Churning of Ocean, to get gems

Samudra Manthan, with Gods and Demons

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Churning of the Ocean by Gods and Demons

Churning of the Ocean by Gods and Demons

According to the Bhaagwat Purana, the Mahabharata, the Skand Purana and the Vishnu Purana, this incidence occurred between Gods and Demons. Devraj Indra, was the king of Gods and Asurpati Bali was the king of Demons.

According to Hindu mythology, once upon a time, Sage Durvasa, along with his disciples, were going to meet Lord Shiva. On their way, Durvasa came to meet Devraj Indra (king of the Gods). Devraj Indra showed due respect to the sage and his companions. In return, the sage blessed Devraj Indra and offered the miraculous Parijat (which never fade) flower of Lord Vishnu to him. But, Devraj Indra was unduly proud of his own position and he kept the flower most disrespectfully on the head of his carrier, the elephant. As soon as the elephant came in contact with the flower, miracle happened and the elephant grew equally strong and powerful as . Then it refused to be any more with and moved towards the dense forest while crushing the Parijat flower on its way.
Sage Durvasaa was terribly angry to see the behavior of Devraj Indra towards the Parijat flower with such humiliation. He cursed Indra that goddess Lakshmi, who symbolized "Sri" (beauty, fame and wealth) would no longer be accompanying Devraj Indra. Obeying the curse, goddess Lakshmi at once disappeared from heaven. With her departure, came the poor days of all the gods. They lost all their power and glory. They were completely at a loss. As soon as the demons from the hades came to know about such pitiful condition of the gods, they attacked heaven at once. They defeated the gods and spread their own kingdom. Seeing the poor state of the gods, Devraj Indra, along with the chief of gods, Vrihaspati or Jupiter (who is the Guru of Gods) and the other gods, went to seek the advice of Lord Brahma. Then, Lord Brahma advised him that! Since Indra had not treated the symbolic flower of Lord Vishnu with suitable respect, as a punishment, goddess Sri had left him. In order to win back her charm, wealth and good luck, he should praise Lord Narayana or Vishnu. Through this, his lost wealth might be regained.

Thus, assuring Devraj Indra, Lord Brahma took him to the shelter of Lord Vishnu, who was sitting gloriously along with his wife, goddess Lakshmi. All the gods offered their praise to Lord Vishnu and requested him to be kind enough to them and to fulfill their wish. They informed him that due to the curse of Sage Durvasaa, goddess Lakshmi was annoyed with them and had left heaven. So they had come to seek help from him, so that he could protect them against the attacking demons. Lord Vishnu is omniscient. He realized the feelings of the gods in no time at all. He told them to listen to his advice very carefully, as that was the only way to save themselves. He made them aware of the fact that the eternal time was in favor of the demons at that time, and hence the gods would have to wait patiently for the appropriate time to come when they would achieve excellence and simultaneously, the demons could be defeated. Till then, it would be better for the gods to join hands with their enemies. Lord Vishnu also told them that deep under the Kshir-Sagar (the Ocean), was hidden the Amrit (nectar) along with many other useful things. One who would consume this Amrit, would gain the capability to defeat even death. But to extract this precious potion, it was necessary to churn the sea. It was quite a tough task to accomplish, and hence, the gods should seek help from the demons to achieve success. It is diplomatically correct to make friends with one's enemy if need arises. After churning up the sea, the gods could drink the amrit, and thus would become indestructible. It would not be possible for the demons to harm them anymore. Finally, Lord Vishnu suggested that they should agree to all the conditions put forth by the demons. They should never forget the important lesson that peaceful existence, not anger, can bring success in every field of life. All the gods accepted the opinion of Lord Vishnu, they went to the demon king Bali with their proposal of treaty, and made them agree to the fact that the gods and the demons together would take part in the churning of the ocean.

To begin the process of churning, the mountain Mandarachal (name of the mountain) was placed inside the sea at the pivotal position and the snake Vasuki (head in snakes) was treated as the rope. Following this, both the gods and demons started the process of churning. Both the sides were excited with the idea of getting amrit or nectar, and were paying extra efforts. In the very beginning of the process, was extracted the deadly poison named "Kalkut". All the gods started praising Lord Shiva, as he was the only one to rescue them from such a situation. Lord Shiva was pleased with their praise and he drank the poison. He stored the poison inside his throat, as, his heart was home to lord Vishnu and outside his body, lay the entire creation. So, he could not let the poison flow up or down his throat. Soon, his throat turned bluish in color from the effect of the poison and since then, he came to be known as Neelkanth (one whose throat is blue in color) and due to he gulped Kalkut poison, he was also well known by "Akshovya" as sage. And this form of Shiva is related with Goddess Tara, she feed her breast milk to Shiva and holds on forehead.

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The churning was continued and next came the holy cow "Kamdhenu". The sages, who were the followers of Lord Brahma, kept the cow to get regular supply of pious butter, milk and so on for fire sacrifices.

Next from the churning came out the majestic seven headed horse "Ucchaishraba". The demon king Bali wished to keep it and thus it belonged to the demons. The horse was as bright and shining like the moonlight.

Next appeared the superior elephant "Airavat", which was claimed by Lord Indra.

As the churning continued, the precious "Kaustav Mani" (a precious gem) appeared, which was taken by lord Vishnu to be worn close to his heart.

Next was the turn of the "Kalpa-Vriksha" (a special kind of tree). It was the ornamental plant of heaven and the specialty of this tree was that any item, wished by any person, could be provided by it.

Next came out the group of nymphs "Menka, Rambha, Urvashi, Tilotama" etc., who was destined to please the gods and taken to haven for entertainment.

Next the "Chandra or Moon", Moon was rattling on Shiva's forehead.

"Left Faced Shankha or Conch Shell", holds on upper left hand of Lord Vishnu.

"Jyeshta or Alkshmi" which is Goddess of misfortune with impecunious.

After this, "Baruni named Wine", was extracted which was consumed by the demons.

Now was the turn of "Goddess Kamala or Lakshmi" to come out of the sea. Both the gods and the demons grew anxious to own her. The Brahmins worshiped the goddess with due respect. Then the goddess offered her garland to Lord Vishnu. Goddess Lakshmi did not offer her garland to the gods as they were devotees yet prurient, and not also to the demons as they were aggressive by nature. On their union,Lakshmi and Narayana, were worshiped together and famous as Lakshmi-Narayana.

Again became the process of churning the sea, as both the sides were eagerly waiting for the amrit. Finally, "Dhanwantari", (who was the doctor of the gods) appeared with the pot containing "Amrit or nectar". He was also the partial avatar (incarnation) of Lord Vishnu.

Churning of the Ocean by Gods and Demons