05 – The Churning of the Sea

Hi Friends!

Today let’s talk about the second aquatic adventure story, which also features the Second Incarnation of the Dashavataar. As mentioned last time while Fishing in Troubled Waters, this is also a Genesis Myth, i.e. it tries to explain how things came to be. So here is “a” version of the Second Legend of the Ten Incarnations. This is a long story with lot of details, and hidden meanings, so we will take it in two parts. This post, being Part One.

There was a Wise Man, who was so absorbed in contemplation of wisdom that he mostly forgot to take a bath. In fact when I was a kid, this happened to me a lot, especially when I was in the middle of an interesting book. Then my mother would get angry, and would “advise” me to take a bath, nicely yet firmly. Which I did, promptly!

Sadly, no one was able to even “suggest” better hygiene to the Sage, as he was also known for his ferocious and dangerous anger. So he remained unbathed, and in fact was known as Sage Bad-Odour, or Rishi Durvasa. One day this Sage went to meet the King of Adityas, Lord Indra. He presented Indra with a sweet-smelling garland of never-wilting flowers, signifying “lasting good fortune”. By some mistake of the King, this garland fell on the ground. This angered the Sage Durvasa. and he cursed the gods to lose their strengths, and all things that they held “precious”.

Interestingly, the Spiritual and Technical Advisor of the Asuras, who was a Wise Sage, by the name of Shukracharya, had recently hit upon a strategic advantage for his team. Rishi Shukracharya had by his studies, and guidance of Lord Shiva had discovered the art of rejuvenating dead or almost-dead asuras. This art he called the Rejuvenating Method, or SanJeevani Siddhi. We will get back to this Sage and this siddhi in a later story. But in the context of this story, this meant that the Suras (Adityas) got weaker, and the Asuras (Daityas) got stronger. And as we mentioned earlier, the Adityas and Daityas were always fighting for supremacy. So this time, the Daityas won the war.

Please note here that as Daityas are embodiment of the powers (and riches) from the Earth, these always seem to get rejuvenated. The ground is seen to keep growing more crops, once the earlier crops have been harvested. In the olden times, as the mines were not yet fully exploited, the people thought that even mineral resources from below the Earth gets rejuvenated. Sadly we know it is not entirely true. Exploitation of the natural resources, without care, would surely deplete the riches from the Earth. No Sanjeevani Siddhi can avoid that. We know that now, but the tellers of the stories did not.

In the meeting after the war, while Shukracharya and the Daityas made fun of the weakness of the Adityas, the King, or Indra, very intelligently asked Shukracharya if he had shared the secret of the art of rejuvenation to anyone. The proud Sage said: “Only I know of this secret art, by the grace of Mahadev. It is so that no over-smart deva can steal this knowledge, as I alone am immune to your tricks.”

Indra, who had definitely been coached by Vishnu and/or Brahma, innocently asked: “So, oh great teacher, when the Asuras die you can bring them back, but if something happens to you, no one would be able to save you. And after you are gone, your followers would be left to fend for themselves. How sad!”

This logic got both the Asuras and their Guru a little worried. In this receptive state, Indra suggested a plan, again surely based on the coaching of Brahma and/or Vishnu: “In the Ocean, I have been told, are many precious things. Some which we recently lost, and some which never came out when all of creation came out of the primeval seas. One of them is the Nectar of Immortality, or Amruta. Neither the mighty sons of Diti, nor the currently-weakened sons of Aditi, can alone extract that from the sea, or Sagara. But together we can. Once we get it we can share the Amruta. And once we all partake of it, there will be no chance of Sage Shukracharya to leave his loved ones behind. And as you also have the Art of Rejuvenation.”

The Daityas and their Guru found this acceptable, and in fact considered the Adityas of being stupid to have given this idea, and offer to help. On the other hand, Indra and the other Adityas had plans of their own.

So plans were drawn up for the Churning of the Ocean, or Sagara-Manthan.

The role of the churning stick was given to the Mountain Meru, the mountain which is supposed to be the path or the abode of the gods. The embodiment of Ambition. A mountain that starts from Earth, and (seems as if it) extends till the Heavens.

The role of the churning rope (to be pulled so as to turn the churning stick) was taken up by Sesha, the primordial snake. Sesha, known also as Ananta and Adi, is the embodiment of Time. He is strong and relentless. Just like time. He has the ability to either give benefits or release poison. Again just like time.

So the Time Snake, Sesha, was twisted around the Ambition Mountain, Meru, and there were two ends to be pulled by Adityas and Daityas. Now the argument arose as who would pull from the head end and who would pull from the tail end. I can tell another story of treachery, but there is enough treachery in this story, so I will turn this a little. Hope you are ok with that. The Adityas and the Daityas on their own accord went and took up the tail-end and the head-end respectively. The Adityas thought they were the smarter, as they felt safer when away from the poison-spewing end. The Daityas thought they were the more honoured, as they held the end which was better, the end which is respected and identified, and not the less-honourably named tail-end. And having the Rejuvenating Power of Sanjeevani, what was some amount of Sesha poison. It was a Win-Win! Nice naa?

But this happiness was short lived, as Mountain Meru started to subside in the primeval muds, and it looked impossible that the churning could continue.

Then to save the day, a large turtle, called Kurma or Kachchhap, came and supported the end of Meru on his back. This Kachchhap, which may be even called Kasyapa, is mentioned as an incarnation of Lord Vishnu. The Second. Please note that this word Kachchhap or Kasyapa, connects this to the father of all divine and semi-divine things. In fact if we squint away the additional stories added to the Myth of Sagar Manthan, it is a story of a patriarch (Kasyapa) supporting with his strength and patience, the weight of ambition (Mount Meru), as his warring descendants, the embodiments of the things above (Adityas) and the things below (Daityas) wrestled with Time (Sesha). This brought out all the things good (and some bad) from the depths of the primeval Ocean. The shape of the turtle’s shell may also be representing the view you get of an island seen as it seems to emerge from the sea, as you approach it while travelling in a ship. I believe this was a Creation Myth, part of another proto-religion of people close to sea-faring and for whom everything came from the Oceans. This is a tasty sweet-dish now part of the exciting buffet of Indian mythology.

Coming back to the current form of the story, Lord Kurma, the embodiment of Patience (with some amount of stubbornness) alone could take the weight of Ambition being turned by the rope of Time. The churning of the Ocean of Opportunity started.

And fourteen precious things or Ratnas came out one by one. Let’s count them out and understand their significance, in the next post.