Avatars of Lord Vishnu: Kurma and the Churning of the Ocean…

Hi!!!! Today's story is about the second avatar of Lord Vishnu, Kurma!!!! Kurma is a turtle who assisted the devas and the asuras (aka Demons!!!) in obtaining amrut, the elixir of immortality. The devas and the asuras had to churn the Ksheera Sagara, the Milky Ocean. Many different treasures, or ratnas, emerged from the Samudra Manthana (That's a fancy name for the Churning of the Ocean!!) Some were good, while some were horrible. Let's get on with the story…

A long, long time ago, when the world was young, the King of Heaven - Indra - rode his celestial horse around Vaikunta (as he usually did), when he came upon Sage Durvasa. He was (for once) in a good mood. He had just done his prayers without any disturbance. Out of his joy, he offered a necklace to Indra. It was no ordinary necklace, nooooo. It was a divine necklace given to him by an apsara. He was in a joyous mood, so he didn't care about who he gave it to (Durvasa was strange. When he was angry, he would curse people. When he was happy, he would fling all of his jewels and belongings away!!!). Durvasa threw the necklace on Indra's neck. "Hello, Indra!!! How elated am I!!" Indra jumped off his horse, and bowed to Durvasa, "Namaskara gurugale!!! Thank you for this necklace!!! It looks very nice!!!!" Indra thought to himself for some time, and understood what Durvasa's plan was. He thought that he wanted to curse him for his large ego. Indra suddenly came up with a plan. He assumed that he could save himself by putting the necklace on the horse. "Durvasa avare, you are being too kind. I shall bestow this lovely necklace on my horse, he shall keep it safe." With that, Indra dropped the necklace on his horse and closed his eyes. He thought that Durvasa would still curse him. But, this wasn't the case. Durvasa was still joyful. He danced around in joy. Suddenly, Indra's horse stared at him. Indra said, "What? What do you want?!" The horse lowered his neck, and let the necklace slip off. Durvasa turned around while he was dancing and saw Indra's hand trying to stop the necklace. He presumed that he threw it on the floor. "O Indra!!!!! You have disgraced me and my presence of mind!!! I CURSE YOU AND THE DEVAS TO BE BEREFT ON ALL ENERGY, STRENGTH AND FORTUNE!!!!" Suddenly, Indra's eyes started to blink. His back started to sag. He closed his eyes and slumped onto the horse, falling asleep. "SNORE!!!! SNORE!!!!" Durvasa stared at Indra and uttered, "Insolent dumdum!!"

The days passed. The Devas became sluggish and slow. The asuras, led by Bali - the grandson of Prahlada - waged wars against the Devas (Can you guess who won? Easy, the Asuras!!) The asuras routed the Devas time and again, taking all of their treasure. Bali would laugh at their weakness. They were like slugs!!! Indra would fall asleep in his chariot. Vayu would faint in the air. Agni would fall unconscious on the battlefield. They couldn't do anything without falling asleep. Soon, the Asuras became the leaders of the universe. They routed the Earth and Hell too. Everyone feared the Asuras. The Devas went from rulers of the universe to slaves. Bali reigned as the Universe's King. Men, women and children alike fell under the rule of Bali. Some rebels were gathering, but Bali finished them with a swing of his sword. The Devas would sweep the palaces of Vaikunta, which was once theirs. They would sometimes retaliate, but Bali would see to it that they get what they deserved. A thousand lashes from the Whip Of Hell!!!!!
One day, Indra and his fellow Devas stormed out of the palace and ran to Vishnu's palace on the shore of the Ksheera Sagara. Storming in, Indra rallied other Devas who were under imprisonment and ran to Adishesha, the sofa of Vishnu. As they expected, he was lounging on Adishesha, with Shri massaging his feet. Indra and the other Devas bolted to Vishnu and bowed at his feet. "'O Vishnu, save us from Bali!!! We need energy to defeat him!!! Please!!!" Vishnu didn't react. He just closed his eyes and didn't utter a word. Indra was annoyed, "PLEASE!!!! Give us something to fight Bali!!!!" After persuasion by the other Devas, Vishnu finally replied, " Chill!!! I'll help you. We can overthrow Bali. We just need to get the amrut…" The Devas were astounded!!! The nectar of immortality!!! Vishnu continued, "You must trick the Asuras into forming an allegiance with you and make them help you get the amrut. You must churn the Ksheera Sagara to attain everlasting immortality and strength. I'll arrange for you to drink the amrut only, " The Devas fell at Vishnu's feet and set about preparing the Churning of the Ocean.

