Kural Chronicles

Once upon a time, many thousands of years ago – when the Devas or the Gods from heaven and the Asuras or the evil forces from the Netherlands walked the earth – there was a perennial fight for supremacy between the Devas and the Asuras.

Lord Indra, the leader of the Devas is said to have incurred the wrath of the great sage Durvasa, who cursed him with loss at the hands of the Asuras. As a consequence every now and then a powerful Asura King would defeat the Devas and drive them into hiding. Tired of being on the run, the Devas fell at the feet of the Great Protector, Lord Vishnu.

Lord Vishnu’s Counsel

Lord Vishnu advised them to find the divine nectar, the Amirtham, that would give them immortality. Now, where was this Amirtham to be found? Obviously immortality would not come easy. The nectar of the Gods was to be obtained by churning the Great Ocean of Milk or the Paarkadal.  To churn an ocean they needed a rod as deep and strong as the ocean and a rope to match. They fixed on Mount Mantara as their rod and approached the mountain with their request. Mount Mantara agreed to be uprooted and be used to churn the Paarkadal. The serpent king, Vasuki, consented to be their rope.

Lord Vishnu suggested that in their current weakened state, the Devas would do well to get the help of the Asuras to churn the ocean. He promised to see to it that the Amirtham would reach only the Devas. Putting their trust in Lord Vishnu, the Devas agreed to do His bidding and approached the Asuras. Lured by the notion of immortality, the Asuras greedily acquiesced, thinking they would overpower the Devas when the time came and consume the Amirtham themselves.

The stage is set

On an auspicious day, the Devas and the Asuras assembled on the banks of the ocean – the Devas respectful and expectant, the Asuras arrogant and boisterous.  Mount Mantara had been uprooted and placed in the ocean. The great serpent Vasuki had been tied around the Mount. The stage was set for the great quest for immortality. The Devas were to pull from one side and the Asuras from the other. Lord Vishnu slyly suggested that the Asuras hold the tail and the Devas would hold the neck. As foreseen by Him they refused. They took hold of the neck and the Devas gladly held the tail. 

They began to churn when the Mount started sinking into the depths of the Ocean. Clueless, they turned as one to Lord Vishnu who changed Himself into a giant tortoise and took the Mount Mantara on His strong back, providing a firm base. This tortoise or Kurma Avatar is the second of the ten avataars or incarnations of Lord Vishnu. (For the unfamiliar, whenever evil took the upper hand, Lord Vishnu came down to earth in different forms or avataars to destroy the evil forces and save the Earth. There are ten avataars in all called the Dashavataar. Stories for another day!)

Alakaala Visham

With all hitches resolved, the churning finally began.  Pulled and pushed either side, Vasuki started to fume. The fierce breath of the serpent assailed the Asuras who were holding on to the neck and they swooned. Deadly poison or the Alakaala Visham emanated. Devas, Asuras, humans, sages, why the Gods themselves looked on in alarm. This poison had the power to destroy the Universe. Lord Shiva then came to the rescue. He collected the poison in His palms and consumed it. His consort, Goddess Parvathi, firmly held His neck to prevent the poison from entering His body further. Lord Shiva’s neck turned blue, giving Him the name Neelakandan or the one with the blue neck.

Amirtham at Last

Relieved, the Devas and Asuras resumed churning. As the waters heaved, divine beings and objects came up and out of the ocean. Goddess Lakshmi came out of the divine ocean and chose Lord Vishnu to be Her consort. Kamadhenu, the divine cow of plenty, came up and was given by Lord Brahma to sage Vashishta, to aid sages in their yagnas. Uchaishravas, the seven headed horse went to the Asuras while Airavat, the white elephant was taken by Lord Indra. The Parijata tree went to the land of the Devas. Varuni, the creator of wine went to the Asuras. After more such portioning, Dhanvantari, the physician of the Gods, came out of the water holding a pot of the divine nectar. Finally!!

Mohini

The joy of the Devas was short lived. The Asuras overpowered Lord Dhanvantri and carried away the pot. Alarmed the Devas prayed to Lord Vishnu. Lord Vishnu took the form of a beautiful damsel, Mohini, and came down to their aid. Mohini walked over to the Asuras and hailed them. Dumbstruck and dazzled by her beauty, the Asuras wordlessly handed over the pot to her and sat in a line opposite the Devas as requested by her. She then started serving the Devas while the Asuras sat in a beauty induced haze.

Rahu Ketu

One Asura alone realized what was happening and disguised himself as one of the Devas and sat amongst them. Mohini, unaware of this, served him the Amirtham. The Sun and the Moon Gods however, realized the trick played on them and alerted Mohini. Mohini realized her mistake and cut off the head of the asura. Since the Asura had already consumed the Amirtham, the chopped off head and the body lived on . The head was called Rahu and the body was called Ketu. It is said Rahu and Ketu fostered enmity with Surya, the sun God and Chandra, the moon God for being the cause of their plight. Periodically Rahu is said to swallow the Sun and the Moon causing solar and lunar eclipses.

By now all the asuras realized they had been conned. They rose up in alarm and anger and called in their forces to attack. The Devas, fortified by the Amirtham , crushed them and won a huge victory.  

This churning of the Paarkadal or the Samudra Manthan symbolises the battle between good and evil.

Dharmathin Vaazhvu thanai soothu kavvum. Irudhiyil dharmamae vellum.

It may appear that evil eclipses the good but finally, Dharma always wins.