By Sanjay Ingle Tigaonkar

In India, snakes are worshipped from ancient times. Lack of scientific knowledge about snakes, fear and because snakes consume the rats which helps the farmers are some of the probable reasons why this tradition may have been established. In many Indian epics there are a lot of examples of stories about snakes. These superstitions and the misunderstandings were deeply rooted in the minds of common people because of 'valuable' contributions made by snake charmers who is more or less a juggler and the Indian films. In addition to this, nowadays satellite channels are also doing the same. Those people who believe that they are educated do carry some misunderstandings in their mind about the snakes. If we have to make our society prosperous and healthy we must test these superstitions and misunderstandings on a logical and scientific background. In this article, we are going to take an over all view of some misunderstandings about the snakes.

Snakes Drink Milk : Snakes are cold blooded and carnivorous animals, whereas milk is often consumed by the mammals. Before the 'Nag-Panchami' for many days the snake charmer does not give any water for drinking to his snake. Because of this the snake drinks the milk which is offered on the day of 'Nag-Panchami' to satisfy its hunger and thirst. But if the milk is not digested then the snake dies. Thus by forcing the snakes to drink the milk we are indirectly killing them on the day of 'Nag-Panchami'. If we provide Pepsi or Coca-Cola for drinking, instead of milk, snake will drink it.

Divine Vision of snake on the day of 'Nag-Panchami' : On the day of 'Nag-Panchami' many people in the rural areas offer milk and some type of grains (Lahi) on the snake's hill. On such occasions, if the snake comes out of the hill because of some reason or because of wetness of milk, people feel that snake has given them the divine vision and some of them go forward to offer Haldi and Kum-Kum. If the snake is without poison then its ok. Even if it bites nothing will happen. But if the snake happens to be poisonous then one may have to loose his life. We know that today is the day of 'Nag-Panchami' but the snake is unaware of this, for the snake all days are alike.

Snake dances when the charmer/juggler plays the Been or Pungi : Snake does not have any hearing or acoustic organ in its body. In other words snakes do not have ears. They are totally deaf. When the charmer plays his Been or Pungi he is giving a particular motion to the Been or Pungi. The snake is giving a defensive response to this and it is not responding to the music played on the Been or Pungi. Snake can not hear any sound, which is propagated through the air. If we hold a black cloth in between the snake and the Been we will see the snake is not dancing and this is sure.

Snake take revenge : We often hear myths like if the snake escapes from human attack, then it takes revenge or if we kill a male snake then the female can take revenge. The snake has an undeveloped brain. So its memory is also very weak. Snakes can not keep in its mind any event or any person in particular. Therefore the snake which escapes from human attack or a female snake whose male is being killed can not perceive a particular person.