In this episode, we’re going to continue the story of the Churning of the Ocean, or Samudra Manthan. If you havent heard the last episode, I highly recommend you check it out.
But here’s a short recap anyway.
The Devs were led by their King Indra, but he offended the wrong person. And that was the Rishi Durvasa. In a Thanos-like snap-your-fingers moment, he cursed their home in heaven, their magic wishing tree, and everything else they enjoyed right out of existence.
The Devs and Indra appealed to my Dad, Brahma the creator of the Universe but he couldnt help. He directed them to Vishnu, the Preserver, which was the right call, because Vishnu had just the solution for them! But to do so, he told them they needed to collaborate with their enemies – the Asurs.
We’ll pick the story right there – at Vishnu’s home, which was actually in the coils of SheshNaag, the Ultimate Snake who floated in the Ocean of Milk. I was there in person, so this is an eyewitness account.
Indra had just agreed to have a conversation with Bali, the Emperor of the Asurs, and was now waiting for Vishnu to explain exactly how he was going to get his home back.
Vishnu spread out a huge blueprint for a device he called the LHC, or Large Hill Churner.
“I dont get this” said Indra. “This is clearly Mount Mandara on the blueprint which is a mountain. Why are you calling it a Hill? Is there also a Hill involved?”
“Never mind that” said Vishnu. “That reference wont be clear for several thousand years”
“And what does that word mean? Churning?” asked Indra
Vishnu replied “According to the Oxford English Dictionary it means to agitate milk or cream in order to make butter.”
“What in god’s name…. I mean. What in your name, is the Oxford English Dictionary now?”
Vishnu replied “Another 21st century reference you wont quite get”
“I’m getting lost here. I’m looking for my home back, my tree, my cow, my dancers, my rock band. I didnt say anything about wanting my butter back. Sure maybe I lost a bit of better in the fridge along with everything else I lost. But I dont want my butter back. I want my home back!” said Indra, now clearly in anguish.
“You know what, you’re not any help to me here. Just go, talk to Bali and sign him on as a collaborator. He just needs to show up and help that’s all”
Indra was astonished “That’s all? He’s just going to help me out of the goodness of his heart? If you ask me, he’ll have me shot on sight for what I did during our last war.”
“You lost that war” reminded Vishnu. “Anyway, to get his buy in, tell him you’re going to synthesize the nectar of immortality. Tell him I sent you. He’ll believe you alright”
“Am I going to give him the nectar of immortality really?” asked Indra incredulously.
“Of course not, but that’s just between you and me. Now go and stop bothering me. I have lots of work to do on this project of mine.”
He slowly put a hard hat on said – “Maybe I’ll call this the Man-Hat-On project”
Luckily for Indra, Bali agreed to meet him.
“Ha ha ha” roared Bali, “you’re here to surrender unconditionally, are you?”
“You wish” said Indra. I’m here to talk because something much bigger is at stake! Vishnu sent me. We’re going to make the potion of immortality. We need you to help. I dont have all the resources.”
Bali asked shocked “You mean, you’re just inviting us to drink this potion if we help you make it? No strings attached?”
“None.” Indra said.
“What’s the point though?” Bali asked. “If we’re all immortal no one has an advantage over the other. Oh……. I get it now. You dont want either of us to ever have an advantage in the future. Sounds fair to me, sign me up”
This wasnt the thought Indra had, but Bali had agreed, so whatever floats his boat thought Indra.
They signed a memorandum of understanding, and agreed to meet at the appointed day near Vishnu’s home.
Meanwhile, Indra had a todo-list that Vishnu had given him.
He looked at the items on it.
One snake, Vasuki Naag from around Shiva’s neck
One Mountain, Mandara
Hand out invitations to the event to all the major gods. In particular get committment from Brahma and Shiva and Parvati. Okay, cool. Should be easy he thought and set and off.
A few weeks later – at the appointed date and time, as the guests started coming in, handing over their car keys to the valet, checking in their coats, the atmosphere began to change with the anticipation of what was about to happen.
Vishnu was there, making polite conversation with Brahma and myself.
All the Asurs had arrived punctually. There were a few nervous glances between the Asurs and the Devs, but the treaty between Indra and Bali held them in check.
Indra stepped up, fashionably late as usual. He balanced a mountain, Mount Mandara on his pinky. “Howdy y’all”
Vasuki, the huge snake around Shiva’s neck slid off and immediately wrapped itself around the mountain. Someone had learned their lines well, I thought.
Vishnu spoke up, in voice loud enough to be heard by everyone assembled. “You guys read the instructions I emailed last night? I need all the Devs on one side, and the Asurs on the other. And you guys pull alternately. Now any questions before we begin?”
“Just a minute.” said Bali. “I have an objection. Your plan called for us to hold Vasuki’s tail. And the Devs hold the head. I’m not cool with that. The tail is impure, the head is the most important part of the body.”
