The Complete Story of Samudra Manthan

Once Devraj Indra, the king of heaven(Amaravati) was sitting in his meeting hall popularly known as Sudharma Sabha with his councilors watching a song & dance program of the apsaras (very beautiful heavenly ladies) when Devguru Brihaspati(spiritual master) entered the hall. 

Seeing him all the councilors stood up and paid respect to him. But Indra didn't rise from his throne out of arrogance nor greeted or welcomed him. This behavior humiliated the Guru and he left from there. 

When the program ended Indra realized his mistake and asked the whereabouts of Devguru. Devarshi Narad explained to Indra, the consequences of the disrespectful behavior towards a Guru of a kingdom. Dishonoring Guru is a bad omen for the kingdom which attracts misfortunes for the king and his entire kingdom. Narad's warning frightened the king of heaven and immediately he moved to the house of the Guru with his councilors. There Tara, wife of the Guru informed them that her husband Brihaspati is yet to come home and she didn't know his whereabouts. So all of them returned to their homes. 

From that very night, unnatural things started happening in heaven. It was the effects of disrespectful behavior shown to the spiritual Guru by Indra. The ill-omen was well understood by the king and his councillors. The news about the bad omen of heaven reached the demon king(दानव राजा) Bali(बली) who was residing in the lower world (abyss, पाताल लोक). Being a wise fellow he knew the bad effects of insulting the Guru. 

Taking this weak moment of heaven as an opportunity the demons attacked the Devas. A very dangerous battle ensued between the Devas and the demons. But the Devas could not last long before the demons due to the humiliation of the Guru. At last, the Devas were defeated by the demons. All the Devas held Indra responsible for their misfortune and left him and heaven. After winning the battle the demons looted the heaven and took away all the precious things including the divine elephant 'Airawat' and the divine horse Uchaishrava to their place. Indra's wife also hid in a secret place. Now Indra remained alone in heaven. 

He couldn't sustain the situation for long and went to Lord Brahma seeking advice and a way out to regain all his lost glory. In the meantime, the demons realized that the divine and precious things of heaven have vanished from their custody. Even the divine horse and elephant also dived into the ocean and vanished. They asked the reason for this incident to their Guru Shukracharya, who is told them that only those people who have performed one hundred Ashwamedha Yajna (अश्वमेध यज् ञ, a difficult oblation) can only enjoy the wealth of heaven. 

Arriving at the abode of Lord Brahma, Indra surrendered before him and begged forgiveness for his bad deeds, and prayed to him to find a way to save him and his kingdom. Lord Brahma heard the whole story from Indra and told him that only Lord Vishnu can save him from this situation and regain the lost wealth and glory. He instructed him to search the Devas and gather them. When Indra returned with the Devas, Lord Brahma accompanied them to the shore of the ocean of milk (क्षीर समुद्), the abode of Lord Vishnu. 

Headed by Lord Brahma the Devas prayed fervently to Lord Vishnu. Brahma asked forgiveness on behalf of Indra. Pleased with the prayer, Lord Vishnu appeared before them. He advised them to join hands with the demon king Bali to regain the lost wealth of heaven. Before leaving Lord Vishnu warned Indra to never disrespect a Guru. Then Indra with the Devas conveyed their gratitude to the Lord and left towards the lower world to meet Bali. Getting the news of the arrival of Indra with the Devas, the demon king got furious and ordered his army to attack the Devas and kill Indra. 

But at that time Devarshi Narad Bali and convinced Bali to join hands with the devas. Then Bali met Indra and found him robbed of all prosperity. Seeing the condition of Indra the demon king greeted him with a kind heart. Unlike other demons, Bali was a kind warm-hearted king. To make Bali believe him Indra repented on his past deeds and surrendered before Bali and wanted to make friendship with the demon king. Devarshi Narad also advised Bali to give shelter to the Devas because a king must forgive all the differences and accept a person who has surrendered to him. At last, Bali agreed to give shelter to the devas and instructed his councilors to make arrangements for the same. 

