Why samudra manthan

They also very willingly agreed to lift mount Mandara and place it in the center of the ocean. Many of the asuras got crushed under its sheer pressure. Vishnu intervened yet again and, mounting Mandaragiri on the back of Garuda Vishnu's vehicle, the mighty Eagle , He transported it right to the middle of the ocean. This done, the asuras wound Vasuki around the mountain and selected the head side of the serpent, instead of the tail side, since they thought of themselves to be superior, and were prodded to do by the Devas, in accordance with the plan decided upon with Vishnu.

The reason for this was that during the churning, the serpent would spew venom and this would kill the asuras instead of the Devas. Then began the entire process of the churning of the Ocean of Milk, with the Devas on one side and the asuras on the other.

As the churning got underway, the huge mountain, having no support, dangerously wobbled from side to side and started to sink into the ocean. Seeing this, Vishnu acted immediately and took the form of the giant-sized, divine Tortoise or the Kurma Avatara. Plunging deep into the ocean, He bore the colossal mountain on His back.

Unmindful of His own pain and discomfort, Lord Vishnu patiently bore the mount on his back, stablilizing it, thereby making it much easier for the Devas and asuras to churn the Sagara ocean.

As the process of the churning continued, however, the Lord felt extremely comfortable. Instead of causing Him severe pain and irritation, the constant rhythm of the mountain turning back and forth on His back, actually lulled Him into a highly meditative, sleep-awake stage. He breathed slowly and deeply and this created gentle waves in the ocean that gave rise to a very comforting, rocking motion that further calmed Him!

The churning of the ocean first gave rise to the Halahala, Kalakuta or the deadly poison, representing the ocean's impurities. The poison was strong and deadly enough to cause blindness and difficulty in breathing to all who came in contact with it. At the behest of the Devas and asuras, Lord Shiva immediately drank the poison. On seeing this, Shiva's consort, Parvati , was alarmed and clutched his neck in an effort to stop the poison from descending down His throat.

The action of the poison turned Shiva's neck permanently blue, which is why He is also referred to as the Neelakantha the blue-throated One. There is another interesting interpretation about Shiva consuming the deadly halahala poison.

It is said that Lord Vishnu Himself drank the poison, making Shiva a mere vessel to hold the same. There were several ratnas or gems as well that arose from the Samudra Manthan. These ratnas were shared by the Devas and the Asuras. The gems were as follows:. In accordance with His promise of protecting the Amrita from entering the hands of the asuras, Lord Vishnu took the form of Mohini, a beautiful damsel, and enticed the asuras to let her distribute the nectar among them all, on the condition that they would never question any of her actions.

Totally taken in by her beauty, the asuras readily agreed to her conditions. Mohini asked the Devas to be seated in a row and started distributing the Amrita to them first. Rahu, one of the Daityas demons , divined the true identity of Mohini as being Vishnu himself and understood that this entire episode was a ploy to cheat the Asuras of the Amrita. Fearing that he would never get a share of the Amrita otherwise, Rahu disguised himself as one of the gods and sat down with them.

Furious, Vishnu lifted his Sudarshana Chakra discus and cut off Rahu's head. Legend has it that Rahu's head still roams around the heavens and that his undying enmity with Surya Sun God and Chandra Moon God is what causes several adversities to befall a Hindu during the period of his trine with either of the stars.

By the time Mohini was done with her task, there was not even a drop of nectar left in the pitcher. The asuras felt completely cheated and humiliated and so, tried to attack the Devas. But the latter had regained their lost strength and hence the already jaded asuras were no match for them. Cutting their losses, they fled back to their abode in the Patala loka netherland.

Sri Mahavishnu was the pivotal force behind the Samudra Manthan. The Lord had taken care of every little aspect while orchestrating the entire episode. It is only His Supreme Presence that helped the Devas regain their lost glory and power.

Without Sri Mahavishnu's help, nothing like this could have been possible and the Devas, suffering from the ill effects of Durvasa's curse, would have been stripped of their divinity and powers for ever. It is interesting to note, here, that Vishnu's act of wielding the Mandara mountain on His back bears close resemblance to Krishna's leela miracle of lifting the Govardhana mountain with the little finger of His left hand, in order to protect the residents of Vrindavan.

All tales from Indian mythology sound fantastic and fascinating. Many people , who merely listen to the stories with a casual attitude, question the logic behind these tales. Many even believe that these stories are a mere fabrication of someone's highly hyper-active imagination! But the truth is startlingly different.

Indian mythology has always tried to teach man some profound principles in life, through its many tales and anecdotes. These interesting tales actually have many hidden meanings and connotations, which, if delved into deeply enough, could reveal some of the highest philosophical truths to mankind. Applied properly to real life, the Samudra Manthan can be seen as being an extremely effective guide on how to live our day-to-day life. Let us now analyze the Samudra Manthan in detail.

The Churning of the Ocean embodies the journey of life undertaken by this Jeevatma during its tenure on earth. It represents all the moments of pleasure and pain, physical, psychological, emotional and spiritual struggles that it is put through in life. The mind is an ocean, where our thoughts and emotions play on it like the waves of the ocean. The Mandara mountain represents the virtues of steadiness and concentration.

Like the mountain, our concentration too will wobble if it not anchored onto something concrete. The Mandaragiri was held steady by the Lord, who took the form of a Tortoise. Here, the tortoise symbolizes the spiritual withdrawal of a person into his own Consciousness.

