HH Priya Nathji as Shesh Naag

Shri Rajinder Pal Kapahi was the elder brother of Kapil Kapahi had had gone to Mussoorie and had been living there for a few days. While there he used to read the Ramayana, and one night he had this vision. He heard Shri Nathji’s voice in the vision, saying:

“Kapahi! Do you know who Priya Nathji is? In the ages past “Priya Nathji was Laxman when Shri Nathji was Lord Rama. Priya Nathji was Bal Rama when Shri Nathji was Lord Krishna. Priya Nathji is the ‘Shesh Naag’–the sacred serpent in the ocean of nectar, that keeps vigil over Lord Vishnu.

Indeed it was an instinct in Priya Nath to remain ever alert to attend to Shri Nathji–to keep a day and night vigil guarding the precious gentle body Shri Nathji had taken upon earth. It was said of Laxman that he had not slept for the fourteen years that Lord Rama was in the forests, since he kept a vigil over him day and night.

Shesha is the Manifestation of the Supreme God Himself. In Hindu tradition, Shesha or Sheshanaag is the king of all nagas, one of the primal beings of creation, and according to the Bhagavata Purana, an Avatar of the Supreme God known as Narayana. In the Puranas, Shesha is said to hold all the planets of the Universe on his hoods and to constantly sing the glories of Vishnu from all his mouths. He is sometimes referred to as Ananta Shesha which means endless Shesha or as Adishesha which means the first Shesha. It is said that when Adishesha uncoils, time moves forward and creation takes place. When he coils back, the universe ceases to exist. "Shesha" also means "remainder": that which remains when all else ceases to exist.

His name means "that which remains", from the Sanskrit root śiṣ, because when the world is destroyed at the end of the kalpa, Shesha remains as he is.

In the Bhagavad Gita Chapter 10, Krishna while describing 75 of his common manifestations, declares, "anantas cha 'smi naganam": Of the nagas, I am Ananta.

In Adi Prava of Mahabharata, there is the story of Shesha’s manifestation.  Shesha was born to sage Kashyapa and his wife Kadru. Kadru gave birth to a thousand snakes, of which Shesha was the eldest. After Shesha were born Vasuki, Airavata and Takshaka, in order. A lot of Shesha’s brothers were cruel in nature and were bent upon inflicting harm on others. They were even unkind to Garuda, who was Kashyapa’s son through Vinatha, sister of Kadru. (Kadru and Vinatha were daughters of Daksha). Shesha, disgusted by the cruel acts of his brothers, left his mother and kin, and took to austere penances. He lived on air, and meditated in various places including Gandhamadhana, Badrikāshrama, Gokarna, Pushkara and Himalayas. His penances were so severe that his flesh, skin and muscles dried up and merged with his frame. Brahma, convinced of his Shesha's will, asked Shesha to request a boon. Shesha asked that he be able to keep his mind under control so that he could continue to perform ascetic penances. Due to His penances Shesha achieve eternal companionship of Lord Vishnu. Brahma gladly accepted the request. Brahma then asked a favour of Shesha – to go beneath the unstable earth and stabilize it. Shesha agreed and went to the netherworld, and stabilized her with his hood. He is known to support her even today, thus making Patala his perennial residence.

Shesha is depicted as floating in the ocean of the changing world, forming the bed of Vishnu. He is also known as Adisesha (the foremost of snakes) and Anantasesha or just Ananta (endless, as he is known to remain in existence even after the end of the Kalpa, when the whole world is destroyed)

It is mentioned in the  Bhagavata Purana (10.1) that Shesa is the foremost manifestation of Krishna is Sankarshana, who is known as Ananta. He is the origin of all incarnations within this material world. Previous to the appearance of Lord Krishna, this original Sankarshana will appear as Baladeva, just to please the Supreme Lord Krishna in His transcendental pastimes   

Srila Jiva Gosvami, has mentioned in his Krishna-sandarbha that Sri Anantadeva has thousands of faces and is fully independent. Always ready to serve the Supreme Personality of Godhead, He waits upon Him constantly. Sankarshana is the first expansion of Vasudeva, and because He appears by His own will, He is called svarat, fully independent. He is therefore infinite and transcendental to all limits of time and space. He Himself appears as the thousand-headed Sesha."   

Sankarshana of the quadruple form descends with Lord Rama as Lakshmana. When Lord Rama disappears, Sesha again separates Himself from the personality of Lakshmana. Sesha then returns to His own abode in the Patala regions, and Lakshmana returns to His abode in Vaikuntha."

Whenever Vishnu incarnates, Shesha also manifests with Him to take part in His Pastimes and be His eternal companion. For Rama he appeared as His younger brother and for Krishna appeared as His elder brother Balaram. Also he has said to have incarnated as Lord Nityanada when Lord Vishnu is said to have appeared as Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. Shesha is reported to have taken three independent incarnation as a devotee and propagator and protector of Dharma in the form of Sri Ramanuja (1017–1137 ) The great Acarya of Śrī vaiṣṇava Sampradaya. and the propagator of  Viśiṣṭādvaita, one of the classical interpretations of the Vedanta( A photo of his idol is shown here).

 As Manavala Mamunigal (1370-1443) The great religious leader in Tamil Nadu, who with the help of his eight disciples helped spread Vaishnavism and help made Shrirangam and Kanchipuram as great seats of theosophical learning in South India. And as Maharishi Patanjali (150 BCE) He  is the compiler of the Yoga Sūtras and many other important scriptures. He was also a great physician and wrote books on Ayurveda.  In this ancient statue of Pitanjali, we can see him depicted as an incarnation of Shesha