Gradually Indra won the faith of Bali with his cunning mind. One day Indra proposed to him a way to regain the lost wealth of heaven. Bali agreed to the proposal and asked how they can regain the wealth submerged in water. Then a voice from the sky announced that the Devas and the demons must churn the ocean to get the wealth out from the depth of the ocean with the help of the great mountain Mandrachal and the great serpent Vasuki Naga. The voice of the sky suggested making Mandrachal the churning stick and Vasuki Naga the churning rope to churn the sea. 

Hearing this Bali and Indra went to Mandrachal and saw the mountain is round-shaped and very wide. It was glittering like gold because of various medicinal plants. The Devas prayed to the mountain god and requested him to become the churning stick to churn the ocean. He agreed to this but expressed his inability to move because in the past Indra had cut down his wings. So the Devas unitedly dislodged the mountain but could not bear the weight of the mountain. It fell on both the Devas and demons causing the death of some devas and demons. 

They again prayed to Lord Vishnu to help those who came to their rescue riding on the back of Garud. He lifted the mountain and placed it in the ocean. The Devas and asuras then requested the great serpent Vasuki Naga to become the rope to churn the ocean to which the serpent agreed. After all of this, the churning of the ocean started. the heavy mountain started drowning in the depth of the ocean. Then Lord Vishnu took his second avatar i.e. Kurma Avatar. He took the form of a giant tortoise and supported Mt Mandranchal. He supported the mountain from all sides and made it stable. The churning process resumed. 

As they started pulling Vasuki Naga from both sides, he is a serpent started spewing poison. This caused great difficulty to the asuras as they were holding the head of the serpent. The devas had cunningly chosen to hold the tail. 

Various things came out of the ocean. Then the lethal poison (कालकुट बिष) started coming out of the depth of the ocean. Realizing the danger of the poison Devarshi Narad tried to warn the Devas and demons. But they were so engrossed in churning that they ignored the warning. The poison started spreading in the atmosphere many devas and asuras started dying. Lord Shiva then appeared to save the whole world. He drank the poison. Goddess Pravati also appeared there and promised to stay in the throat of Lord Shiva to prevent it from spreading into other parts of his body. Lord Shiva's throat turned blue as a result of this and hence he is also called 'Neelkanth'. The danger of the poison was gone, both the parties returned to their spot and started churning again. 

The Moon-god(चंद्र) appeared from the deep sea. Seeing him both the parties asked Maharishi Gargacharya the identity of the Moon-god and Maharishi explained to them that the appearance of Moon signifies a very favorable period for them. Then Kamdhenu the divine cow with many cows appeared from the ocean which was gifted to the Rishis (hermits). Then the four divine trees Kalpavriksh, Parijat, Chyut, and Santan appeared. Then the divine gem Kaustubh Mani appeared which was gifted to Lord Vishnu. After that, the divine horse 'Uchaishrava' appeared and after that, the divine elephant Airawat with 64 white elephants appeared from the sea. 

Thereafter many intoxicating substances like heavenly liquor, cannabis(भांग), thorn apple(धतूरा), garlic, carrots, Puskar (पुष्कर), kakadsingi(काकडदसिंगी), etc were churned out of the ocean. 

Then the goddess of wealth Mahalaxmi with very beautiful attire and ornaments appeared from the ocean and looked at both parties affectionately. She found Lord Vishnu there. She garlanded him with the divine 'vayjanti mala' and stood on his left side. The whole universe light up because of this divine moment. Both the parties bowed before them and started churning again. 

