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The Churning of the Milky Ocean (The story of Samudra Manthan*)

By churning milk into butter the people of India and Nepal give expression to the age-old Hindu creation-myth, the Samudra Manthan: the churning of the Milky Ocean by gods and demons as a metaphor for the eternal struggle between the forces of good and evil. The Samudra Manthan is widely recognized as the best known and most influential of the Puranas, and is sometimes referred to as the fifth Veda (it contains many stories from the Vedic tradition). The story appears in the Bhagavata Purana, the Mahabharata and the Vishnu Purana and it explains the origins of Amrita, the drink of immortality. The story begins with Lord Indra Lord Indra, King of heaven and gods, while riding on his elephant Airavata, came across a Sage named Durvasa Muni who offered him a scented garland that was given to him by Lord Shiva. Indra accepted the garland, placing it on the forehead and trunk of Airavata. The elephant was irritated by the scent and threw the garland off, trampling on it. The short-tempered Sage got very angry as the garland was a dwelling of Sri (fortune) and was to be treated as a Prasada (a religious offering). He cursed Indra and all Devas (gods) so they would loose all their treasures and be deprived of Laxmi, the goddess of wealth and prosperity. Lord Indra was thus immediately dispossessed of all his universal strength, energy and fortune.

Samudra Manthan: Churning the Milky Ocean In battles that followed this incident, the gods were defeated and the demons (Asuras), led by King Bali, gained control of the universe. Indra then approached Lord Vishnu to help him regain all his treasures. Vishnu advised Indra to form an alliance with the demons to jointly churn the ocean for the nectar of immortality (Amrita) and to share it among them. Lord Vishnu told Indra that he would arrange that only the Devas would obtain the nectar and not the Asuras. The churning of the Ocean of Milk was an elaborate process. Mount Mandarachala was used as the

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churning rod (ghurra) and Vasuki, the king of serpents who abides on Lord Shiva’s neck, became the churning rope. The demons (Asuras) demanded to hold the head of the snake, while the gods (Devas), taking advice from Lord Vishnu, agreed to hold its tail. As a result, the demons were slowly 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 would churn the ocean. However, once the mountain was placed on the ocean, it began to sink. Fortunately, Lord Vishnu, in his second incarnation in the form of a turtle Kurma, came to their rescue and supported the mountain on his back.

Shiva drinking the world – poison The Samudra Manthan process released a number of things from the Milky Ocean. As the ocean was churned, a deadly poison known as Halahala emerged. This poison threatened to suffocate all living things on earth. In some versions of the story of the Samudra Manthan, this poison escaped from the mouth of the king serpents Vasuki as the demons and gods churned. On the advice of Lord Vishnu, the gods approached the compassionate Lord Shiva for help and protection. Lord Shiva inhaled the poison in an act of self-sacrifice but goddess Parvati, his consort, grabbed Shiva’s throat in an effort to prevent the most deadly poison from affecting the uni-verses inside Lord Shiva.

This ghurra represents Kurma, the second avatar of Vishnu who - transformed as a turtle - prevented Mount Mandarachala from sinking into the Milky Ocean with the help of his shell.

The border of the Vishnu sundisk is decorated with copulating snakes (Vasuki) and on both sides with the eight leaves of the lotus flower: symbol of goddess Laxmi who represents happiness, beauty and wealth. The two half circular shapes represent Vasuki who are bound together by a double knot (a Nepal symbol of good fortune). On top of the snakes’ heads rests a small sitting bench (pika) decorated with the waves of the milky ocean. In the middle of the pika is a typical Nepalese butter pot.

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As a result Shiva’s throat turned blue. For this reason, Lord Shiva is also called Neelakantha (the blue throated-one). Then, all kinds of herbs were planted into the ocean and 14 Ratnas (gems or treasures) were produced and divided between Devas (gods) and Asuras (demons). The 14 Ratnas were… Sura: goddess and creator of wine Apsarases: various divine nymphs who chose the demigods as their compagnion Kaustubha: the most valuable jewel in the world Uchhaishravas: the divine 7-headed horse Kalpavriksha: the wish-granting tree Kamadhenu: the first cow and mother of all cows Airavata: the white elephant of Indra Lakshmi (or Laxmi): the goddess of fortune and wealth and the eternal consort of Vishnu Parijat: the divine flowering tree with blossoms that never fade of wilt Halahala: the deadly poison swallowed by Lord Shiva Chandra: the moon that adorned Shiva’s head Dhanvantari: the physician of the gods with Amrita Amrita: the nectar of immortality Shanka: the conch of Lord Vishnu used for victory

When Dhanvantari, the heavenly physician emerged with a pot containing Amrita, the Asuras took it. The frightened Adityas appealed to Vishnu, who took then the form of Mohini. As a beautiful and enchanting damsel, Mohini distracted the Asuras, took the Amrita and distributed it amongst the Adityas who drank it. One Asura, Rahu, disguised himself as an Aditya, and drank some of the Amrita. Due to their luminous nature the Sun god Surya and the Moon god Chandra noticed the switching of sides. They informed Mohini and before the immortal 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 swallows the sun and moon, causing eclipse. When the sun and moon passes through the opening at the neck, the eclipse will end. The story of the Samudra Manthan ends with the rejuvenated Adityas defeating the Asuras. *Samudra means ocean of large water body. The literal metamorphic meaning of Manthan is deep contemplation, churning the facts, analysis aimed at solution or conclusion.

The egg-shaped top part of this ghurra refers to the yoni lingam, symbol of Shiva. The four vertical snakes (Vasuki) are held together by a single and an eternal knot. The small triangles on the Vishnu sundisk refer to the spots on the shell of Kurma (the turtle), the second avatar of Vishnu.