“Fine the Devs can take the tail, you guys have the head” said Vishnu. “I dont really care either way, let’s just get this show on the road”
And he was careful to conceal his little victory smile. His little reverse psychology gamble had worked just as he had intended.
Vishnu announced “Positions!”
Devs and Asurs quickly assembled themselves in two long lines the head of each line facing each other, just as they would during a tug of war. Except this wasnt a tug of war. Instead this was going to be cooperative pulling. When the Devs would pull, the Asurs would do nothing and vice versa.
Vishnu continued “Alright gents. Remember your instructions. You have to cooperate. Do that and soon we’ll be in the high energy range and synthesizing new stuff. Brahma here as the neutral party is going to inventory all the things we create. We’ll divide up the spoils in the end”
“New kinds of Butter?” asked a Dev who hadnt read his briefing kit fully.
“When’s the first break?” asked a lazy Asur. But didnt press it after a hard stare from both Vishnu and Bali.
When everyone seemed ready, Vishnu levitated Mount Mandara off of Indra’s hands and right into the spot in the middle between the Devs and the Asurs.
According to the script, Vasuki who was still coiled around the mountain extended his head and tail in each direction, so that soon the Asurs had grabbed the head, and the Devs had the tail.
“Ready? Steady? Churn!” said Vishnu.
And the the action began!
There were two problems right away.
The Asurs realized that maybe holding the head of Vasuki was a bad choice after all. Because Vasuki being a typical celestial snake, emitted poisonous fumes from its mouth. And he had bad breath besides. But there was nothing the Asurs could do about it. Hadnt they themselves vetoed Vishnu’s suggestion that they hold the tail. It would be embarrassing to claim they were wrong. Luckily, they had some masks with them that provided some basic protection from the fumes.
The other problem was that the mountain began to sink into the Ocean!
Normally a churning rod shouldnt do that if the Devs and the Asurs were pulling hard enough.
But I guess their technique wasnt perfect having never done this before.
They needed a little boost.
Vishnu from the sidelines observed this right away. He took one of two bottles from his pocket. The one labeled Kurma, quickly drank its contents and leaped into the Ocean. Within seconds he had transformed into a *GIANT* turtle. It was so huge the entire base of Mount Mandara could fit on it’s back. And that was exactly the idea.
It swam under the mountain and then upward, bearing the load of the mountain, and making sure it wouldnt sink. What’s more the Turtle kept swimming in place and with its broad fins, helped in the Churning action.
At this point, the Churning entered into a steady rhythm. The Devs and the Asurs even seemed to be enjoying this. And why not? Vishnu was taking on the entire mountain load. Just pulling Vasuki was a piece of cake for them.
They continued pulling for a while, and then the first new things started to appear.
My dad, Brahma the creator, was responsible for cataloging and stockkeeping these new gifts that emerged. He was about to get very busy!
We’ll leave it here. We’ll continue the story this weekend where we’ll see the kinds of stuff that emerged, and also another avatar of Vishnu
Notes
If you’d like a visual representation of what the churning looked like here are some pictures:
Painting from the 16th century
Early 20th century artwork
Raja Ravi Varma’s painting
Painting at the British Museum
This one is a model of this at an airport in Bangkok, Thailand.
You may have come across the concept of a Turtle holding up the world before. There are examples from Hindu, Chinese and North American mythology.
Kurma was holding up just a single mountain, but there is the general theme of a Turtle providing stability and preventing a critical land mass from sinking into an infinite ocean.
Some people identify Mandar Parbat, a 700 ft tall hill in the State of Bihar as Mount Mandara. It certainly fits in that it was a hill and not a mountain and the name is suggestive. But I say, have a look at the picture linked here and tell me if you honestly believe it would serve as a churning rod: Mandar Parbat in Bihar
Links to other Avatars of Vishnu
Matsya – Episode 1 – Unicorn Fish
Varaha – Character of the Week on Episode 9 – A clever Minister in King Akbar’s court
Narasimha – Episode 20 – The Aunt from Hell and Episode 21 – Final Destiny
Vamana – Mini-Episode 37.5 – Vamana
Parshuram – appears in Episode 16 – Six….teen Flags
Ram – Episode 7 – Kingdom by Horse
Episode 15 – Rishi vs Rishi: Un-civil war!
Episode 16 – Six….teen Flags
Episode 30 – Banished!
Episode 41 – Forest Life
Krishna – Episode 11 – The boy who lived
Episode 13 – Nurse Ratched and Umbrella Mountain
Buddha – 29.5 – Decanted
If you have comments or suggestions or if there are particular stories you’d like to hear, please do let me know by leaving a comment or a review here, or tweet @sfipodcast. You can also find me on Instagram and Facebook.
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Thanks to all you listeners for your continued support and your feedback.
I’ll see you next time!