The story and praise of the goddess Manasa.
Mythology goddess Mansa devi . Manas Putri : Story of Mansa devi
By remembering her name, people can get rid of the fear of snakes and also get rid of snake poison. In ancient times, when there was fear of snakes in the creation, Brahma manifested a goddess from his mind to protect from the snakes. Because she manifested from the mind, she is known as 'Manasa Devi'. Goddess Manasa, being endowed with divine yogic powers, reached Lord Shiva's abode, Mount Kailash, in her childhood and performed intense penance there. Pleased with her penance, Lord Shiva taught her the teachings of the Sama Veda and granted her the knowledge of 'Mrityu Sanjeevani Vidya', so she is also called 'Mrityu Sanjeevani' and 'Brahmagnyanayuta'.
Lord Shiva also taught the 18-letter mantra of Lord Sri Krishna, 'Om Shreem Hreem Kleem Krishnaya Namah', and initiated her into the Vaishnavite tradition. Since she received teachings from Lord Shiva, she is called 'Shaivi', and because she attained the Siddhayoga from Lord Shiva, she is also known as 'Siddhayogini'.
Later, Goddess Manasa performed penance in Pushkar for three ages and obtained the vision of the Supreme God, Sri Krishna. At that time, Lord Sri Krishna, seeing her torn clothes and body, named her 'Jaratkaru'. Lord Sri Krishna himself worshipped her and bestowed upon her the boon of being worshipped in the world. Since then, even the gods started worshiping her, and she became revered in the Brahmaloka, Svargaloka, Prithviloka, and Nagaloka, thus being called 'Vishwapujita'.
Goddess Manasa is extremely glorious, beautiful, and enchanting, so she is worshipped as 'Jagadgauri'. She remains attached to the devotion of Lord Vishnu and meditates on the Supreme Brahman, hence called 'Vaishnavi'. Worshiping her brings the grace of Lord Vishnu.
After receiving boons and attainments from Lord Sri Krishna, she went to the sage Kashyapa. Goddess Manasa is the daughter of sage Kashyapa. Sage Kashyapa married Goddess Manasa to the sage Jaratkaru, who was an incarnation of Lord Sri Krishna. Because she became the wife of sage Jaratkaru, she is also called 'Jaratkarupriya'. From sage Jaratkaru, she had a son named 'Astika', who became a sage. She is known as 'Astikamata' because she is the mother of Astika. Lord Shiva had given initiation of 'Mrityunjaya Vidya' to Astika.
At the beginning of Kali Yuga, Sage Shringi cursed King Parikshit that "within a week, the snake Takshaka would bite him...". According to the curse, Takshaka bit King Parikshit. Seeing his father's death, Parikshit's son Janamejaya became very angry with the snakes and started the Sarpa Yagna to end the Naga dynasty. Due to the power of Brahmins' mantras, hundreds of snakes were pulled into the Yagna Kund, and they turned into ashes. Fearing this, the king of snakes, Takshaka, sought refuge in Lord Indra. Then the Brahmins proposed to give offerings to Takshaka along with Indra in the Yagna. Fearing this, Indra went to seek protection from Goddess Manasa. Then Goddess Manasa sent her son Astika Muni to King Janamejaya.
Due to the efforts of Astika Muni, King Janamejaya ended the Sarpa Yagna. Thus, because of Goddess Manasa and Astika Muni, the protection of the Naga dynasty was ensured, so they are also known as 'Nageshwari' and 'Nagamata'. Since then, the worship of Goddess Manasa started, and the serpent king Shesha became her brother. That's why she is called 'Nagabhagini'. The serpents became her vehicle and bedding. Goddess Manasa is capable of removing snake poison, so she is called 'Vishahari'.
