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Religion plays a highly significant role in determining the patterns of culture of the people of India. The various creeds create stories to express to their followers the patterns of living to which they wish them to adhere. In these stories certain symbols are effectively used. The symbols are needed to communicate both with the external world and with one's internal state of being. Where the individual is fully in touch with himself he can symbolize his inner experience freely. Psychotics cannot communicate with others or even with themselves, since they have difficulty in forming clear symbols.
The most common symbol used by almost all creeds is that of the snake. We have sufficient data to prove that symbolically the snake represents our instincts. Like the snake our instincts are believed to be supple, fascinating, agile, and poisonous.
The worshippers of Vishnu (Krishna), of Shiva, and of Mahavir (Jain) constitute the followers of three important religious creeds in India. The believers in Vishnu represent him as resting on a bed made of the coil of a huge snake which further protects him by holding its hood over him. Symbolically this means that even when he sleeps, Vishnu must keep his instincts repressed. Only through successful repression of instincts can a man develop the strength to protect himself from the onslaught of his impulses.
The story is told that Vishnu (Krishna) as a small boy once had to fight with the king of the cobras. During the course of the battle, the wives of the king became frightened that their husband would be destroyed and they pleaded for his life. Krishna explained that he was not out to kill his adversary, but merely to gain ascendancy over him. The symbolic meaning of this is that Krishna's sexual instincts were very strong—deadly as the cobra's poisonous assault and frightening as the monsoon thunder. Only through a determined, titanic struggle can they be brought under control. This is how the Vaishnav religious sect regards h