 Manasa is depicted as a woman covered with snakes , sitting on a lotus or standing upon a snake . She is sheltered by the canopy of the hoods of seven cobras . Sometimes , she is depicted with a child on her lap . The child is assumed to be her son , Astika . She is often called " the one @-@ eyed goddess " and among the Hajong tribe of northeastern India she is called Kānī Dīyāʊ ( Blind Goddess ) , as one of her eyes was burnt by her stepmother Chandi . 
