The Churning of the Ocean
"So you devis got me thinking about oceans in both your stories," Durga began. "It's interesting how often we seem to come back to the ocean when it comes time for beginnings."
Saraswati, unable to resist providing an explanation, chimed in. "Well, we tend to come back to it an infinite number of times, because the universe is inherently cyclic and so if the ocean comes up even just once, it's guaranteed to come up over and over again."
"Okay, yes, I suppose that's true," said Durga thoughtfully. "So the ocean will feature prominently in my story as well. This one is less of a tale of all of creation though, and one that's focused on the acquisition of something incredibly powerful--the nectar of immortality. So sit back and enjoy, because this one's a wild ride."
The story begins with our dear friend Indra, who was offered a garland by Sage Durvasa. To prove that he was not egotistic, he placed it on the back of an elephant.
"It was such a beautiful garland, but then the elephant STEPPED on it!" Lakshmi jumped in indignantly. "Of COURSE that would enrage the Sage; what was Indra thinking?"
"Yes, well, get mad he did," continued Durga, reclaiming her story.
In his anger, the Sage cursed Indra, and by proxy all Devas, depriving them of their strength, energy, and fortune.
This led to the Asuras taking over the universe. In their dismay, the Devas sought the help of Vishnu. His advice was to take a diplomatic approach, and team up with the Asuras.
The plan was this: the Asuras and Devas would team up to churn the Ocean of Milk so that they could jointly acquire amrita, the nectar of immortality. To do so, they would use a mountain, Mount Mandara as a churning rod, and the serpent Vasuki as the churning rope.
"Don't forget how Lord Vishnu made sure that the Asuras held the head of the snake to receive the poisonous flames he would spit out by cleverly using reverse psychology!" Lakshmi interrupted again.
"Yes, yes, he did do that," Durga responded a bit impatiently.
With the Asuras at its head and the Devas at Vasuki's tail, they began to churn the ocean. However, as they did so, Mount Mandara began to sink. Vishnu came to the rescue by helping support the mountain in the form of a turtle, resting the mountain on his shell.
As the Devas and Asuras pulled on the snake, the mountain spun, which resulted in the Ocean producing a number of things, not all of them good.
One such thing was a lethal poison, called Halahala. It was powerful enough to destroy all of creation, which is terrifying. Here is where my dear Shiva comes in to save the day. In a total act of selflessness, he consumed the poison to save the universe. Doing so, however, burnt his throat very badly.
Fortunately, I was able to help him, and by placing my hand on his throat, I locked the poison in there. This turned his throat blue, which is how my dear lord came also to be known by the name Neelakantha (the blue-throated one).
Anyways, the more positive things to come out of the churning were the Ratnas, or treasures.
"This is where I come in!" cheered Lakshmi.
"The greatest Ratna for sure," Saraswati said with a smile.
"Yes, you were one of three devis to arise from the churning," Durga continued. There were also three categories of supernatural animals, three powerful items, the poison Shiva swallowed, a moon that adorned his head, and, finally, the nectar of immortality itself.
Now, of course, there was no way the Devas and Asuras were actually going to share this nectar. The Devas ended up with it and drank it, but one Asura disguised himself as one of them, and also tried to drink of the nectar. However, he was noticed before he could, and the femme fatale Mohini sliced off his head with her discus.
The now reinvigorated Devas were able to come back and defeat the Asuras, to rule more beneficially over the Universe.
"And there you have it," finished Durga. "The birth of the Universe, its salvation by Manu, and the arising of the nectar of immortality."
"It's always fun sharing stories with you devis," Saraswati commented fondly. "Let's do it again sometime in a cycle or two."
Author's Note:
My final story is a retelling of the Churning of the Ocean. It's in a little different vein than the other two, but it's part of the Mahabharata and one of the most well-known episodes of Hindu philosophy, so I thought it was important to include. It tells the story of the two types of Hindu deities, the Devas and the Asuras, and how they team up to acquire the nectar of immortality, which ultimately results in the Devas beating the Asuras in battle. The Devas and Asuras are always back-and-forth in Indian mythology, and this story highlights that in a very literal way. Our goddess narrators are a bit more vocal in this one; nice to finish it up with them as all fairly active participants in the conversation. My explanation of the Ratnas in the story was fairly vague, so if you're curious, here's what the actual items were: The goddesses Lakshmi, Apsaras (divine nymphs), and Varuni (goddess of wine); supernatural animals Kamadhenu (a wish-granting cow), Airavata (a white elephant), and Uchhaishravas (a divine seven-headed horse); the jewel Kaustubha, the flowering tree Parijata, and the bow Sharanga; as well as Shiva's moon Chandra, the nectar, and the poison.
Bibliography:
Samudra Manthan, from Wikipedia.
English Translation of the original Sanskrit: Part 1 Part 2
Header image: Churning of the ocean of milk. Source
Embedded Image: Churning of the cosmic ocean, showing the Ratnas emerging. Source