serpent
A great serpent emerged from the bedchamber of the unnamed young widow after her death. It pursued the monk who had avoided her and killed him in a bell in the Dōjō-ji temple where he had hidden. Years later, the monk appeared in a dream, begging for a chapter of the Lotus Sutra to release him and the serpent from their suffering in their rebirths.
↻ synthesized from 5 sources
When
- First attested
- 3000 BCE
- Attested period
- -3000 – 2020
- Historical notes
- Appears in setsuwa tales Dainihonkoku hokekyō kenki (c. 1040) and Konjaku Monogatarishū (c. 1120).
Relationships
- co occurs with
- An, Wild Ram, Palm Tree King, Kulianna the Mermaid, Magillum Boat, strong copper, Inanna, Enkidu, Adam, Gaokerena, Tree of Life, Enki, angels, Eve, Soma
- enemy of
- Ninurta, Virgin Mary, Gilgamesh, Yahweh‑Elohim, Ḥoranu
Mentioned by
Sources
- peer reviewed
Source passages
“After her death, a great serpent emerged from her bedchamber and it pursued the monk before killing him in a bell in the Dōjō-ji temple where he had hidden.”
#6691 · extracted by google/gemini-2.0-flash-001
“they include the seven-headed serpent”
#12137 · extracted by google/gemini-2.0-flash-001
“At her feet are 3 angels, a crescent moon, and a serpent under her feet biting a fruit. The image is 35 inches from head to toe, while her crown and the cloud beneath her feet adds an additional 12 inches, a total of 3 feet and 11 inches. During the image's restoration prior its return to Ozamiz, the wood used is determined to be Batikuling”
#35626 · extracted by google/gemini-2.0-flash-001
“The tree grows and matures, but the serpent "who knows no charm," the Anzû-bird, and Lilitu, a Mesopotamian demon, invade the tree, causing Inanna to cry with sorrow. Gilgamesh, who in this story is portrayed as Inanna's brother, slays the serpent, causing the Anzû-bird and Lilitu to flee.”
#38985 · extracted by google/gemini-2.0-flash-001
“The keen-witted, fluently speaking serpent gives rise to fresh riddles... he is perhaps best regarded... as the manifestation of a demon residing in the tree with the magic fruit.”
#43681 · extracted by openai/gpt-oss-120b:free