Nâgas
The Nuttall Encyclopedia [1]
In the Hindu mythology "deified serpents," sons of Kadru, a personification of darkness, are represented as more or less invested with a human form, and endowed with knowledge, strength, and beauty; live in the depths of the ocean, and their capital city exposes to the vision a display of the most dazzling riches. They are not always represented as harmful; though armed with poison they possess the elixir of strength and immortality, and form the supports of the universe. They are a reflection of the belief that the deadly powers as well as the regenerative centre in one and the same deity, in his wisdom killing that he may make alive. Also the name of a race of aborigines in North-East India.
Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature [2]
a class of Hindu mendicant monks who travel about in a nude state, but armed with warlike weapons. They are not limited to one sect, there being Vaishnava and Saiva Nagas. The Sikh Nagas, however, differ from those of the other sects by abstaining from the use of arms, and following a retired and religious life.
