THE MILKY OCEAN

Hindu mythology contains this story about the churning of the Cosmic Ocean in order to obtain Amrita - the nectar of immortal life. At the suggestion of Vishnu the gods and demons churned the primeval ocean in order to obtain Amrita which will guarantee them immortality.

Durvasa was a very powerful rishi who was a great devotee of Sri Vishnu. One day when he was back from Vaikuntha after meeting Sri Vishnu, he also happened to meet Indra, the head of the devas. Durvasa as a matter of respect offered Indra a beautiful flower garland which was given to him by Sri Vishnu. But Indra who was conceited and arrogant threw the garland around his elephant's neck. The elephant in turn put the garland on the floor and trampled upon it. This incident made Durvasa very angry for it was an insult, not only to him but also to his revered Lord Sri Vishnu. Enraged, Durvasa cursed Indra, along with the three world's he rule, will lose its prosperity and glory. The curse took effect immediately. Indra didn't know what to do, for the earth and the heaven was losing its glory and splendor. There were fights everyewhere between the devas and the asuras and the devas losing all their powers were constantly defeated by the asuras. Devas were becoming weak day by day and in turn the asuras were gaining more life and energy. The temples were closed and all religious practices were discontinued. Thus on losing his vitality, Indra got confused and ran to Brahma to seek his help. Brahma who also noticed what is happening, along with Indra and other devas went to Vaikuntham to get help from Sri Vishnu in coming out of this disaster.

Sri Vishnu told, the asuras have gained more might and are very powerful now. So unless and until peace is made with them nothing is possible. Sri Vishnu wanted the devas and Indra to seek the asuras help for the churning of the milky ocean and once the churning happens amrita shall come out. Once the devas drink the amrita they will become strong and immortal. The Lord also instructed them to use Mount Mandara as the churning rod and Vasuki, the king of serpents as the churning rope. To make this action the devas should request the help of the asuras and if they come out with any terms and conditions, Sri Vsihnu instructed the devas to accept it gently. The Lord also told during the process they might come up with lot of issues like the release of deadly poison called Halahala. Sri Vishnu told that he will help the devas provided they do their work with care and were watchful. Then Sri Vishnu disappeared from the place. So now the devas went to meet Bali, the king of asuras and explained to him Sri Vishnu's plan for churning the ocean. Bali who was also a devotee of Lord Vishnu and a judicious person agreed for the request for he knew that this was the time to make peace but not fight against them. So now next the devas along with the asuras went to meet Vasuki, the serpent king and who agreed but under one condition that he should be given a considerable share of the amrita. Now all together with all their might went and uprooted the Mount Mandra and carried it to the ocean.


Now everything was set and the churning process started. The head of the serpent was held by the deavas forwarded by Sri Vishnu and the tail was held by the asuras. But the asuras told that there are notes in the shastras which says that holding of a serpent's tail is inauspicious. So now Sri Vishnu very gracefully handed over the head of Vasuki to the asuras and the devas along with the Lord caught hold of the tail of the serpent. The churning started and inspite of all the joint strength of the devas and the asuras, the mount Mandra was too heavy and so it sank into the bottom of the ocean. The devas and the asuras stood confused not knowing how to bring back the golden mountain. Now Sri Vishnu took the form of a giant tortoise and went to the bottom of the ocean, thereby lifting the mountain to the surface on its back. Again the churning started and this time it was with great rigour and might. In the process of the churning Vasuki opened her mouth only to let out fire and smoke. It was getting really very suffocating for the devas and asuras and once again Sri Vishnu helped them by sending them clouds, rain and wind and the atmosphere was cleared from the poisonous fumes. As the churning was getting deeper and deeper there came a sacrificial vessel called Surabhi which was wanted by the rishis. Followed by it came out the famous white horse, Uchhaishrava, which was claimed by Bali. Then it was Indra's turn to own Airavata, a magnificent white elephant. Next in the churning of the ocean emerged out the Kastubha gem, which was glitterous and beautiful in the colour of the lotus. Sri Vishnu was adorned by this Kastubha gem on his chest. After this came the Parijata tree, which fulfills all wishes, and then a group of beautiful apsaras.

But now to the surprise of the devas and the asuras present, there emerged goddess Lakshmi. For a second, they were all awed and wondered to see goddess Lakshmi who was jubiliant and luster. Her brilliance filled the whole of the earth. Goddess Lakshmi went towards Sri Vishnu with her fresh garland of lotuses and put it around his neck and wanted him to accept her as his wife. Lord Vishnu was also pleased to accept her as his consort and placed her in his heart. Brahma, Shiva and the devas present there blessed and worshipped them. Chanting of vedic hymns and sprinkling of holy water on the couple was done by the Brahmins. They blessed Lakshmi as the Goddess of prosperity and fortune and so is the saying that wherever she lives and on whom she casts her blessings is said to acquire richness and wealth. As the churning continued there came out the goddess of all intoxicating drinks, by name Varuni. The moment she came out, the asuras claimed her as their property. Finally last from the ocean came up a magnificent youth, Dhanvanthri, who was an amsa of Lord Vishnu. It was Dhanvanthri who was carrying the the jar of Amrita in his hands. Now the asuras showed their rakshasa character in them, were they snatched the jar from Dhanvanthri. But soon they themselves started fighting among themselves for their share. They literally wrangled and fought among themselves. Now the devas didn't know how to handle the situation. The deavs ran back and appealed to Lord Vishnu for his help.

So now to help the devas Sri Vishnu got into the guise of a beautiful young lady, Mohini. The asuras were taken aback by the beauty of Mohini and gave her the jar of Amrita. The asuras asked Mohini to distribute the Amrita to whom so ever she is pleased with. Mohini with a smile on her face and with fluttering eyelashes asked how can they, just like that believe a lady. But then the asuras having deeply fallen in love with her and in a frenzy of passion asked her to distribute the Amritha as she wishes. Mohini once again confirmed to them, that the asuras should not get angry if she does it according to her wish whether right or wrong. The asuras agreed. Now the asuras and the devas split themselves and sat ready to have the Amrita in a huge hall. Mohini started giving the amrita to the devas and by the time she could start off with the asuras the amrita was over. But unfortunately Rahu, one of the daityas, had disguised himself as a deva and had sat with them. Unfortunately the sun and the moon who noted Rahu, told about this to Sri Vishnu. So the Lord using his powerful chakra cut off the head of Rahu. But he was immortal. The Lord Sri Vishnu turned it into the planet Rahu, which causes the eclipses of the Sun and the Moon, showing his (Rahu's) eternal enmity to them. When the asuras came out of the infatuation they had on Mohini realized that they were cheated by Sri Vishnu and the devas they got very wild. By this time Sri Vishnu got back to his original form and left the place on his garuda. The asuras knowing that they were badly cheated wanted to kill all the devas. So a strong battle ensued between the devas and the asuras. But now since the devas had the Amrita, they became immortal and strong and along with it they always had the almighty Sri Vishnu on their side to support them. The battle was very fierce and the asuras with all their might and power tried their best to defeat the asuras. Finally the devas defeated the asuras and won the battle. Thus the asuras lost because they had fallen prey to worldly pleasure.