Churning of the Milky Ocean
Once upon a time, in a timeless time, long ago- during the ever-continuing struggle between the devas (gods) and the asuras (demons) a great tug of war ensued. It all started because Indra (king of the gods) was gifted a flower garland from Sage Durvasa. Indra absent-mindedly tossed the garland around the trunk of his elephant, who then dropped it on the ground. Upon offending the Sage, Indra and all the Devas were cursed to lose their powers. In an attempt to recover their strength, the gods struck a deal with the demons. You see, amrita (the nectar of immortality) lies at the bottom of the milky ocean. The devas promised the asuras half the nectar if they helped recover it.
Vasuki (king of the snakes) offered up his body as the turning rope and tied himself around Mount Mandara. The demons held on to Vasuki’s head and the gods held on to Vasuki’s tail, back and forth they pulled, turning the mountain, and churning the ocean. Vasuki quickly became sick from being twisted and pulled in two directions and threw up a deadly substance called the halahala. Shiva (god of dissolution) quickly consumed the poison before it could contaminate the cosmic ocean and held the vile liquid in his throat, careful not to digest it himself. Shiva is called neelakantha- the blue throated one. At one point the mountain began to sink, so Vishnu (god of preservation) in the form Kurma (his turtle avatar), swam to the bottom of the ocean and propped the mountain up on his shell.
Several gems were bestowed by the milky ocean during this difficult toil, such as; Lakshmi (goddess of beauty, abundance, and good fortune); Chandra (the moon god); Airavata (a magical elephant); Madhira (the goddess of wine); Apsaras (celestial dancers), and Dhanvantari (the heavenly physician) who was holding the amrita. The demons immediately began to fight over the nectar, but Vishnu now in the avatar of Mohini (a beautiful woman) appeared and enchanted them. The demons and gods both lined up agreeing to let Mohini distribute the elixir evenly. Mohini started with the gods and by the time she got to the end of the line, the pot of nectar was empty, leaving the demons empty bellied. Vishnu then claimed Lakshmi as his consort.
To dive deeper-
The flower garland represents shri (abundance, auspiciousness, Goddess Lakshmi). Indra, who is also the symbol of agency or our ego, disrespected shri. The gods represent our gifts; our assets, as the demons represent our flaws; our liabilities. The cosmic milky ocean represents the collective unconscious. Both our assets and liabilities are needed to churn the cosmic ocean and to recover hidden gems; things forgotten. We must be aware of both the good and negative qualities within us and then choose to feed the good.
