Samudra Manthan and The Churning Within
Soon after the physical universe came into being, the gods of heaven and the demons of the lower world were exercised over who would hold infinite power and how. They found that a divine substance, amrit or nectar, lay at the bottom of the ocean of milk. Both sides wanted to possess it but they decided that the best way would be to join hands and churn the ocean together, in order to first get the elixir out. The devas and the asuras began to churn the ocean of milk- Samudra Manthan. The Mandarachala Parvat or mountain was used as the axil and Vasuki the snake as the rope. In the course of marauding the deadly snake, halahal or poison emerged first which Shiva had to swallow and retain in his throat to redeem the world which is why he is called Neelkanth. Then the amrit became accessible. Other treasures emerged from the ocean deep - Lakshmi who later became Vishnu's consort. Dhanwantari the healer, Kaustava Mani the jewel, Kalpataru the wish-fulfilling tree, Somarasa the wine, Sankha the conch, Sankra-dhanush the weapon, Rambha apsara the celestial dancer and many others. The demons were least interested in these; they were focused on acquiring the nectar which would make them immortal and supremely powerful. The gods prayed to Vishnu who, in the guise of the enchanting Mohini, enticed the demons and having obtained the potion, fled with it until the demons gave Mohini a chase and snatched it back. As goodness would ultimately triumph over evil in the battlefield of life, the samudra manthan symbolises the eternal churning of the good and the bad in human life. And so the gods won again, and again, and again. Humanity has survived calamity unbound since millennia and has grown incessantly, abundantly, nourishing itself from the self-generating ocean which has near infinite resources in its depths. Covering four-fifths of the physical space of the earth, the ocean is a forceful metaphor and in the sayings of sages and the sacred scriptures, it has been the reservoir that holds all the rivers flowing into its bosom. The ocean symbolises the all-encompassing eternal absorptive phenomenon. Adi Sankara, in the Viveka Chaudamani, has dwelt at length on the qualities of the eternal mother goddess who pervades all and in whom we can find the way to transcend our physical self. In a simple but powerful allegory, Ramakrishna narrates the story of a salt doll that travels from the mountains all the way down to the seashore to see for itself what the ocean was like. Unable to comprehend its length and breadth but sure that it could fathom its depth, the doll plunges into the ocean and, as it goes down into the waters, dissolves. The salt doll becomes a part of the ocean, subsumed in the infinite expanse of water. At the existential level, we are the salt doll, perpetually yearning to dive into the ocean as part of our innate drive for self-realisation. At another level, when we succeed in merging our physical self into the infinite, we would have moved beyond our self into the realm of the absolute, becoming indistinguishable from the ocean. The churning to attain the elixir of life continues at both levels; we work tirelessly for 'happiness' all our life, acquiring one material asset after another. But one fine day, we find that the magic potion has eluded us, snatched away by our fears and illusions. Yet, the churning of the ocean continues within the higher self, bringing to us the amrit- at which point we achieve Godhood. The way is to transcend one level of churning to the other-to understand that the nectar lies within our reach, is to be perceived by us alone. Then only the transformation takes place.
DISCLAIMER:
The views expressed in the Article above are Malay Mishra kashmiribhatta.in is not in any way responsible for the opinions expressed in the above article. The article belongs to its respective owner or owners and this site does not claim any right over it.
Courtesy: Malay Mishra Speaking Tree,Times of India
Samudra Manthan and The Churning Within
Soon after the physical universe came into being, the gods of heaven and the demons of the lower world were exercised over who would hold infinite power and how. They found that a divine substance, amrit or nectar, lay at the bottom of the ocean of milk. Both sides wanted to possess it but they decided that the best way would be to join hands and churn the ocean together, in order to first get the elixir out. The devas and the asuras began to churn the ocean of milk- Samudra Manthan. The Mandarachala Parvat or mountain was used as the axil and Vasuki the snake as the rope. In the course of marauding the deadly snake, halahal or poison emerged first which Shiva had to swallow and retain in his throat to redeem the world which is why he is called Neelkanth. Then the amrit became accessible. Other treasures emerged from the ocean deep - Lakshmi who later became Vishnu's consort. Dhanwantari the healer, Kaustava Mani the jewel, Kalpataru the wish-fulfilling tree, Somarasa the wine, Sankha the conch, Sankra-dhanush the weapon, Rambha apsara the celestial dancer and many others. The demons were least interested in these; they were focused on acquiring the nectar which would make them immortal and supremely powerful. The gods prayed to Vishnu who, in the guise of the enchanting Mohini, enticed the demons and having obtained the potion, fled with it until the demons gave Mohini a chase and snatched it back. As goodness would ultimately triumph over evil in the battlefield of life, the samudra manthan symbolises the eternal churning of the good and the bad in human life. And so the gods won again, and again, and again. Humanity has survived calamity unbound since millennia and has grown incessantly, abundantly, nourishing itself from the self-generating ocean which has near infinite resources in its depths. Covering four-fifths of the physical space of the earth, the ocean is a forceful metaphor and in the sayings of sages and the sacred scriptures, it has been the reservoir that holds all the rivers flowing into its bosom. The ocean symbolises the all-encompassing eternal absorptive phenomenon. Adi Sankara, in the Viveka Chaudamani, has dwelt at length on the qualities of the eternal mother goddess who pervades all and in whom we can find the way to transcend our physical self. In a simple but powerful allegory, Ramakrishna narrates the story of a salt doll that travels from the mountains all the way down to the seashore to see for itself what the ocean was like. Unable to comprehend its length and breadth but sure that it could fathom its depth, the doll plunges into the ocean and, as it goes down into the waters, dissolves. The salt doll becomes a part of the ocean, subsumed in the infinite expanse of water. At the existential level, we are the salt doll, perpetually yearning to dive into the ocean as part of our innate drive for self-realisation. At another level, when we succeed in merging our physical self into the infinite, we would have moved beyond our self into the realm of the absolute, becoming indistinguishable from the ocean. The churning to attain the elixir of life continues at both levels; we work tirelessly for 'happiness' all our life, acquiring one material asset after another. But one fine day, we find that the magic potion has eluded us, snatched away by our fears and illusions. Yet, the churning of the ocean continues within the higher self, bringing to us the amrit- at which point we achieve Godhood. The way is to transcend one level of churning to the other-to understand that the nectar lies within our reach, is to be perceived by us alone. Then only the transformation takes place.
DISCLAIMER:
The views expressed in the Article above are Malay Mishra kashmiribhatta.in is not in any way responsible for the opinions expressed in the above article. The article belongs to its respective owner or owners and this site does not claim any right over it.
Courtesy: Malay Mishra Speaking Tree,Times of India