Ksheera Sagara

In Hindu cosmology, the Ocean of Milk (',', ''Malayalam: Pālāḻi'') is the fifth from the centre of the seven oceans. It surrounds the continent known as Krauncha. According to Hindu scriptures, the devas and asuras worked together for a millennium to churn the ocean and release amrita, the nectar of immortal life. It is spoken of in the ''Samudra Manthana'' chapter of the Puranas, a body of ancient Hindu legends. It is called as the ''Tiruparkadal'' (Sacred sea of milk) in Tamil, and is the place where Vishnu reclines over Adishesha, along with his consort, Lakshmi.

Etymology

"Ocean of Milk" is the English translation of the Sanskrit terms ', ' or ', from ' "milk" and ', ' "water, ocean" or ' "ocean."

The term varies across Indic languages, including ''khir sagar'' in Bengali, ''pārkaḍal'' in Tamil, and ''Pāla Kadali'' in Telugu.

The Churning of the Ocean

One of the most fascinating episodes of Hindu mythology involves the churning of the cosmic ocean in order to obtain amrita – the nectar of immortal life. At the suggestion of Vishnu, the devas and asuras churn the primeval ocean in order to obtain amrita, which will grant them immortality. To churn the ocean, they used the serpent-king, Vasuki, for their churning-string. For a churning pole, they used Mount Mandara, placed on the back of the Kurma avatar of Vishnu. As the gods and demons churned the sea, the terrible poison halahala issued from its depths, and began to envelop the universe with its choking fumes. Gasping for breath, the devas and asuras sought the help of Shiva, who swallowed the poison into his throat. Shocked by his heroic act, the Goddess Parvati grasped him by the throat, trapping the poison there and preventing it from spreading; but, such was the strength of the poison, that it turned his neck blue, thereby earning him the epithet of Neelakantha (the blue-throated one).

When the amrita finally emerged along with several other treasures, the devas and asuras fought over it. However, Vishnu in the form of the enchantress Mohini, managed to manipulate the asuras into allowing her to be the one to distribute the nectar, upon which she offered it only to the devas. Svarbhanu, an asura, disguised himself as a deva and tried to drink some amrita himself. Surya (the sun-god) and Chandra (the moon-god) alerted Vishnu to this deception. Vishnu then decapitated Svarbhanu just as he is about to swallow the nectar, leaving his head and decapitated body immortal. Later, his head became known as Rahu and the beheaded part became known as Ketu.

According to the Bhagavata Purana, some of the many ''ratnas'' (treasures) of the churning of Kshira Sagara are the substances ''Halahala'' (the terrible poison neutralised by Shiva) and ''amrita'' (the divine nectar); the divinities Dhanvantari (the physician of the Gods), Lakshmi (Goddess of Prosperity), Jyestha (Goddess of Misfortune) and Chandra (the Moon); the animals Airavata, the white elephant and the horse Uchchaisrava, and the magical wish-granting tree Kalpavriksha.

The Churning of the Ocean is told in several ancient texts, notably in the Valmiki's ''Ramayana'' Canto 45 and in the ''Mahabharata''.

Literature

Vishnu Purana

The Vishnu Purana describes the origin of Lakshmi from the Sea of Milk:

It also describes the nature of the inhabitants and the geography of this realm:

Tiruvaymoli

The Ocean of Milk (Tiruppāṟkaṭal) is mentioned in Tiruvaymoli, a Vaishnava work of Tamil literature:

Devi Bhagavata Purana

The Devi Bhagavata Purana also refers to the Ocean of Milk in its verses:

Abodes

*Vaikuntha, covered with water in the material world, which is an inestimable distance away in the direction of the ''Makara Rashi'' (Shravana Zodiac) or the Capricorn Constellation. Upon this realm is a place called Vedavati, where Vishnu resides.
*On the island known as Svetadvipa, there is an Ocean of Milk, and in the midst of that ocean, is a place called Airavatipura, where Aniruddha lies on Ananta.

Cosmologically, the dvipas (islands) and sagaras (seas) depict the entire cosmos, though in cosmography, all the dvipas and sagaras are shown to lie in the Southern Hemisphere. In some of the satvata-tantras there is a description of the nine varshas and the predominating Deity worshiped in each:

#Vasudeva
# Sankarshana
#Pradyumna
#Aniruddha
#Narayana
# Narsimha
#Hayagriva
#Mahavaraha
#Parashurama

Paramatma, the Supersoul, in the heart of all avatars that exist in the material universe live in the Kshira Sagara. According to some Vaishnava traditions, the Paramatma is Ksirodakasayi Vishnu – who is in every atom and heart of all 8 400 000 kinds of material bodies, as the soul in each heart called atma, which in essence is the same as Paramatma.

See also

*Vaikuntha
*Narayana
*Ksirodakasayi Vishnu
*Paramatma

References

External links

The story of the churning
as told in the epic ''Mahabharata'', here in the online English translation by Kisari Mohan Ganguli at sacred-texts.com.
The story of the churning
as told in the epic ''Ramayana'', here in the online English verse translation by Ralph T. H. Griffith at sacred-texts.com.
The story of the churning
as told in the Vishnu Purana, here in the online English translation by Horace Hayman Wilson at sacred-texts.com.

{{Hindu deities and texts

Locations in Hindu mythology
Milk in culture
Divya Desams