Mucalinda
Also called Mughalinda, Muchalinda, Mucilinda, Mahamucilinda.
In Buddhist tradition, Mucalinda is the naga king who rose from his lake to shelter the meditating Buddha beneath his coiled hood through seven days of storm.
At a glance
- Tradition
- Buddhist mythology
- Region
- South Asia (place of origin)
- Trait family
- The Ward-Holders
- Symbols
- Snake
Near this figure
Symbols
Judged against the description by a model. Meanings are our own paraphrase.
- Snake is Snake is a broad serpent symbol of creation and guardianship; South American traditions name Snake a primordial earth-maker and giver of hunting arts.
why
Mucalinda is described across Buddhist sources as a naga raja, the ruler of a serpent kingdom said to lie beneath a lake or in a subterranean realm, distinct from the ordinary snakes of the visible world.
Traits
Read from the figure's description, which a model wrote. Open "why" for the sentence a trait came from.
Form
- Serpentine elongated body
why
he coiled his serpent body around the meditating Buddha
- Multi-headed body
why
Accounts differ on some particulars of his form: some describe a single great hood, while others give him multiple heads, most often seven, fanned out above his coiled body.
Behaviour
- Protective coil shelters a sacred figure
why
In most versions he coiled his serpent body around the meditating Buddha, sometimes wrapping him seven times, and spread his hood overhead like a canopy, holding this posture for the full seven days the storm was said to last.
- Shapeshifts animal to human and back
why
When the weather cleared, several sources describe Mucalinda taking the form of a young man to bow before the Buddha and pay his respects, before returning to his serpent shape and his kingdom beneath the lake.
Defensive powers
- Guardianship
why
As a violent storm gathered, the Buddha is said to have remained absorbed in meditation and unaware of the danger, while Mucalinda, sensing the approaching rain and wind, left his underwater realm to intervene.
Utility powers
- Shapeshifting
why
When the weather cleared, several sources describe Mucalinda taking the form of a young man to bow before the Buddha and pay his respects, before returning to his serpent shape and his kingdom beneath the lake.
Roles
Judged from the works' own entries, not from the description. Carries: the figure holds the role. Meets: the role is in its stories, held by something it meets.
- Serpent carries both readings
4 citations
- Carol Rose, Giants, Monsters, and Dragons, s.v. "Mucalinda."
- M. W. de Visser, The Dragon in China and Japan, p. 3.
- Maria Leach, editor, Funk & Wagnalls Standard Dictionary of Folklore, Mythology, and Legend, s.v. "Mucalinda."
- Theresa Bane, Encyclopedia of Beasts and Monsters in Myth, Legend and Folklore, s.v. "Mucalinda."
- Hero meets
4 citations
- Carol Rose, Giants, Monsters, and Dragons, s.v. "Mucalinda."
- M. W. de Visser, The Dragon in China and Japan, p. 3.
- Maria Leach, editor, Funk & Wagnalls Standard Dictionary of Folklore, Mythology, and Legend, s.v. "Mucalinda."
- Theresa Bane, Encyclopedia of Beasts and Monsters in Myth, Legend and Folklore, s.v. "Mucalinda."