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Writer's pictureShalini Rao

Churning of the milky ocean or "Samudra Manthan" - The Story



Samudra Manthan, or the Churning of the Milky Ocean, is a story from the Srimad Bhagwat Puran.

The story goes that once Indra was traveling the Heavens on his elephant Airavat when he came across the great sage. Durvasa offered him a garland that Lord Shiva had gifted him, and Indra gave it to his elephant. Being ignorant of the value of a gift from a learned person, the elephant crushed the garland by trampling on it. Durvasa then cursed the “Devas”(The ones with good qualities that are in tune with nature) that they would lose their power and wealth as that has caused them to be so arrogant. Indra lost his place in Heaven.

Lord Vishnu, the Preserver of the Universe, offered a solution to the Devatas: The drink of immortality (Amrita) was the ONLY way the Gods could re-obtain immortality.

In the meantime, the asuras or demons (ones with the qualities against nature), under the leadership of one of their best kings ever (King Bali), had taken control of Earth and then Heaven. So, obtaining amrita became less a choice, more a compulsion for the Gods!

To obtain the Amrit that can get Devatas their power back, Vishnu proposed making a peace proposal with the Daityas in exchange for something valuable like Amrit. Lord of Daityas, Bali, agreed to this proposal.


Vasuki, the most enormous serpent was summoned to be used as the rope to churn the ocean, and Mandara Mountain was used as the churning rod.


Both the Daityas and Devatas carried the mountain of Mandara, but it was very heavy. Lord Vishnu lifted the mountain and placed it in the middle of the ocean. Now the Daityas and Devatas used the serpent Vasuki as a rope and coiled it around the mountain Mandara. Daityas held the head portion as they considered the tail part of the snake to be an inauspicious portion. Thus, the sons of Kashyapa - Devatas and Daityas initiated the churning of the ocean of milk. Despite their strength, the Mandara mountain still lacked support to stay in the middle of the ocean, thus sinking to the bottom.


Lord Vishnu then took the Avatar of Koorma or tortoise, dove into the water, and gave the mountain a landing place for churning. Vasuki breathed smoke and blazing fire, which affected the Daityas, gradually decreasing their power.


After churning for years, the first thing to appear was Halahala or venomous poison. The whole universe was in jeopardy because of its effects. Both Devatas and Daityas started to collapse because of it. Vishnu suggested that they approach Lord Shiva to help them with such a lethal poison.


Devatas and Daityas then went to Mount Kailash and sought help from Shiva. Shiva agreed to consume the poison. Devi Parvati offered him the water from the Ganges that stopped the poison right in his throat, and hence he is called Neelakantha ( the one with the blue throat) or Vishakantha (the one who held the poison in his throat).

When the universe was back to its safety and the effect of the poison was neutralized, Devatas resumed the churning process, and the poison called Halahala appeared. Then the following objects appeared one after another. A cow named KAMADHENU or Surabhi, a seven-headed horse, named UCHAISHRAVAS, valuable Jewels like KAUSTUBHA and PADMARAGA, Kalpvruksha - wish-fulfilling tree, beautiful Apsara Rambha who was beautifully embellished with ornaments, Goddess Lakshmi, Varuni, Moon, PARIJAT flower, the conch called Panchajanya and Tulsi, a medicinal plant.


The process went on for years and years, but the Amrit did not appear for a very long time. Finally, an Avatar of Vishnu called DHANVANTARI appeared, who went on to be the physician of the Devatas and the God of Ayurveda.

As soon as he appeared with a pot of Amrit, Asuras snatched the pot and started running. To end this struggle, Lord 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 Devatas and Daityas in a fair manner. The Daityas were so lost in the beauty of Mohini. Mohini kept distributing the Amrit to the Devatas. Thus, obtaining the Amrit, Devatas attained freedom from ignorance and death.




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