It all started when a sage named Durvasa (meaning of his name - the one who is impossible to live with), known for his fiery impetuous nature, cursed Lord Indra (the King of the Gods) that he would lose his position, powers, fortune and see his kingdom collapse.
Root cause for the elaborate process of Samudra (ocean) Manthana (churning) :
Together the devas and asuras pulled the mountain and placed it in the ocean. The asuras insisted upon being on Vasuki's head side and devas held the tail side. They pulled back and forth on Vasuki which caused the mountain to rotate which in turn churned the ocean. Due to the force and long period of rotation, Mount Mandara began sinking to the ocean floor. Lord Vishnu rescued the mountain from sinking by taking the form of a gigantic tortoise (Kurmavatara) and supported the mountain by holding it on his back. This was Lord Vishnu's second avatar - Kurmavatara. Then the churning continued for a thousand years.
Lord Shiva's role in dealing with the Halahala poison :
The continuous churning by pulling Vasuki's body back and forth caused the emission of fumes from his mouth. The asuras felt lethargic and dizzy because of the fumes from Vasuki's mouth. This was followed by a deadly poison called Halahala oozing out of Vasuki's mouth. It was so noxious that it had to be attended immediately; otherwise it would merge in the ocean and contaminate the Amrita as well as cause the devastation of whole creation. Neither the devas nor the asuras were capable of handling this fatal poison. They were left terrified. Lord Vishnu advised them to seek Lord Shiva's help who then prayed to Lord Shiva. Only He was capable of handling the devastation caused by the poison. The compassionate Lord Shiva appeared and consumed the poison before it could integrate in the ocean and destroy the universe. It is said that Goddess Parvati (Lord Shiva's consort) held Shiva's throat while He swallowed Halahala so that it didn't descend into His system. The poison was trapped in Lord Shiva's throat which eventually turned His neck to blue colour. Lord Shiva is also referred by the name Neelkanth (Neel=blue; kanth=throat) since then. When Shiva's throat began burning due to the poison and became unbearable, He thrust His Trishul (His weapon with three pointed spikes) into a mountain to extract water. Thus, the holy Gosaikunda lake (in Nepal) originated.
The rise of the most valuable Kaustubha Mani jewel :
The gods and demons continued to churn. A lot of treasures emerged from the ocean during the process and they divided them amongst Lord Vishnu and themselves. Lord Vishnu took possession of the treasures which were too magnificient to be handled by devas/asuras. Out of the many things they obtained, there were also 14 ratnas (precious jewel stones). Kaustubha mani, Chinta mani and Shamantaka mani are a few divine jewels to name. Kaustubha mani being the most significant one.
Kaustubha mani was the fourth gemstone that emerged from the ocean. The devas and asuras were mystified by this stone's magnificence, it's colour, and radiance that was equal to that of the Sun. An aura of indomitability shone on it's facet. It was a precious, divine and powerful gem. It was pure-consciousness personified. It's sheen reflected all over the place. This extremely beautiful and spectacular gemstone is believed to bestow fortunes, grandeur and invincibility to the bearer such that the bearer develops an avaricious greed to possess it forever. It was impossible for anybody to handle this mani (pearl or stone), considering it's marvel and brilliance. Lord Shiva said that nobody in the universe except Lord Vishnu could handle this powerful stone. Hence it was possessed by Lord Vishnu. He wore this jewel on His neck as an ornament. The green stone on Vittala's neck in Pandharpur (Maharashtra, India) is nothing but this grand Kaustubha Mani.
Emergence of Dhanvantari and the nectar of immortality - Amrita :
After the release of numerous treasures from the ocean, a pious looking heavenly man emerged with a pot in his right hand. He was the great Dhanvantari - the heavenly physician carrying a pot filled with Amrita in it. Once he emerged, the devas and asuras fought fiercely amongst themselves to obtain the pot. At this instance, Lord Vishnu came to the devas' rescue by taking the form of Mohini. She was so enchanting and graceful that the asuras kept gazing at Her. She smiled and told all of them that She would serve them Amrita, and that everybody must wait patiently for their turn. She carried the pot of Amrita with Her and began serving it to the devas first. The asuras had been tranced by Mohini's beauty and elegance. Keeping an eye on the asuras with her gracious smile, Mohini distributed the Amrita amongst the devas.
Onset of planets Rahu and Ketu :
However, an asura by name Rahuketu (who was a demonic snake) joined the row of devas by disguising himself as a deva and drank some Amrita. Due to their luminous nature, the sun god Surya and the moon god Chandra identified this asura in disguise and informed Mohini. She immediately cut his head off with Her Sudarshana Chakra (Lord Vishnu's weapon - discus) before the Amrita could pass down his throat. But the demon had already swallowed it and become immortal and so his severed head and tail did not die. Since then, his head is called Rahu and tail is called Ketu which became two planets thereon. It is believed that Rahu and Ketu swallow Sun and Moon respectively, as a revenge, when they meet at certain points of their orbits in a year, causing solar and lunar eclipses, leading to darkness in the world.
