Tales from the Indian Epics/The Churning of the Ocean
TALES FROM THE INDIAN EPICS
THE CHURNING OF THE OCEAN
Once upon a time in the youth of the world there stood to the north of India a mighty mountain named Mount Meru. Its summit shone so brightly that the sun's rays, when they struck it, shivered and fell away. One day the lesser gods gathered in council upon its peak, for they wished to obtain the ambrosia which would make them immortal like the three supreme gods, Vishnu, Brahmadeva and Shiva. Now the jar in which the ambrosia was kept lay at the bottom of the ocean and none of the lesser gods could conceive a plan by which they could obtain possession of it. As they sat in council, there came to them the great god Vishnu, and the lesser gods asked him for his advice. Vishnu answered them, saying, "Call the demons to your aid and churn the ocean. When you have churned it, not only will you get the ambrosia, but you will get a great store of jewels and other precious things besides."
The lesser gods followed the counsel of Vishnu, left the summit of Mount Meru and withdrew to another great mountain named Mount Mandara. Its peak was not resplendent like that of Mount Meru. Its sides were covered with dense forests, through which roamed elephants and lions, tigers and leopards. The lesser gods seized the great mountain and tried to uproot it so that they might churn the ocean with it, as the Lord Vishnu had advised. But although they strove their utmost, the great mass of Mount Mandara moved not a hair's breadth. The celestials, finding their strength unequal to the task, sought out the great gods Vishnu and Brahmadeva. "Great lords," they said, "tell us, we pray you, how we may uproot Mandara Mountain, for without it we cannot churn the ocean and win the ambrosia." Lord Vishnu called to him Vasuki the king of the snake people and said to him, "O Snake King, the command that I lay upon you is this. Go with the lesser gods and help them uproot Mandara Mountain." Vasuki, the king of the snake people, obeyed Lord Vishnu, and going with the lesser gods to Mount Mandara, he fastened round it his endless coils. Then pressing them against the base of the mountain he tore it up by the roots. Together the Snake King and the lesser gods rolled the mountain to the shores of the ocean. "Lord Ocean," they said, "we desire the ambrosia which lies fathoms deep below your surface. And to win it we shall churn your water with the Mandara Mountain." "As you will," said the ocean. "Give me but a draught of the ambrosia and I will gladly allow you to churn my waters."
Hearing the words of the ocean the lesser gods were glad, and, as the Lord Vishnu had advised them, they bade the demons join them. Then gods and demons went together to the king of the tortoises. They found him in his palace and said to him. "O Tortoise King, come to our aid, we pray you. For we have resolved to churn the ocean with Mount Mandara that we may win the ambrosia. But if we place Mount Mandara on the bottom of the ocean it will sink into the sands. Come, therefore, O King of the Tortoises, and lie at the bottom of the ocean. For if you bear it on your mighty back, we shall be able to pull Mount Mandara to and fro and so churn the ocean." The Tortoise King consented, and with the gods and the demons walked to the shores of the ocean. When they had reached the edge of the water, the god Indra, the chief of the lesser gods, by means of many cunning instruments, placed Mount Mandara upon the back of the king of the tortoises. Bearing this mighty burden the king of the tortoises entered the ocean, and walked along its bottom until he reached the deepest part. Then Vasuki the Snake King swam out across the surface of the water until he reached the spot where the top of Mount Mandara stood high above the waves. Coiling himself round the great mountain he bade the lesser gods hold him by the tail and the demons hold his head. Demons and gods seized him as he bade them, and pulling him backwards and forwards they began to churn the ocean. Great masses of foam rose upon the waters. Clouds of vapour issued from the mouth of the Snake King Vasuki and scorched the faces of the demons who pulled the Snake King's head. Then rising higher the vapour descended in cooling rain to refresh the lesser gods. And the forest flowers torn from the sides of Mount Mandara by the coils of the Snake King were wafted abroad by the winds and fell softly upon their faces. The gods and demons pulled the mountain summit backwards and forwards through the air so swiftly that the forests upon it caught fire. But the god Indra opened the windows of heaven and the rain fell in torrents on the fire and extinguished it. Yet although gods and demons toiled without ceasing until their strength was spent, nothing rose from the surface of the ocean. The lesser gods and the demons then went to the court of Brahmadeva and said, "O father of the gods, we are exhausted with labour and can work no more, yet the ambrosia has not been won." Brahmadeva begged the Lord Vishnu to give the gods and demons greater strength, that they might continue the churning. This the Lord Vishnu did, and they swung Mount Mandara to and fro until the foam of the churned ocean rose almost higher than the great mountain itself. At last a pale yellow disk began slowly to rise from the ocean. It rose right out of the waters high into the sky, and, ever since, as the moon, has at night time shed its pale light over the earth. Next there rose from the waters an elephant larger than mortal mind could have imagined. Two enormous white tusks stretched many yards in front of him. His eyes were like red ponds, and his trunk seemed to rival in length the great coils of the Snake King himself. Indra called the mighty beast to him and soothing it with his hand, said, "You shall be known hereafter as Airavat and shall be my servant always." Still the churning continued and there rose from the sea the prettiest maid who had ever been seen in the three worlds. Her long black lashes drooped upon a pair of rosy cheeks. Her hair curled in golden rings over an ivory forehead. Her eyes were bluer than the sky above. Indra called her to him. "You shall hereafter be called Rambha," he said, "and you shall be chief among my dancing girls."