Just as a tortoise withdraws into its shell, so can a man attain liberation only by withdrawing into the Atman residing inside him. In order to undertake a spiritual journey, man has to surrender himself to the Supreme Being, depend on Him for steadiness and only then, embark on his voyage.

The support of the Tortoise - that Supreme Consciousness - has to back him all the way if he has to succeed in this higher venture. Both the Devas and the Asuras desired immortality. Vasuki embodies the desire in us to attain liberation by steadying our minds, concentrating and contemplating on the higher Self.

The story also shows that if this 'desire' factor is not under our control, it can take over our lives and destroy us altogether. The rope also signifies the need for cooperation. Our spiritual journey has to take into account a good balance of both spiritual and worldly life in order to attain salvation.

There are many ascetics who have achieved enlightenment by performing severe penance on the Himalayas. Our worldly life, however, dictates that we continue to live a spiritual life while being involved in this Samsara material world itself.

The Devas actually represent the 'good' Sat within us, while the Daityas represent the 'bad' or the 'sin' Asat within us. Interestingly enough, the tale of Samudra Manthan, as related by the Srimad Bhagavatam, consider both the bad and the good as being sides of the same coin, coming from the same One Creator!

Similarly, we have to learn to balance both the positives and negatives of our personalities, harmonizing both these energies, in order to attain a higher state of spirituality in our lives. The churning of the ocean was a result of a curse by Sage Durvasa.

Once, he offered a garland to Indra, the king of Devas. Indra accepted the garland and showed his happiness, putting the garland on his elephant, Airavata, as an ornament. Airavata, irritated by the scent of the garland, picked it with his trunk and threw it on the ground.

Durvasa was furious and cursed Indra and the devas to lose their kingdom, power, and glory. Lakshmi, the goddess of fortune, could no longer stay in the same realm as the Devas, and parted ways with her consort, Vishnu.

She made the depths of Kshir Sagar her new home. Robbed of their power, the devas were soon defeated by the asuras in battle. The defeated devas approached Lord Vishnu for a solution, who advised them to churn Kshir Sagar, to obtain Amrit.

Amrit or the elixir of immortality would help the devas regain their powers. The Asuras willingly offered to assist their half-brothers since they too wanted immortality and invincible powers by consuming Amrit. The Naga king, Vasuki, who Shiva wears as a garland, became the churning rope. Several precious items, ratnas, emerged from the cosmic ocean which were distributed amongst the Devas, the Asuras and the Sages. The Halahala was a deadly poison that had the potential to destroy all beings in the three realms.

None amongst the armies of asuras and devas stepped in to stop the poison from spreading into the universe as they feared the poison would destroy them too.

Lord Shiva descended from Mount Kailash to consume the poison. Thus he came to be called Neelkanth. Airavata, the king of elephants, was a white coloured winged being with six trunks and six pairs of tusks. He said to dig his trunk deep into the ground and reach water which is inaccessible to humans. He uses his trunk to spray the water in the form of monsoon showers.

After appearing from the cosmic ocean, Airavata chose to serve his master Indra, who was delighted to reunite with his loyal vahana. Often considered as the king of the horses, the seven-headed, snow-white horse, was one of the three animals that appeared during the Samudra Manthan. The magnificent steed was taken by Indra. Eventually, Uchhaisravas came into the hands of King Mahabali , the asura king, who ruled over the three worlds.

Once Goddess Lakshmi was spellbound by the beauty of Uchhaisravas and forgot to pay attention to her consort, Vishnu. This infuriated him and he cursed Lakshmi to be born as a mare. The sisters decided to come back and see the horse the next day. Whoever of the two had guessed the wrong colour, would have to become the slave of the other. Kadru won the bet by treachery as she commanded her sons, the Nagas, to cover the tail of the horse.

Kamdhenu was one of the precious ratnas obtained from the cosmic ocean and is considered to be the mother of all cattle. Kamdhenu is depicted with the face of a woman, the body of a cow with a pair of wings and the tail of a peacock. She was given to the Saptrishis as she provided them with ample milk. Then, Uccaihsrava appeared. It was a seven-headed flying horse. Bali Maharaja asked Indra that he wanted the horse, for which Indra agreed. Then eight great male elephants and eight great female elephants appeared.

Airavata headed the male, and Abhramu headed the female. Lord Indra used Airavata as his mount. Kaustubha-Mani and Padmaraga-mani, which were considered to be the most valuable jewel in the entire universe.

After that came the Parijat flower , the divine flower that never fades or wilt. It was taken to the Indraloka by the Devas.

The Apsaras came after that, which was led by Rambha, Menaka, Punyasthala, and others. They were embellished with ornaments and lockets with sensual and attractive clothing. The Apsaras chose the Devas as their companions. Then, Lakshmi, the Goddess of fortune , appeared, who accepted Vishnu as her eternal consort. The Asuras claimed Varuni or Sura, which came after Laxmi.

Varuni or Sura is the Goddess and Creator of alcohol. The process went on for years and years, but the Amrit did not appear. So, they got tired and impatient when that happened.

But still, they continued, and then a strongly built man emerged with a jug filled with Amrita. He was Dhanvantari, an Avatar of Vishnu, who then went on to be the physician of the Devas and the God of Ayurvedic medicine. When he arrived, the Asuras snatched the jug from Dhanvantari immediately.

Then, there again was a struggle between Asuras and the Devas for the Amrit. This is why Kumbh Mela is held every 12 years in these places. The struggle continued. To end it, Vishnu took the form of the beautiful damsel Mohini who mesmerized the Asuras with her beauty and told the Asuras that she would distribute the Amrit among the gods and the demons in a fair manner.