The Serpent Power could not hold the Saviour
That serpent power that holds men in death was rid from him. He came out again from the belly of the serpent of death with the power and authority of The-Son of The-Man.
Here we shall see the hero enter into the belly of the serpent and victoriously make his way out.
Hindu
The great demon Vrtra-sura shook even the mountains and began crushing the surface of the earth with his legs, as if he were the Himalayas walking about. He came before Indra and swallowed him and Airavata, his carrier, just as a big python might swallow an elephant.” “With his thunderbolt, King Indra, who was also extremely powerful, pierced through Vrtrasura’s abdomen and came out. Indra, the killer of the demon Bala, then immediately cut off Vrtra-sura’s head, which was as high as the peak of a mountain.”831
The mother of Indra spoke.”With his great thunderbolt my Son hath slaughtered Vṛtra, and set these rivers free to wander. I cast thee from me, mine,—thy youthful mother: thee, mine own offspring, Kusava hath swallowed. Said Indra’s Mother.832
Seeing their greif and their helplessness Krishna rose up from the bonds of the serpent becoming so huge that Kaliya had to let him go. Then he suddenly sprang into Kaliya’s head and assumed the weight of the whole universe, and danced on all of the serpent’s heads, beating them with his feet. Then Kaliya began to die. He dashed his hoods about, putting forth his tongues with streams of blood pouring from his mouths. The thought rose in his heart, “This must be The-Man for none other could resist my venom.” He then gave up all hope and remained still.833
When Hanuman was swallowed by the female demon Surasa, he grew enormously to force her jaws apart and then shrank to the size of a finger and flew out of her ear.834
Tvasta, performed a sacrifice to kill King Indra. Unfortunately, if mantras are chanted irregularly, they yield an opposite result. This happened when Tvasta performed this yajna. While performing the sacrifice to kill Indra. Tvasta chanted a mantra to increase Indra’s enemies, but because he chanted the mantra wrong, the sacrifice produced an asura named Vrtrasura, of whom Indra was the enemy. When Vrtrasura was generated from the sacrifice, his fierce features made the whole world afraid, and his personal effulgence diminished even the power of the demigods. Finding no other means of protection, the demigods began to worship the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the enjoyer of all the results of sacrifice, who is supreme throughout the entire universe. The demigods all worshiped Him because ultimately no one but Him can protect a living entity from fear and danger. Seeking shelter of a demigod instead of worshiping the Supreme Personality of Godhead is compared to trying to cross the ocean by grasping the tail of a dog. A dog can swim, but that does not mean that one can cross the ocean by grasping a dog’s tail. Being pleased with the demigods, the Supreme Personality of Godhead advised them to approach Dadhici to beg him for the bones of his own body. Dadhici would comply with the request of the demigods, and with the help of his bones Vrtrasura could be killed.” “Vrtrasura was very powerful in physical strength and influence. He placed his lower jaw on the ground and his upper jaw in the sky. His mouth became very deep, like the sky itself, and his tongue resembled a large serpent. With his fearful, deathlike teeth, he seemed to be trying to devour the entire universe. Thus assuming a gigantic body, the great demon Vrtrasura shook even the mountains and began crushing the surface of the earth with his legs, as if he were the Himalayas walking about. He came before Indra and swallowed him and Airavata, his carrier, just as a big python might swallow an elephant.” “With his thunderbolt, King Indra, who was also extremely powerful, pierced through Vrtrasura’s abdomen and came out. Indra, the killer of the demon Bala, then immediately cut off Vrtrasura’s head, which was as high as the peak of a mountain.”835