By this time, the asuras realised what was going on and attacked Mohini to snatch the pot of Amrita. But they were defeated by the immortal devas and Lord Vishnu (Mohini) and thus the elaborate manthana came to an end.
Following were the treasures that emerged from the ocean :
Root cause for the elaborate process of Samudra (ocean) Manthana (churning) :
Once, sage Durvasa was in a great ecstatic mood, as a part of spiritual progress and was wandering all over the places on earth. One day during his rounds with the same feeling, he saw a Vidyadhari (nymph) on his way. She was wearing a fresh and fragrant garland made of colourful flowers which would never wither. He stopped her and asked if she could lend him her ever fresh garland. The Vidyadhari knowing about the sage, bowed to him with respect and at once gave away her special garland and disappeared. He wore it and continued walking with the same blissful trance when he met Lord Indra riding on his vahana (vehicle) Airawata (elephant). Indra bowed to this great sage on seeing him. In return, Durvasa flung his special garland at Indra as a blessing. Indra received the garland and without realising the sacredness of it, he put it over Airawata's trunk. The elephant being annoyed with the fragrance of the flowers tossed it unto the ground and crushed it. The special garland which was thrown and crushed had been an embodiment of Goddess Lakshmi (goddess of wealth and fortune). Sage Durvasa, being humiliated by this sight, grew furious and lost his temper. He yelled at Indra, "The pride of your wealth is riding on your head! May Goddess Lakshmi abandon you!!". Shocked and frightened, Indra begged of Durvasa's pardon, but the sage just passed off. Thus being cursed, Indra and the devas (gods) lost their powers, fortune, position and divinity.
Invasion of the asuras (demons) into heaven:
The devas had become very weak. Taking advantage of this plight of the devas, the king of asuras - Bali Chakravarthi along with his army of asuras invaded heaven - the kingdom of devas (Indraloka) and claimed a war. Since the devas had lost their superior divine energies, they were easily defeated by the demons. Indra lost his kingdom and Bali got hold of ruling the universe. The devas then turned to Lord Brahma for help who in turn redirected them to Lord Vishnu. Lord Vishnu suggested the devas that, in order to regain their lost powers and become immortal, they would have to consume Amrita (nectar of immortality) which can be fetched from the Ksheera Sagara (celestial ocean of milk) by churning it.
The devas would need to churn the ocean of milk till the Amrita emerged out of the ocean. They decided that Mount Mandara would act as their churning stick and King of Snakes - Lord Vasuki which adorned Lord Shiva's neck served as their churning rope.
The devas tried to move the mountain into the ocean. But since they had lost all energy, they failed to move the mountain even one bit. They ran back to Lord Vishnu and sought for help. The Lord suggested them to include asuras in the churning by making a diplomatic deal with them by telling them that the Amrita would be shared between the two groups. Lord Vishnu also affirmed the devas that only they would get to consume the Amrita. Following Lord Vishnu's advice, the devas lured the asuras into churning of the milk ocean.
Churning of the milk ocean | Kurmavatara (Lord Vishnu's second avatar):
Invasion of the asuras (demons) into heaven:
The devas had become very weak. Taking advantage of this plight of the devas, the king of asuras - Bali Chakravarthi along with his army of asuras invaded heaven - the kingdom of devas (Indraloka) and claimed a war. Since the devas had lost their superior divine energies, they were easily defeated by the demons. Indra lost his kingdom and Bali got hold of ruling the universe. The devas then turned to Lord Brahma for help who in turn redirected them to Lord Vishnu. Lord Vishnu suggested the devas that, in order to regain their lost powers and become immortal, they would have to consume Amrita (nectar of immortality) which can be fetched from the Ksheera Sagara (celestial ocean of milk) by churning it.
The devas would need to churn the ocean of milk till the Amrita emerged out of the ocean. They decided that Mount Mandara would act as their churning stick and King of Snakes - Lord Vasuki which adorned Lord Shiva's neck served as their churning rope.
The devas tried to move the mountain into the ocean. But since they had lost all energy, they failed to move the mountain even one bit. They ran back to Lord Vishnu and sought for help. The Lord suggested them to include asuras in the churning by making a diplomatic deal with them by telling them that the Amrita would be shared between the two groups. Lord Vishnu also affirmed the devas that only they would get to consume the Amrita. Following Lord Vishnu's advice, the devas lured the asuras into churning of the milk ocean.
Churning of the milk ocean | Kurmavatara (Lord Vishnu's second avatar):
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| Samudra Manthana |
Lord Shiva's role in dealing with the Halahala poison :
The continuous churning by pulling Vasuki's body back and forth caused the emission of fumes from his mouth. The asuras felt lethargic and dizzy because of the fumes from Vasuki's mouth. This was followed by a deadly poison called Halahala oozing out of Vasuki's mouth. It was so noxious that it had to be attended immediately; otherwise it would merge in the ocean and contaminate the Amrita as well as cause the devastation of whole creation. Neither the devas nor the asuras were capable of handling this fatal poison. They were left terrified. Lord Vishnu advised them to seek Lord Shiva's help who then prayed to Lord Shiva. Only He was capable of handling the devastation caused by the poison. The compassionate Lord Shiva appeared and consumed the poison before it could integrate in the ocean and destroy the universe. It is said that Goddess Parvati (Lord Shiva's consort) held Shiva's throat while He swallowed Halahala so that it didn't descend into His system. The poison was trapped in Lord Shiva's throat which eventually turned His neck to blue colour. Lord Shiva is also referred by the name Neelkanth (Neel=blue; kanth=throat) since then. When Shiva's throat began burning due to the poison and became unbearable, He thrust His Trishul (His weapon with three pointed spikes) into a mountain to extract water. Thus, the holy Gosaikunda lake (in Nepal) originated.