Harder still the gods and demons toiled at the churning, until there rose from the waters the most awful vision of beauty that eyes human or divine had ever seen. From a perfect face two eyes of deepest grey looked out. Thy gazed unblinking into space. But so grave was their expression and so full of wisdom that neither demon nor god, except Vishnu alone, dared meet their look. A moment later, amid an awed hush, Vishnu stepped forward and took the lovely woman by the hand. "You shall be called Lakshmi," he said, "and you shall be my queen."
Backwards and forwards swung Mount Mandara. Then from a distance the gods and demons saw a fair woman coming towards them. In each hand she carried a jar, but when she came close, they saw that her expression was evil and that great lines marred her features and that black pits lay under her eyes. They let the strange woman pass, and she made her way to the dry earth. There, known as Sura or the wine goddess, she has dwelt ever since.
Again they churned until there rose above the waves a pure white horse. It was the most beautifully shaped horse that has ever lived on earth before or since. It swam through the billows until it reached the shore, when it thundered out of sight at full gallop.
"Let its name be Uchaisrava," said Indra, and the gods and the demons once more bent to the churning. Then there rose above the foam the most marvellous jewel that eyes have ever beheld. Set in a vast plate of gold were emeralds like the green pools of an Indian village and sapphires like the blue lakes in the Himalaya mountains. Vast rubies shone out of masses of diamonds huge as rocks of crystal. The Lord Vishnu stepped forward and fastened the sea jewel round his neck. There, known as Kaustubha, it has hung ever since.
Still they churned, the gods and demons, until a strange ripple spread over the waters and a terrible stench rose from it. The head and tail of the giant snake dropped gradually out of the hinds of the fainting churners. Even Vasuki's eyes became dull and his coils began to slip inertly off Mount Mandara's sides. Suddenly the god Shiva placed his mouth on the waves near the ripple, and sucking it in, saved the three worlds. For this was the terrible Vish—the poisonous fluid which overlaid the ambrosia to guard it. If the Lord Shiva had not drunk it, it would have destroyed alike the lesser gods, demons and men. As the Lord Shiva swallowed it, it burnt a deep blue mark on his throat. And he has ever since been known as Nilkantha or Blue-throat.
When the fumes of the Vish had passed away, the gods and demons churned once more. At last an aged man rose slowly through the masses of the ocean foam. In his right hand he carried a gold jar of exquisite workmanship from which issued a perfume of delicious fragrance. At the sight of the aged man, whom they knew to be Dhanwantari, the demons snatched the ambrosia from his hands, trying to rob the gods of their share. But the Lord Vishnu took it back from them. And to punish them for their greed he poured out the ambrosia to the gods only, who drank it and at once became immortal, while the demons, who drank none of it, have remained mortal to this day.
But one of the demons, Rahu by name, took the form of a celestial, and deceiving the Lord Vishnu received a draught of ambrosia. As the demon drank, the sun-god pierced his disguise and told the Lord Vishnu of his deceit. Vishnu, lifting his discus, shore off the head of Rahu with it before the ambrosia had passed his throat. Rahu's body fell to the ground, and, being mortal, soon rotted. But his head, having taken the ambrosia, is immortal and still endures.
But because the sun-god detected him as he drank the divine liquid, and told Vishnu, Rahu's head bears to the sun-god an undying hatred. Sometimes he steals up unperceived close to the bright sun-god and with a single bite swallows him. But because Rahu has no body, the sun-god in due course reappears through his enemy's throat and once again begins to shine upon the earth in all his former splendour.
And then men gather together and say that there has been an eclipse of the sun.