Eternal India Encyclopedia

PERCEPTIONS

Eternal India

encyclopedia

SAMUDRA MANTHANA

(CHURNING OF OCEAN)

The

Puranas

narrate this educative parable

which occurred thousands of years ago. The

Devas

(Gods) were in search of

Amrit

—

that ambrosial nectar which would make

them immortal so that they could reign forever.

To assist them in their search for this elixir,

they took the help of the

Asuras

(demons). They

used Mount Meru as the churning rod and the

king of serpents, Vasuki, as the rope.

They churned the ocean for years and then

the gifts began to appear :

Uccaihsrava,

the

divine horse;

Kamadhenu,

the divine cow,

Kalpavruksha,

the

wish-fulfilling

tree;

Airavata,

the six-tusked elephant.

Suddenly the ocean began to simmer and

erupt with a terrible poison — the

Garla.

The

Devas and Asuras fled since neither of them had

any earlier knowledge of this venomous poison,

which was spreading rapidly and threatening to

annhiliate creation.

However due to Lord Shiva's divine in-

tervention the poison was effectively consumed

and integrated into His being. His throat turned

blue when the poison reached there (Lord Shiva

is also worshipped as

Neelkanth

...the black-

throated Lord). At that glorious moment, He

began His

Tandav Nritya

....so that the poison

would remain in His throat and not reach His

heart where Lord Vishnu resided (In this form

Lord Shiva is worshipped as

Nataraja :

the

Lord of the Dance).

After the venomous poison had been

effectively consumed, the

Devas

and the

Asuras

resumed the churning of the ocean till the elixir

emerged : the

Amrit Kalasa.

Though this parable occurred thousands of

years ago, yet it can be symbolically interpreted

in today's materialistic world. The

Devas

are

exemplified as our good qualities, thoughts,

words and deeds. The Asuras are reflected in

our bad qualities, thoughts, words and deeds.

The churning of the ocean is occurring in our

mind — it is the churning of our intelligence.

Mount Meru — the churning rod is our

viveka

—

our power of discrimination.

Vasuki

symbolically represented by our endless trail of

thoughts which come and go..

Whenever a thought process occurs there is

a churning taking place. If our inherent

tendencies

(

vasanas

and

gunas)

are

predominantly good, then our thought — flow

process creates good thoughts. As a result good

deeds are a natural outcome and vice versa.

Awareness of the constant processes of the

Samudra Manthana

taking place in our minds is

the first step. Very often, we make decisions

unconsciously, we act in ignorance. We get

tossed on the waves of sorrow and joy, pleasure

and pain.

We have to learn from the

Samudra

Manthana

to throw out all evil tendencies, bad

qualities so that only

Amrit

remains.

(H.M.S.)

Atom and the

Aatman

: A New

Samudra Manthana

"It seems to me that science and technology have similarly caused this great churning of human consciousness. We have

remarkable gifts; we can fly beyond the moon to the planets, beyond the planets to the stars. There are marvellous miracles of

technology ...at the same time the poison is there and it is beginning to emerge, ... In the final analysis, the power of the atom

and the power of the Aatman are pitted against each other. If in the heart of the atom such tremendous destructive power can be

found, cannot we find in the heart of the Aatman an equally great and beneficent power which would help us to meet this

tremendous challenge?"

— Dr. Karan Singh

"Essays on Hinduism"

QUANTUM ROPE

Matter and anti-matter

create the quantum chatter,

Action and counter action

make vectors change directions,

Forces and counter forces

influence the event's courses,

Letter and counter letter

are needed to settle the matter,

Thesis and anti thesis

you look for the synthesis,

You wonder at the basis

of the manthan and oasis,

You reach for new solutions

and ways of resolution,

many long for revolution

from manthan's evolution,

Churning of the ocean

By the quantum rope

Poison shows its motion

And nectar is the hope.

—

"Trikenu"

'Quantum"Rop

Shanka

or the Conch :

Vishnu is depicted as

holding the Conch in one of his four arms as he

sleeps in the primeval ocean on the thousand-

headed snake Shesha. From the conch issued

the primordial creative sound OM, which is the

Word made manifest.

The Conch is not only in the upper be-

nevolent left hand of Lord Mahavishnu, but it is

a child of the Ocean, like his consort Lakshmi.

The Conch is such a marvel, that the higher

octaves of all the notes of

Shankar-abharana

and

Harikambhoji

figure in various degrees.

The Conch is amazing, because it is built in

the form of an equiangular spiral, a

mathematical figure which shows up on its top

or head, as you look vertically down over its

head. Many seashells have this spiral shape too.

The Conch is also an essential part of

ritualistic

pooja.