When Bali heard about this, he instantly said yes!!! He didn't care about the Devas, he just wanted the power!!! Indra grasped the opportunity and asked Bali to free him and the Devas. Bali agreed, but on one condition. He wanted the amrut. He and he only. The Devas agreed, knowing that Vishnu would side with them.
When they got to the Ksheera Sagara, the Asuras and the Devas saw that they needed equipment. They went to Mount Kailash and asked Lord Shiva, the Destroyer, for help. Shiva said, "I can offer you Vasuki, the king of the Nagas, as a churning rope!" The Asuras and Devas, for once, agreed!!! Vasuki slithered away with the Devas and Asuras, who went to see Mount Mandara.
When they went to see Mount Mandara, the Devas and Asuras fought with each other about who would get the amrut. Just then, Mount Mandara tried to stop the fight, "Calm down!!! Calm down!!! Stop the fight!!! I shall be your churning rod," and so, the Devas and Asuras went back to the Ksheera Sagara with Vasuki and Mandara with them.

They set Mandara down in the Ksheera Sagara and looped Vasuki around her. They started pulling the rope and pushing it. Pulling and pushing. Pulling and pushing. The churning of the ocean was an extensive process. It took soooooo long!!!! They churned and churned and churned, but nothing happened. Soon, Mount Mandara started to sink into the ocean!!!! The Devas and the Asuras were frightened!!!! They didn't know what to do!!!! They churned faster, in the hope that Mount Mandara wouldn't sink. But it just sank faster!!!! They were desolate. Suddenly, they felt the mountain being pushed up by an unknown force!!! It went up and up and up, until the mount was at it's desired point!!! When the Devas looked down, they saw a giant turtle resting Mandara on its shell!! They immediately realised that this was the work of none other than Lord Vishnu!!! They continued churning with refreshed spirit.
Soon, many treasures erupted from the ocean. First came Lakshmi, the Goddess of Wealth, who accepted Vishnu as her husband. Then came various Apsaras, who went with the Gandharvas as their wives. Next came Varuni, the wife of Varuna. Then came Kamadhenu, the wish-granting cow, who was taken by Brahma and given to the rishis of heaven. Next came Airavata, the white, eight-tusked elephant that Indra kept for himself. Then came Ucchaishravas, the divine seven-headed horse, who was greedily taken by Bali. After that came Kausthuba, the most valuable gem in the universe!!! It went to Lord Vishnu and adorned his neck. Then came the Parijata tree, which Indra took to Nandana Udyana, the Gardens of the Heavens. Next came Sharanga, the most powerful bow of all, which was gifted to Lord Vishnu. Then came Chandra, the God of the Moon. He flew to Shiva's head and sat there. Next came Halahala, the deadly poison. When they released Halahala, The Devas called out to Shiva for help. He flew down to the Ksheera Sagara and sucked all of the poison into his mouth. It slowly trickled into his neck and nearly started to make a move for his body!!! Suddenly, Vasuki bounded from the Mount and coiled around Shiva's neck, stopping the poison going in his body.
After long last, the final treasure that came out was the amrut. It was in a gleaming golden pot, with diamonds encrusted in it. The Asuras wanted to claim it for themselves. But the Devas also wanted to keep it. Fierce fighting ensued between the Devas and the Asuras for it. To protect it from the Asuras, Garuda, the vehicle of Vishnu, swooped in, took the pot and flew away from the battlefield. Pleading to Lord Vishnu, the Devas heard a divine voice, "COME TO COURT TOMORROW AFTERNOON AND DRINK THE AMRUT FROM THE HANDS OF MOHINI!!!!!!!!!" The Asuras heard it too!!!! They all went away, waiting to be fed by someone called Mohini.

Early the next morning, Vishnu (in the form of Mohini) woke up the sleeping Devas. She ran with them to court to see Garuda in front of them. He handed the amrut to Mohini who distributed it to the Devas. When they drank it, they felt strong!!! They felt alive!!!! Vishnu urged them to go back to Vaikunta, or the Asuras will throw a fit of rage!!!! The Devas ran back, knowing that Vishnu had saved them.

Fun Fact Nº 1: Shiva got his name Neelakanta from this story because his neck turned blue when he nearly swallowed Halahala (Neela - blue, Kanta - neck).

Thanks for reading the Churning of the Ocean!!! Please click the blue button at the top and submit your email to receive emails about my posts!!! Happy Reading!!!!!!!