Samudra manthan

Churning of the ocean depicted in the bas-relief from Angkor Wat in Cambodia and Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok, Thailand, shows Vishnu in the centre, his turtle Avatar Kurma below, asuras and devas to left and right.

In Hinduism, Samudra manthan or Churning of the Ocean of Milk is one of the best known episodes in the Hindu mythology. The story appears in the Bhagavata Purana, the Mahabharata and the Vishnu Purana.

Different wordings

Legend

Indra, the King of Devas (gods), while riding on an elephant Airawat, came across Sage Durvasa who offered him a special garland given to him by the God Shiva. Indra accepted the garland, placing it on the trunk of the elephant as a test to prove that he was not an egoistic god. The elephant, knowing that Indra had no control over his own ego, threw the garland to the ground. This enraged the sage as the garland was a dwelling of Sri (fortune) and was to be treated as prasada. Durvasa cursed Indra and all devas to be bereft of all strength, energy, and fortune.[1]

In battles that followed this incident, the Devas were defeated and Asuras (demons) led by King Bali gained control of the universe. Devas sought help from the Supreme God Vishnu Who advised them to treat asuras in a diplomatic manner. Devas formed an alliance with asuras to jointly churn the ocean for the nectar of immortality and to share it among them. However, Vishnu told Devas that He would arrange that they alone obtain the nectar.

The churning of the Ocean of Milk was an elaborate process. Mount Mandara was used as the churning rod, and Vasuki, the king of serpents, who abides on Shiva's neck, became the churning rope. The demons demanded to hold the head of the snake, while the gods taking advice from Vishnu, agreed to hold its tail. As a result the demons were poisoned by fumes emitted by Vasuki. Despite this, the gods and demons pulled back and forth on the snake's body alternately, causing the mountain to rotate, which in turn churned the ocean. However, once the mountain was placed on the ocean, it began to sink. Vishnu, in the form of a turtle Kurma, came to their rescue and supported the mountain on his back.

The Samudra Manthan process released a number of things from the Milk Ocean. One product was the lethal poison known as Halahal. (In some versions of the story, this poison escaped from the mouth of the serpent king as the demons and gods churned.) This terrified the gods and demons because the poison was so powerful that it can destroy all of creation. Then the gods approached Shiva for protection. Shiva consumed the poison in an act to protect the universe, and his wife Parvati pressed her hand on Shiva's throat to save the universe. As a result, The color of Shiva's neck turned blue. For this reason, Lord Shiva is also called Neelakanta (the blue-throated one; "neela" = "blue", "kantha" = "throat" in Sanskrit).

Ratnas

Sagar Manthan

All kinds of herbs were cast into the ocean and fourteen Ratnas (gems or treasures) were produced from the ocean and were divided between asuras and gods. Though usually the Ratnas are enumerated as 14, the list in the scriptures ranges from 9 to 14 Ratnas. Most lists include:[2] According to the quality of the treasures produced, they were accepted by Vishnu, the devas, and the asuras. There were three categories of Goddesses which emerged from the ocean;

Likewise, three types of supernatural animals appeared;

There were three valuables;

Additionally produced were;

This list varies from Purana to Purana and is also slightly different in the epics, the Ramayana and Mahabharata. Lists are completed by adding the following Ratnas:[2]

Here is a famous chant describing the 14 Ratnas from the Churning of the Milky Ocean.

लक्ष्मीः कौस्तुभपारिजातकसुराधन्वन्तरिश्चन्द्रमाः। ::
गावः कामदुहा सुरेश्वरगजो रम्भादिदेवाङ्गनाः। ::
अश्वः सप्तमुखो विषं हरिधनुः शङ्खोमृतं चाम्बुधेः।::
रत्नानीह चतुर्दश प्रतिदिनं कुर्यात्सदा मङ्गलम्। ::

"Lakshmeeh kaustubhapaarijaatakasuraadhantarischandramaah, Gaavah kaamaduhaa sureswaragajorambhadidevaanganaah, Ashwah saptamukhovisam haridhanuh sankhomrtam chaambudheh, Ratnaaneeha chaturdasa pratidinam kuryaatsadaa mangalam."

The nectar of immortality

Various scenes from the samudra manthan episode

Finally, Dhanvantari, the heavenly physician, emerged with a pot containing Amrita, the heavenly nectar of immortality. Fierce fighting ensued between Devas and Asuras for the nectar. To protect the nectar from Asuras, the divine Garuda took the pot, and flew away from the battle-scene. While Garuda was in his flight over planet Earth, it is believed that four drops of nectar fell at four places - Prayag (Allahabad), Haridwar, Ujjain and Nasik. This legend is the basis for the belief that these places acquired a certain mystical power and spirituality.A Kumbh Mela is celebrated at the four places every twelve years for this reason. People believe that after bathing there during the Kumbha mela, one can get the primeval heaven and moksha(Sanskrit:mokṣha). devas (demigods) appealed to Vishnu, who then took the form of Mohini and as a beautiful and enchanting damsel, Mohini distracted the asuras, took the amrita, and distributed it among the Devas, who drank it. Asura RahuKetu, disguised himself as a deva and drank some nectar. Due to their luminous nature, the sun god Surya and the moon god Chandra noticed the switching of sides. They informed Mohini. But before the nectar could pass his throat, Mohini cut off his head with her divine discus, the Sudarshana Chakra.But as the nectar had gone down his throat he did not die. From that day, his head was called Rahu and body was called Ketu. Later Rahu and Ketu became planets. The story ends with the rejuvenated Devas defeating the asuras.

References

  1. ↑ Story of Maha Kumbh Mela from Srimad Bhagvatam
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Wilson, Horace Hayman (1840). The Vishnu Purana.

External links