A long long time ago, before the universe as we know it came into being, there was the vast Ocean of Milk. The positive and negative forces of the universe, Devas (i.e. Gods or Demigods[1]) and Asuras (i.e. Demons[2]) were constantly at war (as they are to this day). As there is day and there is night, there were times when each would seem to be winning. But they were not yet immortal, and with each war their numbers were decreasing. Fearing that this might lead to the eventual destruction of all Devas, they decided to seek immortality.
After a very long quest, the Devas learned that the only way to create the elixir of immortality, Amrita (i.e. Ambrosia) was to churn the Ocean of Milk. But the ocean was so vast, the job so great that their numbers alone were not sufficient for this task. So they decided to seek the help of the Asuras. Together, they took the great mountain Mandara as the churning rod and brought down the snake Vasuki from heavens to spin it with. The earth could not support the weight and friction of the rotating mount Mandara, so the great god Vishnu incarnated as the enormous tortoise Kurma, and went under it. There was a dispute over who is going to hold which end of the snake and finally the Demons decided to hold the head, thinking that this will put them in a more privileged position at the end. But when they started churning by pulling Vasuki in either direction, the distressed snake started to breath flames and burnt many Asuras.
After many years of churning, the Ocean of milk started to turn into water and things started to emerge from it, such as the heavenly Parijata tree, which was placed in heaven, Kamadhenu, the wish fulfilling cow, and Lakshmi, the Goddess of Wealth and Abundance (about 14 in all). Just when all were getting impatient for the emergence of the potion of immortality, the ultimate Hala-Hala poison sprang out of the ocean. This poison was so strong that it could destroy whole life. Great Lord Shiva took all this poison in his mouth and held it in his throat, which turned it blue. From then on he’d be called Neelkanth, “the Blue Throated One” as the neutralizer of the ultimate poison [3]. Finally Dhanwantari, the Goddess of Medicine came out of the ocean holding a little clay pot containing Amrita.
When they saw the fruit of their hard labor, the key to their victory over death right in front of their eyes, the Asuras and Devas once again started to fight for it. It was an auspicious time for the Asuras ad in the end it was them who managed to carry it away, meanwhile dropping four drops on earth [4]. On seeing this, Great Vishnu transformed himself to Mohini, the most beautiful woman ever and went to negotiate with the Asuras. Blinded by her charms, they accepted to be fed the Amrita through her nipples and handed her the pot and in great grief saw Mohini transform back to Vishnu. But it was too late.
Delighted to finally be able to taste immortality, the Devas formed a line waiting for Lord Vishnu to serve them one drop each. All the divinities were there, including the planet deities. In their excitement they failed to see the demon Rahu disguised as a Deva sneak between the Sun and the Moon. After the Sun took his drop of Amrita, just when Vishnu dropped one in the mouth of Rahu, they realized he was in fact a demon and screamed in alarm. Vishnu quickly drew his discus and cut the throat of Rahu, thus separating his head and body. But Rahu had already tasted immortality and had become semi-immortal. The head which fell on the Sun became the Solar Eclipse (Rahu) and the body which fell on the Moon became the Lunar Eclipse (Ketu). To this day they keep these Devas under their curse but since they don’t have a full body, soon after they eat the Sun and the Moon they emerge on the other side [5].
Their blood fell on earth and wherever they fell, garlic grew. That’s why garlic creates eclipses in the hearts and souls of those who eat it [6].
Of course, all the elements in this story can be interpreted in many different ways and this has happened when this ancient story was carried and transformed between different cultures. One good interpretation I have found suggests the below explanation of each element:
- The story itself represents the spiritual endeavor of a person to achieve self-realization through concentration of mind, withdrawal of senses, control of desires and practice of austerities and asceticism.
- The Devas and Asuras represent the positives and negatives of one's personality. Their cooperation suggests that when one is on the spiritual path, one has to integrate and harmonize the positive and negative aspects and put both energies to work for the common goal or realization.
- The ocean of milk is the mind or the human consciousness.
- The Mandara mountain symbolizes concentration.
- The tortoise Kurma symbolizes the withdrawal of the senses into oneself.
- The snake Vasuki symbolizes desire.
- The Halahala poison symbolizes suffering and pain. This is also interpreted as cannabis and is the reason that smoking ganja is considered a spiritual practice for some Shivaite Hindus.
- Lord Shiva symbolizes the ascetic principle.
- The various precious objects that come out of the ocean symbolize the psychic or spiritual powers one gains along the way to spiritual realization.
- Dhanvantari symbolizes health and signifies that immortality (i.e. longevity) or spiritual success can be achieved only when the body and the mind are in a perfect state of health.
- Mohini symbolizes delusion of the mind in the form of (or originating from) pride.
- Amrita symbolizes the ultimate achievement of the goal of self-realization.
May this story help you on your path.
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[1] The Sanskrit word Deva (Divinity, God) is possibly the origin of the word Devil.
[2] The Sanskrit word Asura (Demon) is possibly the origin of Ahura Mazda, the name of God in the first monotheistic religion of the west, Zoroastrianism.
[3] Some versions suggest that later he gave this poison to snakes, scorpions and mushrooms. Some also believe that, this transformation of poison to spiritual power is reflected in the ritual use of cannabis plant.
[4] These fell to Haridwar, Allahabad, Ujjain and Nasik, where the greatest spiritual gatherings of humankind, the Kumbha Mela is held every 12 years, where millions gather in search of the one drop of immortality.
[5] After this, they took their place among the 9 planets of the Hindu system, the Grahas, along with Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. They are the most malefic and the most feared planets after Saturn and they are semi-immortal as they appear only occasionally.
[6] One of the reasons why most yogis and some other religious people of India do not eat garlic.
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