那伽

(sa) nāga. Snake, dragon, elephant. It is tr. by [lang id =1028]龍 dragon and by [lang id =1028]象 elephant.

(1) As dragon it represents the chief of the scaly reptiles; it can disappear or be manifest, increase or decrease, lengthen or shrink; in spring it mounts in the sky and in winter enters the earth. The dragon is of many kinds. Dragons are regarded as beneficent, bringing the rains and guarding the heavens (again Draco); they control rivers and lakes, and hibernate in the deep. (sa) nāga and (sa) mahānāga are titles of a Buddha, (also of those freed from reincarnation) because of his powers, or because like the dragon he soars above earthly desires and ties. One of his former reincarnations was a powerful poisonous dragon which, out of pity, permitted itself to be skinned alive and its flesh eaten by worms.

(2) A race of serpent-worshippers.

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華譯為龍、 象、 無罪、 不來等， 稱呼佛或阿羅漢作摩訶那伽， 以喻他們都具有大力以及不再來受生死。