Many of us know the story of ‘sagar
manthan’ or the churning of the ocean. 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 could partake the amrita (ambrosia) which would make them
immortal and help them regain their lost kingdom.
As per his advice, 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 the 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 world and destroy it. When no one
was willing to accept the poison, Lord Shiva came forward to accept it. He
swallowed it and Parvathi who was standing beside him, pressed his neck as he
swallowed it and thus, prevented it from going into his stomach. Thus the
poison remained struck there forever 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 devas only, through
a fine piece of trickery enacted by Lord Vishnu. He assumed the form of Mohini
to delude the demons and make them temporarily forget 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. But two of the Daityas (demons) managed to partake of the Amrit. And
they both became immortal. Therefore, the strife between good and evil
continues to this day.
Spiritual Symbolism
The story represents the spiritual endeavor of
man for achieving immortality and inner happiness through concentration
of mind, withdrawal of senses, control of desires and practice of austerities
and asceticism.
1. The devas represent the pleasure
principle in us. They also represent the senses.
2. The demons represent the pain principle and
the negative thoughts and impulses.
3. Indra represents the Intellect, which
can become egoistic.
4. Ksheer Sagar or 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.
5. 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.
6. The tortoise stands for the withdrawal of
the senses into oneself as one practices mental concentration and meditation or
contemplation. It also suggests that the mind should rest upon itself or freely
surrender itself to the divine will.
7. 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 one’s personality and put both the energies for the
common goal.
8. The great serpent Vasuki stands for
desire. The desire is always compared to a thousand hooded serpent.
9. Halahal represents the turmoil of
mind one suffers in the initial phase of meditation
10. The celestial gems represent the spiritual
powers or the sidhis one can attain during meditation
11. ‘Amrit’ or nectar represents the inner
happiness
12. Immortality represents moksha
The another interpretation of the story
is:
The story represents the need for doing
meditation (churning of the mind in the ocean) to gain control over ego, which
takes over when the mind and intellect (Indra) lose their track.
The process involves intention to do the
meditation (devas approach the Vishnu (consciousness and in turn advised to do
the manthan) and attention (focus, concentration) on the object of
concentration (God or consciousness and here the tortoise). The process
involves concentrating on a mantra or the breath continuously and giving
preferences to the object of concentration over the thoughts. Meditation is
incomplete without withdrawing the senses (tortoise). By yoga sutras of
patanjali it is called ‘pratihara’ by creating a spiritual atmosphere. The
contemplation or the continuing concentration is a must (mandhara).
Meditation is the process of slipping in the
silent gaps between the thoughts. Negative thoughts are the asuras, the devils
or the demons. Meditation involves bypassing the thought and needs both the
positive and the negative thoughts to cooperate with each other like in a rope.
While meditating, one is bound to be affected
by a chain or rope of desires (vasuki). The same needs to be tightened up,
caught firmly by the thoughts, and ignored by giving preference to the object
of concentration, the self (the tortoise). When in difficulty, every one has to
take the help of God.
To summarize, 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 the desire in your hands and manipulate
it only when you have control over your desires.
In the initial phase of meditation or intense
churning by opposite forces, one is affected by turmoil of the mind. Most
people who start meditation leave it in this phase only, as they cannot bear
this turmoil and get agitated or disturbed. That is one reason it is said that
one should learn meditation under the guidance of a teacher, doctor or a guru.
The halahal represents this suffering and pain
one undergoes at the beginning of spiritual sadhana. The problems get
intensified because of inner conflicts, when one part yearns to pursue the
spiritual path (devas) while the other opposes it (demons). In short, ‘halahal’
is the instability of the body and the mind that arises as a counter-reaction
against one’s spiritual practice.
One can compare this to the release of the
mental toxins comparable to the physical toxins which gets released when we
rest and after a daylong rest complain of leg pains.
The mental turmoil representing all kinds of
reactions, negative thoughts, desires and impulses associated with some degree
of physical turmoil (body movements, flickering and tingling) need to be
tackled here to complete the process of meditation.
One cannot take out these negative thoughts in
the open nor can one keep it in (you can not throw the halahal out or swallow
it). It needs to be managed or ignored by keeping it in the throat which is
what was done by Shiva. Shiva here represents the ascetic principle (leading a
life of self-discipline and self-denial).
It also means that another mode of controlling
the turmoil is by controlling the breath. Shiva is the controller of breath and
is called a ‘prananath, or praneshwar’ - The Lord of Breath. In meditation, it
is essential that one gains complete mastery over one’s breathing pattern. Most
sages hold their breath in their throat, near the palate, as they meditate to
control this turmoil of mind.
The various objects that came out of the ocean
during the churning stand for the psychic or spiritual powers (siddhis) which
one gains as one progresses spiritually from stage to stage.
These siddhis are spiritual powers, which come
to a seeker as he progresses on the spiritual path. We are told that a seeker
should 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 (inner happiness).
After the ‘halahal’, came Kamadhenu (the
wish-fulfilling cow), the Ucchaisrava (the white horse, as white as the moon),
Airavata (the white elephant), Kaustubha mani ( a rare diamond, type of ruby),
Kalpavriksha or the Kalpataru (the wish-fulfilling tree, called Parijata),
Rambha Apsara the (celestial dancer), Lakshmi (the goddess of wealth), Sura or
Varuni, the Somarasa (the goddess of wine), Sankha (the conch), Sankra Dhanush
(the weapon), and finally Dhanvantari (the divine physician) with the vessel of
Amrita in his skillful hands.
Dhanvantari 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.
These spiritual powers are the ones which one
can attain while doing basic and advanced meditation and includes the capacity
to fullfill desires, to give boons to others, to acquire health, wealth etc.
Meditation is not possible in case of a person who is mentally or physically
sick or whose gross body is not fit for receiving meditation benefits.
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 final hurdles one has
to overcome in spiritual life before being able to experience self-realization.
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