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How the Churning Began
How the Churning Began
My birth is a very popular story. I have separated the story into two parts due to all of the information. The first part will detail what happened before I emerged, and the second part will explain as I emerged. Obviously, I was not present for the first part; therefore, most of this story is from what my parents have told me.
As you may have heard already, a long time ago, there was a long war between the Devas and the Asuras. The Devas and the Asuras are the sons of Mother Earth and Father Time. They were born in order to symbolize the good and the bad in the universe. The Auras are not all bad, but they are the rivals of the Devas, constantly competing for control of the universe. Although they are both supernatural beings and came from the same entities, they are constantly at each other's throats.
Several battles were fought between the Devas and Asuras, and each fight drastically changed the world. For instance, legend has it that during the final battle in the continent called North America, an Asura stole a mighty sword from one of the Devas and stabbed Mother Earth in order to get back at his brothers. The wound was so deep it split Mother Earth and caused a great canyon to emerge on the surface.
The Devas were plagued with grief and were unable to fight to their greatest potential. Unfortunately, they were defeated by the Asuras, and the Asuras took control of the entire universe. Apparently, the universe under the Asura rule was horrendous. The demonic race enslaved the nation and forced everyone to obey Asura law.
The mortals of the universe begged the Devas to overthrow the evil Asuras to save them from this miserable reign. In order to regain power, the Devas begged Vishnu for his help.
Vishnu is the God of protection and viewed as "The Preserver" of the universe. After seeing what the Asuras made of the innocent mortals, he agreed to help. Vishnu told the Devas, "In order to win back the universe, you are going to have to obtain amrita, the nectar of immortality."
"That seems easy enough," said one of the overconfident Devas.
Vishnu laughed and said, "Don't be naive, young Deva. The amrita can only be obtained by churning the ocean, an act that can only be accomplished with the help of the Asuras."
The Devas were clearly uneasy about this news as the Asuras could not be trusted. After seeing the worry on their faces, Vishnu said, "Do not worry. I will arrange for the Devas alone to obtain the amrita as you are the only ones who are worthy."
The Asuras were ecstatic to receive the news from the Devas that the Devas needed their help to obtain the amrita. They had been planning on stealing the amrita for a while, as it was one of the few substances on Earth that could overpower them, but were unsure how. Anytime they had asked a God for assistance, they were turned away because of their demonic nature. After the Devas formed the "alliance," their leader, Bali, had forged his own plan to steal it from the Devas once they had churned it out of the ocean.
The Asuras and the Devas agreed to meet in the middle of the ocean to begin the process. In order to churn the vast body of water, they used a mountain called Mount Mandara and a serpent named Vasuki. The beings wrapped Vasuki around Mount Madara and took their positions to began churning. The Asuras demanded they hold the head of Vasuki since they were the current rulers of the universe. The Devas had no problem with this as it was all a part of their plan to have the Asuras as close to the poisonous fangs as possible.
As they began churning, Vasuki subconsciously released poison from his fangs that was ingested by the Asuras. This poison was called Halahala, and it was one of the most deadly substances in the universe. Vishnu knew Vasuki would emit it once his body started to be pulled back and forth so he strategically agreed to allow the Asuras to hold his head. After the churning of the ocean was complete, the poison finally settled into the Asuras and most of them died leaving the universe back in the hands of the Devas. Those who did not died vowed to get their revenge when their time came.
Although the Devas' plan had worked and they were now the rulers of the amrita and the universe, they did not intend for what had happened during their churning. Each time an Asura or a Deva pulled Vasuki in their direction, a new entity emerged from the middle of the ocean. I was one of those entities, and this is where my story begins.
Author's Notes: This story is based on the comic book, The Churning of the Ocean. You can read my reading notes on this story here. Because there is so much detail in this story, I decided to split it up into two different sections. I plan on keeping the factors of the story mostly true only changing a couple of things in order for it to be more easily understood by the reader. I changed the history of the Devas and the Asuras in order to make it more clear to the reader as to why the two are constantly at each other's throats. The Devas are good spirits, and the Asuras are bad spirits. They symbolize the good and the bad in the world. The next section will discuss what came out of the churning in great detail and will most likely be mostly imagination. The purpose of part one was primarily to give the audience the background knowledge they will need for part two. Again, all of the characters are the same from the original story and only minor details were changed such as the Asuras and Devas being related and the dialogue between Vishnu and the Devas. I also added the Grand Canyon story and the Asuras dying during the churning. Let me know what you think on my comment wall!Bibliography: The Churning of the Ocean, Amar chitra katha Vol. 538 Image Sources: Google Images
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