The story of samudra (sea) manthan (churning) or sagar manthan has been described in different ancient Hindu religious texts. It is mainly elaborated in the Vishnu Puran (Puran means a compilation of mythological stories). Although there are some minor variations, the main story is nearly the same everywhere. As per mythology, samudra manthan happened in the Satya Yug.
Have you ever heard the name of the sage Durvasa?
He was venerated by humans and gods alike because of his unfathomable knowledge and wisdom. But he was also well known for his extremely bad temper.
One day, Lord Indra (the King of the gods or devas) was going somewhere riding on his elephant. Suddenly, he met Rishi (sage) Durvasa on his way. Seeing Indra, Durvasa threw a divine garland towards him. Indra accepted the offering and placed the garland on the head of his elephant.
Now, it may be due to the strong fragrance of the garland or maybe there were some bees, the elephant became irritated and threw the garland on the ground with his trunk. That was more than enough to make the rishi furious and without thinking twice, he cursed Indra and all the devas for bad luck.
Soon Indra and devas started to suffer from misfortune and began to lose their former strength and glory. Devi Laxmi (goddess of wealth and good fortune) left swarga (heaven) and hid herself in the depth of the celestial ocean. This was the golden opportunity for the asuras (demons). So they attacked the devalok or swarga-rajya. The gods were no match for them and suffered a terrible defeat in the battle. They were forced to flee from swarga (heaven) while asura king Bali became the new ruler of heaven and earth. Indra had no other option but to seek help from Prajapati Brahma.
According to the Hindu mythology, there are three supreme deities, called Tridev (Trinity): Brahma (the creator), Vishnu (the protector) and Siva or Mahadev (the destroyer).
After realising severity of the situation, Brahma and all other devas went to see Lord Vishnu to find a way out. Lord Vishnu told Indradev that the only way to defeat the asuras and to break the curse was to retrieve Devi Laxmi (goddess of fortune) and Amrita (the divine nectar of immortality) from the depth of the khirasagara (the celestial ocean). And the devas should churn the entire ocean to bring out the treasures from the bottom of the khirasagara.
But that was a daunting task and was virtually impossible with the devas alone. So, on Lord Vishnu's advice, Lord Indra approached asura king Bali for help in exchange for a share of Amrita. Vishnu assured the gods that he would prevent the asuras from getting amrita at the end. Out of their greed for Amrita and other hidden treasures, the asuras agreed to help the devas.
Churning an ocean was not an easy task. Mandar Parvat (a mountain) was used as the churning rod, and the great serpent Basuki Naga was used as the rope. Lord Vishnu himself, along with his vahana Garudadeva, placed the mountain in the middle of the ocean. Lord Vishnu took the shape of a huge tortoise (Kurma avatar) and supported Mount Mandar on his shell. Brahma was requested to sit on the top of Mount Mandar to maintain the balance. Basuki Naga wrapped the mountain.
Devas managed to hold the tail part of the serpent, whereas asuras held the head portion of the great naga. As soon as the churning started, the asuras understood their mistake of holding the head portion of the naga. They became pale from the exhaustive, venomous breadth of the serpent.
The churning went on for a thousand years. All types of herbs were thrown into the ocean during the process, and the ocean yielded fourteen ratnas (treasures) in return.
The first thing that came out of the ocean was a poison known as halahal. According to some versions, it dropped from the mouth of the Basuki Nag. The poison was so strong that it could destroy the entire creation. So, the devas and the asuras pleaded with Lord Shiva to take care of that. Lord Shiva consumed the poison and held it in his throat, preventing it from entering his body. Because of the poison, his throat became blue, and henceforth he came to be known as nilakantha (blue throat) or sitikantha (poisoned throat).
According to another version, Devi Parvati (the consort of Lord Shiva) held the poison in her husband's throat, preventing it from getting down further. Churning was resumed as soon as the poison was cleared by the Mahadev.
Next came a divine cow known as Suravi or Kamadhenu, which was given to Lord Brahma, who in turn gifted her to rishi Jamadagni.
Then there emerged a seven-headed horse, Uchhaishraba. It was taken by King Bali.
After that came Airabat, a four-tusked white elephant; this was taken by Indra.
The Parijat tree (a divine tree with everlasting white flowers) was taken by the devas.
Apsaras (divine dancers) also emerged from the ocean, and they decided to go with the gods.
Then Sharanga bow and Panchajanya conch came to the surface, which became the possessions of Lord Vishnu.
The next thing that came out was Kaustav Mani. It was a large gem that was just as beautiful as an exotic lotus and was shining brighter than the sun. It was given to Lord Vishnu.
Chandra (the moon) also emerged from the ocean and took shelter within the hairs of Shiva.
Devi Laxmi (the goddess of prosperity) appeared from the depths of the ocean and took Lord Vishnu as her divine consort.
Then came Varuni, the goddess of sura (wine), and she was taken by the asuras.
At last, Dhanwantari (the divine healer) emerged with Amrita kalash (the divine nectar of immortality). As soon as the Amrita appeared, devas and asuras started fighting each other to possess it. In this turmoil, Garudadeva snatched the kalash (pot) and flew away.
Then Lord Vishnu took the appearance of Mohini, an enchanting woman whose beauty knew no bounds. As you can understand, asuras were bad in nature from the beginning. They thought that Mohini had also emerged from the depths of the ocean, and they coveted having her.
It was easy for Mohini to enchant them, and she took on the responsibility of distributing Amrita among the devas and asuras. But in reality, she started to distribute Amrita to the gods only, deceiving the enchanted asuras.
One of the asuras, Svarabhanu, suspected the trick and joined the devas in disguise. But as soon as Mohini poured a few drops of nectar in his mouth, Chandradeva (the moon god) and Suryadeva (the sun god) identified him. Lord Vishnu immediately cut his throat with the Sudarshana Chakra (the divine weapon of Lord Vishnu). As he had already tasted Amrita, the asura did not die. His head is henceforth known as Rahu and his body as Ketu, and Chandradeva and Suryadeva became his sworn enemies.
Rahu chased Chandradeva and Suryadeva in anger and swallowed them. But Chandradeva and Suryadeva came out of his throat. Since then, Rahu has been chasing Chandradeva and Suryadeva for eternity to take his revenge. This is the explanation of lunar and solar eclipses according to Hindu mythology.
Mohini distributed the last drop of amrita among the devas, and nothing was left for the asuras. Ultimately, devas became immortal, and it was too late when asuras realized the deception. Asuras could not match with the more powerful gods and was forced to flee to the patal lok (underground) again. The gods became victorious and reoccupied Swargarajya (heaven).
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