Samudra Manthana: Churning of the Ocean

Samudra Manthana: Churning of the Ocean 

In Hinduism, Samudra manthana or the churning of the ocean of milk is one of the most famous episodes in the Puranas and is celebrated in a major way every twelve years in the festival known as Kumbha Mela. The story appears in the Srimad Bhagavatam, the Mahabharata and the Vishnu Purana. 

Once Indra, the King of Gods, while traveling on an elephant came across a sage named Durvasa who offered him a special garland. Indra accepted the garland but put in on the trunk of the elephant. The elephant was annoyed by the smell and it threw the garland on the floor. This furious the sage as the garland was a dwelling of Sri (fortune) and was to be treated as prasada (items given in offering). Durvasa Muni cursed Indra and all devas to be deprived of all strength, energy, and fortune. In battles that followed this incident, Devas were defeated and Asuras (demons) led by king Bali, gained control of the universe. Devas sought help from Lord Vishnu who advised them to treat asuras in a diplomatic manner. Devas formed an alliance with asuras to jointly churn the ocean (Samudra manthana) for the nectar of immortality and to share it among them. However, Lord Vishnu told Devas that he would arrange that they alone get hold of the nectar. 

The churning of the Ocean of milk was an elaborate process. Mount Mandaranchal was used as churning rod and Vasuki, the King of Serpents, became the churning rope. The gods (devas) held the tail of the snake while the demons (Asuras) held the head end of the snake and they pulled on it 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 his second incarnation, in the form of a turtle Kurma, came to their rescue and supported the mountain on his shell back. But in Mahabharata version of the story differs in many respects from the one in the various Puranas like Bhagawat, Brahma-vaivarta and Agni. For example, in Mahabharata, it was not Vishnu who took the Kurma avatara but the Akupara, the King of tortoises who did it on a request from Devas and Asuras.

During the Samudra Manthana by the gods and demons, Halahala, a pot of poison also came out of the ocean. This terrified the Gods and Demons as the poison was so toxic that its effects would have wiped out the entire creation. On the advice of Vishnu, Gods approached Shiva for help and protection. Out of compassion for living beings, Shiva drank the poison. However, Parvati, Shiva’s wife pressed his neck so that the poison does not reach his stomach. Thus, it stayed in his throat neither going up nor down and Shiva remained unharmed. The poison was so potent that it changed the color of Shiva's neck to blue. For this reason, he is also called Neelakantha (the blue-necked one). The festival Shivaratri is the celebration of this event by which Shiva saved the world.

All kinds of herbs and fourteen Ratnas (treasures) were produced from the ocean and were divided between asuras and gods. These were:

Varuni, goddess and creator of alcohol 

Apsaras, various divine nymphs like Rambha, Menaka, Punjikasthala, etc. 

Sranga, the bow of Vishnu 

Kaustubha, the most valuable jewel in the world 

Uchhaishravas, the divine 7-headed horse 

Kalpavriksha, the wish-granting tree 

Kamadhenu, the wish-granting divine cow 

Airavata, the elephant of Indra 

Lakshmi, the Goddess of Fortune and Wealth -Vishnu's consort 

Parijat, the divine flowering tree with blossoms that never fade or droop 

Halahala, the deadly poison 

Chandra, the moon 

Dhanvantari, the doctor 

Amrita, the nector 

This list varies from Purana to Purana and is also slightly different in the Indian epics, the Ramayana and Mahabharata.

To finish, 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, Devas hid the pot of nectar at four places on the earth - Prayag (Allahabad), Haridwar, Ujjain and Nasik. At each of these places, a drop of the nectar spilled from the pot and since then, it is believed that these places acquired mystical power. A Kumbh Mela is celebrated at the four places every 12 years for this particular reason.

However the Asuras eventually got hold of the nectar and started celebrating. Frightened, Devas plead to Vishnu, who then took the form of Mohini. As a beautiful and charming damsel, Mohini distracted the Asuras, took the amrita, and distributed it amongst the Devas who drank it. One Asura, Rahu, disguised himself as Deva and drank some Nectar. Due to their incandescent 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. The head, due to its contact with the amrita, remained immortal. To gain revenge on Sun and Moon for exposing this - It is believed that this immortal head occasionally swallows the sun or the moon, causing eclipses. Then, the sun or moon passes through the opening of the neck, ending the eclipse.

At end the recharged Devas defeated the Asuras.

Samudra manthana can be applied on life of human being. People start out as the heaven ruled by devas. People have been graced by God with good qualities. But as people (mind - Indra) gets into pride and ego, it leads into downfall and get ruled by the daityas (anger, greed, lust, etc). During some time in life, soul turns to God for help. God then says, okay, I will help, by showing the path, but will also have to do some work. Hence Samudra Manthana is done through prayers, meditations, etc., people churn their mind. People get pulled by both sides of their mind. Initially, in any detoxification process, the toxins come out. This is where God comes to help by giving strength to overcome these problems. People with bad qualities should not let the ego overtake and should keep on remembering God on good and bad times. In short the samudra manthana represents the spiritual attempt of a person to achieve self-realization through awareness of mind, withdrawal of senses, control of desires and practice of sternness, and simplicity.