831 Srimad-Bhagavatam 6:9- 6:13:10
832 Rigveda 4:18
833 Coomaraswamy. A. K. pp. 226-227.
834 Coleman. J. A. p. 971
835 Srimad-Bhagavatam 6:9- 6:13:10
Judaism
Now the word of the LORD came unto Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before me. But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD, and went down to Joppa; and he found a ship going to Tarshish: so he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it, to go with them unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD. But the LORD sent out a great wind into the sea, and there was a mighty tempest in the sea, so that the ship was like to be broken. Then said they unto him, Tell us, we pray thee, for whose cause this evil is upon us; what is thine occupation? And whence comest thou? What is thy country? And of what people art thou? And he said unto them, I am an Hebrew; and I fear the LORD, the God of heaven, which hath made the sea and the dry land. Then were the men exceedingly afraid, and said unto him, why hast thou done this? For the men knew that he fled from the presence of the LORD, because he had told them. And he said unto them, Take me up, and cast me forth into the sea; so shall the sea becalm unto you: for I know that for my sake this great tempest is upon you. So they took up Jonah, and cast him forth into the sea: and the sea ceased from her raging. Then the men feared the LORD exceedingly, and offered a sacrifice unto the LORD, and made vows. Now the LORD had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights. Then Jonah prayed unto the LORD his God out of the fish’s belly, And said, I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the LORD, and he heard me; out of the belly of hell cried I, and thou heardest my voice. I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay that which I have vowed. Salvation is of the LORD. And the LORD spoke unto the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land. And the word of the LORD came unto Jonah the second time, saying, Arise, go unto Nineveh, that great city, and preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee. So Jonah arose, and went unto Nineveh, according to the word of the LORD and he cried, and said, yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown. So the people of Nineveh believed God and God saw their works that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not.836
Ancient Australian
Two brothers went fishing. Kurrijarra the big snake humped out of the water. The elder brother hit the snake in the back of the neck with his spear. Lightning zigzagged out of the sky. In one lunge and gulp the snake swallowed the brothers, boat, fish and all. Later the snake was belching and breathing hard “I think I must have swallowed my own countrymen” he said. He lay down and heaved and brought out the first brother and then the other brother was heaved out. “The boat and the fish are mine; only these two men I bring out.”837
Wichita
One day while the boys were at home Afterbirth-Boy asked Lodge-Boy to bring out the netted ring and roll it where they were forbidden to roll it. Lodge-Boy went into their lodge and brought out the ring and rolled it toward the west, then they ran after it, but the ring kept on going, and they went after it with the expectation of catching up with it. The boys were running as hard as they could, but had no idea that they could not stop. Finally Afterbirth-Boy tried to stop, but could not. Afterbirth-Boy then told Lodge-Boy to go on, and see where the ring was going, saying they would soon find out. They kept on until they saw a great lake, and the netted ring was going toward it. It kept going until it went into the water. The boys followed, and found themselves inside of a great water-monster. Afterbirth-Boy said to Lodge-Boy that this was the first time anything had ever mastered them without his knowing it. There is no telling how long they stayed in there. When their father reached home he found his boys gone, and thought they were in trouble, or were killed. He left the place, became a Star, and went up into the sky. The boys were still inside of the water-monster. After-birth-Boy took the string of his bow, passed it through his left hand four times and commenced to swing it around, and when he swung it hard up went the monster, and it fell somewhere. The monster fell on dry land, but they did not know where. They at once began to look for a place to get out. They got out through the hind part of the monster. They then saw that it was a great, big fish.838
836 Jonah 1:1 - 3:5
837 Hallet.J.P. p. 182.
838 GEORGE A. DORSEY. pp 88-102
Maori of New Zealand
Te Tuna said to Maui: “We shall have to fight a duel, and when one of us has been killed the other will take the woman for himself.”
“What sort of duel would you like it to be?” Maui asked. And Te Tuna said: “We shall first engage in a contest in which each goes completely into the body of the other, and when that is over, I am going to kill you, take my woman, and return with her to my own land.”
“Let it be as you wish,” Maui agreed. Then he asked: “And who is to be the first?”
“I’ll begin,” the Monster Eel replied.
And Te Tuna disappeared completely into Maui’s body, where he disposed himself to remain. However, after a long while, he came out again. Maui had not been disturbed in the least. “Well, now it is my turn,” Maui said. Te Tuna agreed and the Wonder-worker began to chant his own spell, thus:
The Orea-eel swings and sways, The Orea balances his head lower and lower— A small man stands erect upon the land— You will urinate from fright!
The man contracts—becoming smaller and smaller.
It is I, Maui, who now enter, O Te Tuna, into your body!
Maui disappeared completely into Te Tuna’s body, and at once all the sinews of the Monster Eel were rent apart, so that he died. Whereupon Maui stepped forth and, cutting off Te Tuna’s head, bore it away.841
Ancient Greece
Poseidon punished the breach of a promise made by Laomedon by sending a marine monster into the territory of Troy, which ravaged the whole country. By the command of an oracle, the Trojans were obliged, from time to time, to sacrifice a maiden to the monster; and on one occasion it was decided by lot that Hesione, the daughter of Laomedon himself, should be the victim. Heracles promised to save the maiden, if Laomedon would give him the horses which Troy had once received from Zeus as a compensation for Ganymedes. She [Hesione] it was that the babbler, the father of three daughters, standing up in the council of his townsmen, urged should be offered as dark banquet for the grey hound [the Ketos], which with briny water was turning all the land to mud, spewing waves from his jaws and with fierce surge flooding all the ground. But, in place of the woodpecker [Hesione], he swallowed in his throat a scorpion [Herakles] and bewailed to Phorkys the burden of his evil travail, seeking to find counsel in his pain.”842
841 Joseph Campbell. pp. 191-195. PM
842 Lycophron, Alexandra - Greek Poetry C3rd B.C
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