Chapter 18

“Sauti said, ‘There is a mountain called Mandara adorned with cloud-likepeaks. It is the best of mountains, and is covered all over withintertwining herbs.

There countless birds pour forth their melodies, andbeasts of prey roam about. The gods, the Apsaras and the Kinnaras visitthe place. Upwards it rises eleven thousand yojanas, and descendsdownwards as much. The gods wanted to tear it up and use it as a churningrod but failing to do so same to Vishnu and Brahman who were sittingtogether, and said unto them, ‘Devise some efficient scheme, consider, yegods, how Mandara may be dislodged for our good.’

“Sauti continued, ‘O son of Bhrigu! Vishnu with Brahman assented to it.And the lotus-eyed one (Vishnu) laid the hard task on the mighty Ananta,the prince of snakes. The powerful Ananta, directed thereto both byBrahman and Narayana, O Brahmana, tore up the mountain with the woodsthereon and with the denizens of those woods. And the gods came to theshore of the Ocean with Ananta and addressed the Ocean, saying, ‘O Ocean;we have come to churn thy waters for obtaining nectar.’ And the Oceanreplied, ‘Be it so, as I shall not go without a share of it. I am able tobear the prodigious agitation of my waters set up by the mountain.’ Thegods then went to the king of tortoises and said to him, ‘OTortoise-king, thou wilt have to hold the mountain on thy back!’ TheTortoise-king agreed, and Indra contrived to place the mountain on theformer’s back.

“And the gods and the Asuras made of Mandara a churning staff and Vasukithe cord, and set about churning the deep for amrita. The Asuras heldVasuki by the hood and the gods held him by the tail. And Ananta, who wason the side of the gods, at intervals raised the snake’s hood andsuddenly lowered it. And in consequence of the stretch Vasuki received atthe hands of the gods and the Asuras, black vapours with flames issuedfrom his mouth. These, turned into clouds charged with lightning, pouredshowers that refreshed the tired gods. And flowers that also fell on allsides of the celestials from the trees on the whirling Mandara, refreshedthem.

“Then, O Brahmana, out of the deep came a tremendous roar like unto theroar of the clouds at the Universal Dissolution. Diverse aquatic animalsbeing crushed by the great mountain gave up the ghost in the salt waters.And many denizens of the lower regions and the world of Varuna werekilled. Large trees with birds on the whirling Mandara were torn up bythe roots and fell into the water. The mutual friction of those treesalso produced fires that blazed up frequently. The mountain thus lookedlike a mass of dark clouds charged with lightning. O Brahmana, the firespread, and consumed the lions, elephants and other creatures that wereon the mountain. Then Indra extinguished that fire by pouring down heavyshowers.

“After the churning, O Brahmana, had gone on for some time, gummyexudations of various trees and herbs vested with the properties ofamrita mingled with the waters of the Ocean. And the celestials attainedto immortality by drinking of the water mixed with those gums and withthe liquid extract of gold. By degrees, the milky water of the agitateddeep turned into clarified butter by virtue of those gums and juices. Butnectar did not appear even then. The gods came before the boon-grantingBrahman seated on his seat and said, ‘Sire, we are spent up, we have nostrength left to churn further. Nectar hath not yet arisen so that now wehave no resource save Narayana.’

“On hearing them, Brahman said to Narayana, ‘O Lord, condescend to grantthe gods strength to churn the deep afresh.’

“Then Narayana agreeing to grant their various prayers, said, ‘Ye wiseones, I grant you sufficient strength. Go, put the mountain in positionagain and churn the water.’

‘Re-established thus in strength, the gods recommenced churning. After awhile, the mild Moon of a thousand rays emerged from the Ocean.Thereafter sprung forth Lakshmi dressed in white, then Soma, then theWhite Steed, and then the celestial gem Kaustubha which graces the breastof Narayana. Then Lakshmi, Soma and the Steed, fleet as the mind, allcame before the gods on high. Then arose the divine Dhanwantari himselfwith the white vessel of nectar in his hand. And seeing him, the Asurasset up a loud cry, saying, ‘It be ours.’

“And at length rose the great elephant, Airavata, of huge body and withtwo pair of white tusks. And him took Indra the wielder of thethunderbolt. But with the churning still going on, the poison Kalakutaappeared at last. Engulfing the Earth it suddenly blazed up like a fireattended with fumes. And by the scent of the fearful Kalakuta, the threeworlds were stupefied. And then Siva, being solicited by Brahman,swallowed that poison for the safety of the creation. The divineMaheswara held it in his throat, and it is said that from that time he iscalled Nilakantha (blue-throated). Seeing all these wondrous things, theAsuras were filled with despair, and got themselves prepared for enteringinto hostilities with the gods for the possession of Lakshmi and Amrita.Thereupon Narayana called his bewitching Maya (illusive power) to hisaid, and assuming the form of an enticing female, coquetted with theDanavas. The Danavas and the Daityas charmed with her exquisite beautyand grace lost their reason and unanimously placed the Amrita in thehands of that fair damsel.'”

So ends the eighteenth section in the Astika Parva of the Adi Parva.