The rise of the most valuable Kaustubha Mani jewel :
The gods and demons continued to churn. A lot of treasures emerged from the ocean during the process and they divided them amongst Lord Vishnu and themselves. Lord Vishnu took possession of the treasures which were too magnificient to be handled by devas/asuras. Out of the many things they obtained, there were also 14 ratnas (precious jewel stones). Kaustubha mani, Chinta mani and Shamantaka mani are a few divine jewels to name. Kaustubha mani being the most significant one.
Kaustubha mani was the fourth gemstone that emerged from the ocean. The devas and asuras were mystified by this stone's magnificence, it's colour, and radiance that was equal to that of the Sun. An aura of indomitability shone on it's facet. It was a precious, divine and powerful gem. It was pure-consciousness personified. It's sheen reflected all over the place. This extremely beautiful and spectacular gemstone is believed to bestow fortunes, grandeur and invincibility to the bearer such that the bearer develops an avaricious greed to possess it forever. It was impossible for anybody to handle this mani (pearl or stone), considering it's marvel and brilliance. Lord Shiva said that nobody in the universe except Lord Vishnu could handle this powerful stone. Hence it was possessed by Lord Vishnu. He wore this jewel on His neck as an ornament. The green stone on Vittala's neck in Pandharpur (Maharashtra, India) is nothing but this grand Kaustubha Mani.
Emergence of Dhanvantari and the nectar of immortality - Amrita :
After the release of numerous treasures from the ocean, a pious looking heavenly man emerged with a pot in his right hand. He was the great Dhanvantari - the heavenly physician carrying a pot filled with Amrita in it. Once he emerged, the devas and asuras fought fiercely amongst themselves to obtain the pot. At this instance, Lord Vishnu came to the devas' rescue by taking the form of Mohini. She was so enchanting and graceful that the asuras kept gazing at Her. She smiled and told all of them that She would serve them Amrita, and that everybody must wait patiently for their turn. She carried the pot of Amrita with Her and began serving it to the devas first. The asuras had been tranced by Mohini's beauty and elegance. Keeping an eye on the asuras with her gracious smile, Mohini distributed the Amrita amongst the devas.
Onset of planets Rahu and Ketu :
However, an asura by name Rahuketu (who was a demonic snake) joined the row of devas by disguising himself as a deva and drank some Amrita. Due to their luminous nature, the sun god Surya and the moon god Chandra identified this asura in disguise and informed Mohini. She immediately cut his head off with Her Sudarshana Chakra (Lord Vishnu's weapon - discus) before the Amrita could pass down his throat. But the demon had already swallowed it and become immortal and so his severed head and tail did not die. Since then, his head is called Rahu and tail is called Ketu which became two planets thereon. It is believed that Rahu and Ketu swallow Sun and Moon respectively, as a revenge, when they meet at certain points of their orbits in a year, causing solar and lunar eclipses, leading to darkness in the world.
By this time, the asuras realised what was going on and attacked Mohini to snatch the pot of Amrita. But they were defeated by the immortal devas and Lord Vishnu (Mohini) and thus the elaborate manthana came to an end.
Following were the treasures that emerged from the ocean :
- Halahala poison - consumed by Lord Shiva.
- Parijata tree - the divine flowering tree with blossoms that never vanish was taken by the devas to Indraloka.
- Sharanga bow was owned by Vishnu initially but was later given to the asuras.
- 14 ratnas (divine jewel stones). One of them was Kaustubha mani - the most valuable ratna was worn by Lord Vishnu. Remaining 13 gems were divided between devas and asuras.
- Chandra - the crescent moon which adorned Shiva's head.
- Shankha (conch) - owned by Vishnu.
- Kalpavriksha - wish fulfilling tree taken by the devas.
Three goddesses :-
- Goddess Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth, fortune and prosperity chose to belong to Lord Vishnu as She had accepted Lord Vishnu as Her eternal consort.
- Varuni, the goddess of wine was taken by the asuras.
- Apsaras like Rambha, Menaka etc. were taken by the devas.
Three supernatural animals :-
- Airawata, the elephant was taken by Lord Indra.
- Uchchaishrawas, the seven headed horse was taken by the asura Bali.
- Kamadhenu / Surabhi, the wish fulfilling cow was taken by Lord Brahma and then lent to the rishis (sages) so that it's milk could be used for producing ghee required for yagnas (oblations).
And lastly :-
- Dhanvantari - the heavenly physician with the pot of Amrita which was part taken by the devas.
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