Now the god of medicines Dhanwantari appeared holding the pot of nectar (the divine juice for immortality - अमृत). Seeing him with the nectar pot the Devas got mesmerized and forgot their purpose. Realizing their perplexed condition a demon called Brusaparba took away the nectar pot from the hand by force. Leaving the Devas dumbfounded, the demons left the spot and went to their lower world. Seeing the demons leaving with the nectar pot the Devas followed them to the abyss (पाताल). But the demon king Bali reproached humiliated and advised them to go back to their heaven with the wealth recovered from the ocean and didn't want to share the nectar with them. 

Feeling helpless the Devas again took refuge of Lord Vishnu who asked them to be patient. Lord Vishnu who knew the consequences of demons becoming immortal started his 'Leela'(divine play). He went to the lower world (abyss) taking the form of a stunningly beautiful and attractive woman 'Mohini'(मोहिनी). The demons were quarreling for the distribution of nectar among themselves. The Lord in disguise approached the demons and at the sight of Mohini, the demons stopped quarreling. They were mesmerized by her beauty and lost their senses. Mohini asked the reason for their quarrel. Mohini then proposed that she would divide the nectar among them equally. She cunningly warned them not to believe a stranger woman.  But the demons being mesmerized by her beauty agreed to her. 

Mohini explained to the demons that the nectar is a divine and pure juice and it must not be taken without performing austerity. She said that they would have to observe a fast of one day to which the demons agreed. The next day morning after taking bath all the demons took their seats. Mohini entered with the pot of nectar. The Devas also arrived there on the Lord's inspiration. Bali did allow them to stay there. But Mohini told the demons that not welcoming guests on the doorstep attracts bad omen which is very harmful. He persuaded them to invite the Devas to take part in the distribution of nectar. The demons couldn't refuse the request of the pretty lady. So the Devas also sat down there to get the nectar. 

Now Mohini used another trick to cheat the demons from getting nectar. She suggested they should serve the nectar to the Devas first. After all, the host must serve the guests first. The demons again agreed because each of them wanted to impress Mohini. Now Mohini started serving the Devas while the demons were busy watching her with lustful eyes. Taking this chance Mohini served all the nectar to the Devas. 

One of the demons Rahu was sitting in the line of Devas in disguise to get the nectar. When he was drinking it, Chandradev realized this and alerted Mohini. Lord Vishnu(Mohini) immediately took his original form and severed the demon's head with Sudarshan Chakra. Since Rahu had consumed the nectar, the head and body of Rahu became immortal but remained as separate entities. 

Rahu furiously attacked Chandra and tried to swallow him but every time he failed because of his body’s less form. He continued his attack on Chandradev who fleed from the spot. But nowhere he could find a place to hide from Rahu. At last, he took refuge of Lord Shiva who gave him space in his 'jata' (hair knots). Because of this Lord Shiva is also known as 'Chandrasekhar'. After Chandradev, Rahu also arrived there and prayed to Lord Shiva to allow him also a place in his 'jata' to swallow Chandra. Lord Shiva agreed. Because of the effect of nectar the head of Rahu multiplied into many. Lord Shiva converted the heads into a garland of heads and wore it around his neck. This pleased Rahu. 

In the meantime, Lord Vishnu vanished from the abyss and the Devas were attacked by the demons for tricking them. But the power of the divine nectar Devas defeated the demons killing Bali and went back to heaven with all the wealth recovered from the sea. Some of the demons who were still alive ran away to the Guru of demons Shukracharya. Guru Shukracharya is a rishi bestowed with divine powers numerous. He had performed severe penance and was a devotee of Lord Shiva. It was his pure devotion that he had been given the knowledge of Sanjeevani by Lord Shiva himself. 'Mrutyu Sanjeevani Gyan' is the knowledge by which anyone can be brought back to life. Guru Shukracharya asked the demons to accompany him to the battlefield where he brought the dead demons back to life with the power of 'Mrutyu Sanjeevani'. 

This is the story of SAMUDRA MANTHAN as described in Skand Puran. 

Source: Skanda Purana

The story may differ in other scriptures because of the difference in KALPA i.e timely change in the creation of the universe.

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