The generic name and the specific epithet naja is a Latinisation of the Sanskrit word nāga (नाग) meaning "cobra".

[4][10] The genus Naja was split into several subgenera based on various factors, including morphology, diet, and habitat.

When the hood mark is present, it consists of two circular ocelli patterns connected by a curved line, evoking the image of spectacles.

The ventral scales or the underside colouration of this species can be grey, yellow, tan, brown, reddish or black.

Adults on the other hand are typically uniformly black in colour on top (melanistic), while the underside, outside the throat region, is usually light.

The majority of specimens exhibit a light throat area followed by dark banding, which can be 4–7 ventral scales wide.

With the exception of specimens from the northwest, there is often a pair of lateral spots on the throat where the ventral and dorsal scales meet.

It can be found in dense or open forests, plains, agricultural lands (rice paddy fields, wheat crops), rocky terrain, wetlands, and it can even be found in heavily populated urban areas, such as villages and city outskirts, ranging from sea level to 2,000 metres (6,600 ft) in altitude.

Preferred hiding locations are holes in embankments, tree hollows, termite mounds, rock piles and small mammal dens.

[15][19] The venom acts on the synaptic gaps of the nerves, thereby paralyzing muscles, and in severe bites leading to respiratory failure or cardiac arrest.

[24] Minton (1974) reported a value of 0.29 mg/kg SC for specimens from northwest India, along with an average venom yield per bite range between 170 and 250 mg (dry weight).

[27] Zedoary, a local spice with a reputation for being effective against snakebite,[28] has shown promise in experiments testing its activity against cobra venom.

[30] As of November 2016[update], an antivenom has been developed by the Costa Rican Clodomiro Picado Institute, and the clinical trial phase was in Sri Lanka.

[31] Indian cobra bites are very common in many parts of India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and throughout their range in South Asia.

[32] Local necrosis was described after cobra bites in India in the 1860s and up to the 1920s but this was apparently forgotten until Reid's work in Malaysia.

Early systemic symptoms include headache, nausea, vomiting, dizziness and a feeling of lassitude, drowsiness and intoxication.

Neurotoxic symptoms begin with ptosis (the patient puckers their brow, contracting the frontalis muscle, attempting to raise the eyelids or tilts the head back so as to see beneath the drooping upper lids), profuse viscid saliva, inability to clear secretions, sagging of the jaw or inability to open the mouth and progression to respiratory paralysis.

[33] The outstanding feature of systemic envenoming is paralysis of the muscles due to rapid action of neurotoxin at the myoneural junction.

Since ptosis is easy to detect it is a valuable clinical sign for early diagnosis of systemic envenoming due to cobra bite.

Authors recommended the wearing of shoes or boots while working, and that persons bitten by a snake apply a firm ligature above the bite and go to the nearest health centre or hospital.

[35] Synteny analysis between the Indian cobra and the prairie rattlesnake genome revealed large syntenic blocks within macro, micro, and sexual chromosomes.

[35] On the other hand, by performing whole-genome synteny comparison between the Indian cobra and other reptilian and avian genomes, it was revealed the presence of large syntenic regions between macro, micro, and sexual chromosomes across species from these classes, which indicates changes in chromosome organization between reptile and avian genomes and is consistent with their evolutionary trajectories.

[35] This transcriptomic data together with the information provided by the high quality Indian cobra genome generated by Susyamohan et al., 2020 suggest that these VSTs together with AVPs form the core toxic effector components of this venomous snake, which induce muscular paralysis, cardiovascular dysfunction, nausea, blurred vision and hemorrhage after snake bite.

[35][36] The identification of these genes coding for core toxic effector components from the Indian cobra venom may allow the development of recombinant antivenoms based in neutralizing antibodies for VST proteins.

[37] Rudyard Kipling's short story "Rikki-Tikki-Tavi" features a pair of Indian cobras named Nag and Nagaina, the Hindi words for male and female snake, respectively.

The Hindu god Shiva is often depicted with a cobra called Vasuki, coiled around his neck, symbolizing his mastery over maya, the illusory nature of the world.

Vishnu, in his form called the anantashayana, is usually portrayed as reclining on the coiled body of Shesha, a giant snake deity with multiple cobra heads.

The cobra's dramatic threat posture makes for a unique spectacle, as it appears to sway to the tune of a snake charmer's flute.

Snake charmers with their cobras in a wicker basket are a common sight in many parts of India only during the Nag Panchami or Naagula Chavithi festival.

[38] Indian cobras were often a heraldic element in the official symbols of certain ancient princely states of India such as Gwalior, Kolhapur, Pal Lahara, Gondal, Khairagarh and Kalahandi, among others.