Bhagavad Gita · Mahabharata Codex

Ananta

अनन्त · ananta

The endless serpent on whom Vishnu rests; also called Shesha

His name means 'without end', and he holds up the earth.

Ananta, or Shesha, is the eldest of the nagas. Leaving his quarrelsome brothers, he practised austerity until Brahma gave him the task of supporting the earth on his hoods. Between ages of the world Vishnu sleeps on his coils on the cosmic ocean. Krishna's elder brother Balarama is regarded as his incarnation.