gupta, late 15th century) and
Manasa Vijaya (1495) by
Bipradas Pipilai trace the origin and myths of the goddess. However these stray further from Puranaic references probably due to creative licenses exercised. At least fifteen Mangalkavyas dedicated to Manasa are known. Scholar D. C. Sen traced fifty-one versions of her tale. The
Padmapurana by
Sukavi Narayandev (17th century) is well-known in Assam, especially performed in
Ojapali dance. According to
Manasa Vijaya, Manasa was born when a statue of a girl that had been sculpted by Vasuki's mother which was touched by
Shiva's seed. Vasuki accepted Manasa as his sister, and granted her the charge of poison that was produced when King
Prithu milked the Earth as a cow. When Shiva saw Manasa, he was attracted to her, but she proved to him that he was her father. Shiva took Manasa to his home where his wife,
Chandi, suspected Manasa of being Shiva's
concubine or co-wife, and insulted Manasa and burnt her left eye, leaving Manasa half-blind. Later, when Shiva was dying of poison, Manasa cured him. On one occasion, when Chandi kicked her, Manasa rendered her senseless with a glance of her poison eye. Finally, tired of quarrels between Manasa and Chandi, Shiva deserted Manasa under a tree, but created a companion for her from his tears of remorse, called Neto or Netā. Later, the sage Jaratkaru married Manasa, but Chandi ruined Manasa's wedding night. Chandi advised Manasa to wear snake ornaments and then threw a frog in the bridal chamber which caused the snakes to run around the chamber. As a consequence, the terrified Jaratkaru ran away from the house. After few days, he returned and Astika, their son, was born. Accompanied by her adviser, Neto, Manasa descended to earth to see human devotees. She was initially mocked by the people but then Manasa forced them to worship her by raining calamity on those who denied her power. She managed to convert people from different walks of life, including the
Muslim ruler Hasan, but failed to convert
Chand Sadagar. Manasa wanted to become a mainstream goddess like
Lakshmi or
Saraswati. To get there, she had to achieve the worship of Chand Sadagar who was extremely adamant and took oath not to worship Manasa. Thus to gain his fear and insecurity, Manasa one by one killed his six sons. At last Manasa conspired against two dancers of Indras Court who loved each other,
Anirudha and
Usha. Anirudh had to take birth as Lakhinder, Chand and Sanaka's seventh son. Usha took birth as Behula and married him. Manasa killed him but Behula floated on water for nine months with the dead body of her husband and finally brought back the lives of the seven sons and the lost prosperity of Chand. At last, he yielded by offering a flower to the goddess with his left hand without even looking at her. This gesture made Manasa so happy that she resurrected all of Chand's sons and restored his fame and fortunes. The
Mangal kavyas say that after this, the worship of Manasa was popular forever. The
Manasa Mangalkavya attributes Manasa's difficulty in attracting devotees to an unjust curse she gave to Chand in his previous life. Chand then retaliated with a counter-curse that worshipping her would not be popular on earth unless he worshipped her also.
Ananda K. Coomaraswamy and
Sister Nivedita say, "[The] legend of [Chand Sadagar and] Manasā Devī, [...] who must be as old as the
Mykenean stratum in Asiatic society, reflects the conflict between the religion of Shiva and that of female local deities in Bengal. Afterwards Manasā or Padmā was recognized as a form of
Shakti, [...] and her worship accepted by
Shaivas. She is a phase of the mother-divinity who for so many worshippers is nearer and dearer than the far-off and impersonal Shiva...". ==Worship==