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SagarManthan
As per the hindu assumption Amrit is the source of immortality.
The story goes like this. Once Indra lost his kingdom due to the disrespect he showed to sage Durvasa.
He
approached Lord Vishnu who advised him to seek the help of the demons
to churn the ocean of milk (ksheer sagar) so that he and the devas can
partake the amrita (ambrosia) which would make them immortal and help
them regain their lost kingdom.
As per his advise, the devas
approached the demons and they all agreed in the end to churn the ocean
of milk. They sought the help of mount Mandhara and the great snake
Vasuki for this purpose.
Vasuki, the snake god, was used as the
rope and Mandhara, the mountain, as the churning stick to churn the
ocean. While they were churning this great ocean Lord Vishnu assumed the
form of a tortoise and held the Mandhara from sinking. While the
churning was going on several wonderful objects came out of the ocean .
The
first to come out was halahal, the deadly poison, which threatened to
engulf the worlds and destroy them. While no one was willing to accept
the poison, Lord Shiva came forward to accept it.
He swallowed it
and Parvathi who was standing besides him pressed his neck as he
swallowed it and prevented it from going into his stomach. Thus the
poison remained there struck for ever in his neck, neither going up into
his mind nor going down into his stomach.
Then came Kamadhenu
(the wish fulfilling cow), the Ucchaisrava (the white horse), Airavata
(the white elephant), Kaustubhamani ( a rare diamond), Kalpavriksha (the
wish fulfilling tree), Lakshmi (the goddess of wealth), Sura or Varuni
(the goddess of wine), and finally Dhanvantari (the divine physician)
with the vessel of Amrita in his skilful hands. These objects except the
last one were divided between the devas and the demons.
The
nectar of immortality was of course finally denied to the demons and was
distributed among the gods only, through a fine act of trickery enacted
by Lord Vishnu, who assumed the form of Mohini to delude the demons and
make them forget temporarily all about the amrit, while he went on
distributing it among the gods who took it. Because of the effects of
amrit, they not only became immortal but also defeated the demons
summarily.
This is the story of churning of the oceans in brief.Now the symbolism hidden in this story is this.
The
story represents the spiritual endeavor of man for gaining immortality
through concentration of mind, withdrawal of senses, control of desires
and practice of austerities and asceticism.
The gods represent the
pleasure principle in ourselves. The demons represent the pain
principle. The gods also represent the senses, while the demons the evil
and negative thoughts and impulses. The participation of both the devas
and the demons signify the fact that when one is seeking immortality
through the spiritual practice one has to integrate and harmonize both
the positive and negative aspects of ones personality and put both the
energies for the common goal.
The ocean of milk is the mind or the
human consciousness. The mind is always compared to an ocean (mano
sagaram) while the thoughts and emotions to the waves. The mind as an
ocean is in fact a universal symbol, known to other religions and
cultures also.
Mandhara, the mountain stands for concentration.
The word "mandhara" contains two words "man" (mind) and "dhara" ( a
single line) which means holding the mind in one line. This is possible
only during mental concentration.
The mountain mandhara was upheld
by Lord Vishnu as a Tortoise. The tortoise here stands for the
withdrawal of the senses into one self as one practices mental
concentration and meditation or contemplation. It also suggests that the
mind should rest itself upon or freely surrender itself to the divine
will.
The great serpent Vasuki stands for desire. The desire is
always compared to a thousand hooded serpent. The Vasuki used in the
churning of the ocean denotes that the devas and the demons held desire
(to seek immortality) as a rope and churned the mind with the help of
concentration and withdrawal of the senses. You can hold desire in your
hands and manipulate it only when you have control over your desires. So
control of desire is suggested through this symbolism.
The
halahal represents suffering and pain we undergo at the beginning of
spiritual sadhana. When the mind is subjected to intense churning by
opposing forces, the first thing that comes out of the process is
intense suffering and great inner turmoil. We are told by many that when
an initiate starts his spiritual sadhana he faces a number of
difficulties. The problems become intensified because of inner
conflicts, where one part yearns to pursue the spiritual path while the
other opposes it.
In the initial stages of sadhana a seeker's mind
throws out all kinds of reactions, negative thoughts, desires and
impulses out into open so that he can deal with them appropriately.
These problems are basically physical suffering and mental suffering
without resolving which further progress is not possible. In short we
can say that halahal is the instability of the body and the mind that
arise as a counter reaction against ones spiritual practice.
Lord
Shiva represents the ascetic principle. He is the destroyer of illusion,
one who is innerly detached, pure and austere. His role in this story
as the consumer of poison suggests that one can deal with the early
problems of spiritual life, such as the instability of the mind and its
restlessness, by cultivating the qualities of Lord Shiva, namely,
courage, initiative, willingness, discipline, simplicity, austerity,
detachment compassion, pure love and asceticism.
Alternatively it
also means gaining control over the mind through breath control. Lord
Shiva is controller of breath. He is prananath, or praneshwar, Lord of
the Breath. In spiritual sadhana, it is essential that one gains
complete mastery over ones breathing pattern. Many spiritually advanced
souls have the capacity to hold their breath in their throat, near the
palate, as they meditate.
The various objects that came out of the
ocean during the churning stand for the psychic or spiritual powers
(siddhis) which one gains as he progresses spiritually from stage to
stage. These siddhis are spiritual powes which come to a seeker as he
progresses on the spiritual path. We are told that a seeker is to be
careful about these powers as they can hamper his progress unless he
uses them judiciously, not for his selfish gains but for others'
welfare. This is the reason why the gods and demons distributed these
powers among others without keeping anything for themselves as they did
not want to lose sight of their original aim which was to gain
immortality.
Dhanvantarari stands for health. The vessel
containing the amrit was brought before the gods and the demons by
Dhanvantari, the divine physician. This signifies that immortality can
be achieved only when the body and the mind are in a perfect state of
health. Spiritual success is not possible in case of a person who is
mentally or physically sick or whose gross body is not fit for receiving
divine illumination.
Lord Vishnu in the form of Mohini stands for
delusion of the mind in the form of pride. It is the pride of
achievement to which the asuras or the demons succumbed and thus lost
their right to enter into the world of immortality. Pride and egoism are
the last hurdles one has to overcome in spiritual life before
experiencing self-realization.
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