|
by Jayaram V
Many Hindus are familiar with the story of sagar manthan or the
churning of the ocean. The story goes like this. Once Indra lost his
kingdom due to the
disrespect he showed to sage Durvasa.
He approached Lord Vishnu who advised him to seek the help of the
demons to churn the ocean of milk (ksheer sagar) so that he and the
devas can partake the amrita (ambrosia) which would make them immortal
and help them regain their lost kingdom.
As per his advise, the devas approached the demons and they all
agreed in the end to churn the ocean of milk. They sought the help of
mount Mandhara and the great snake Vasuki for this purpose.
Vasuki, the snake god, was used as the rope and Mandhara, the
mountain, as the churning stick to churn the ocean. While they were
churning this great ocean Lord Vishnu assumed the form of a tortoise
and held the Mandhara from sinking. While the churning was going on
several wonderful objects came out of the ocean .
The first to come out was halahal, the deadly poison, which
threatened to engulf the worlds and destroy them. While no one was
willing to accept the poison, Lord Shiva came forward to accept it.
He swallowed it and Parvathi who was standing besides him pressed
his neck as he swallowed it and prevented it from going into his
stomach. Thus the poison remained there struck for ever in his neck,
neither going up into his mind nor going down into his stomach.
Then came Kamadhenu (the wish fulfilling cow), the Ucchaisrava (the
white horse), Airavata (the white elephant), Kaustubhamani ( a rare
diamond), Kalpavriksha (the wish fulfilling tree), Lakshmi (the
goddess of wealth), Sura or Varuni (the goddess of wine), and finally
Dhanvantari (the divine physician) with the vessel of Amrita in his
skilful hands. These objects except the last one were divided between
the devas and the demons.
The nectar of immortality was of course finally denied to the
demons and was distributed among the gods only, through a fine act of
trickery enacted by Lord Vishnu, who assumed the form of Mohini to
delude the demons and make them forget temporarily all about the amrit,
while he went on distributing it among the gods who took it. Because
of the effects of amrit, they not only became immortal but also
defeated the demons summarily.
This is the story of churning of the oceans in brief.
Now the symbolism hidden in this story is this.
The story represents the spiritual endeavor of man for gaining
immortality through concentration of mind, withdrawal of senses,
control of desires and practice of austerities and asceticism.
The gods represent the pleasure principle in ourselves. The demons
represent the pain principle. The gods also represent the senses,
while the demons the evil and negative thoughts and impulses. The
participation of both the devas and the demons signify the fact that
when one is seeking immortality through the spiritual practice one has
to integrate and harmonize both the positive and negative aspects of
ones personality and put both the energies for the common goal.
The ocean of milk is the mind or the human consciousness. The mind
is always compared to an ocean (mano sagaram) while the thoughts and
emotions to the waves. The mind as an ocean is in fact a universal
symbol, known to other religions and cultures also.
Mandhara, the mountain stands for concentration. The word "mandhara"
contains two words "man" (mind) and "dhara" ( a
single line) which means holding the mind in one line. This is
possible only during mental concentration.
The mountain mandhara was upheld by Lord Vishnu as a Tortoise. The
tortoise here stands for the withdrawal of the senses into one self as
one practices mental concentration and meditation or contemplation. It
also suggests that the mind should rest itself upon or freely
surrender itself to the divine will.
The great serpent Vasuki stands for desire. The desire is always
compared to a thousand hooded serpent. The Vasuki used in the churning
of the ocean denotes that the devas and the demons held desire (to
seek immortality) as a rope and churned the mind with the help of
concentration and withdrawal of the senses. You can hold desire in
your hands and manipulate it only when you have control over your
desires. So control of desire is suggested through this symbolism.
The halahal represents suffering and pain we undergo at the
beginning of spiritual sadhana. When the mind is subjected to intense
churning by opposing forces, the first thing that comes out of the
process is intense suffering and great inner turmoil. We are told by
many that when an initiate starts his spiritual sadhana he faces a
number of difficulties. The problems become intensified because of
inner conflicts, where one part yearns to pursue the spiritual path
while the other opposes it.
In the initial stages of sadhana a seeker's mind throws out all
kinds of reactions, negative thoughts, desires and impulses out into
open so that he can deal with them appropriately. These problems are
basically physical suffering and mental suffering without resolving
which further progress is not possible. In short we can say that
halahal is the instability of the body and the mind that arise as a
counter reaction against ones spiritual practice.
Lord Shiva represents the ascetic principle. He is the destroyer of
illusion, one who is innerly detached, pure and austere. His role in
this story as the consumer of poison suggests that one can deal with
the early problems of spiritual life, such as the instability of the
mind and its restlessness, by cultivating the qualities of Lord Shiva,
namely, courage, initiative, willingness, discipline, simplicity,
austerity, detachment compassion, pure love and asceticism.
Alternatively it also means gaining control over the mind through
breath control. Lord Shiva is controller of breath. He is prananath,
or praneshwar, Lord of the Breath. In spiritual sadhana, it is
essential that one gains complete mastery over ones breathing pattern.
Many spiritually advanced souls have the capacity to hold their breath
in their throat, near the palate, as they meditate.
The various objects that came out of the ocean during the churning
stand for the psychic or spiritual powers (siddhis) which one gains as
he progresses spiritually from stage to stage. These siddhis are
spiritual powes which come to a seeker as he progresses on the
spiritual path. We are told that a seeker is to be careful about these
powers as they can hamper his progress unless he uses them
judiciously, not for his selfish gains but for others' welfare. This
is the reason why the gods and demons distributed these powers among
others without keeping anything for themselves as they did not want to
lose sight of their original aim which was to gain immortality.
Dhanvantarari stands for health. The vessel containing the amrit
was brought before the gods and the demons by Dhanvantari, the divine
physician. This signifies that immortality can be achieved only when
the body and the mind are in a perfect state of health. Spiritual
success is not possible in case of a person who is mentally or
physically sick or whose gross body is not fit for receiving divine
illumination.
Lord Vishnu in the form of Mohini stands for delusion of the mind
in the form of pride. It is the pride of achievement to which the
asuras or the demons succumbed and thus lost their right to enter into
the world of immortality. Pride and egoism are the last hurdles one
has to overcome in spiritual life before experiencing
self-realization.
This is in brief the symbolism hidden in the story of Sagar manthan.
Suggested Further Reading
|
