Curse of the Nagas

नारायणं नमस्कृत्य नरं चैव नरोत्तमम्

 देवीं सरस्वतीं चैव ततो जयम् उदीरयेत्

Churning the Ocean of Milk by gods and demons

महाभरत

Mahābharata

As retold by

Michael Dolan, B.V. Mahāyogi

“In the midst of the churning and burning, the saps of mystic trees mixed with the aromatic herbs and magical flowers of mount mandara and poured into the waters of the milk ocean, gradually producing an elixir known to those gods as amrita. The celestial gods attained immortality by drinking that elixir mixed with herbs and liquid gold. And gradually the milky liquids of the deep turned into a rich buttery nectar with the help of the herbs, spices and Himalayan tree-saps.

“With this the gods asked permission to stop as they felt they had reached their goal. They approached Brahma, the creator, and said, ‘Let us rest.’

Churning of ocean, bas-relief, Angkor Wat

“But Brahma approached Narayana and asked him to grant the gods new strength that they might continue with their labors. And he said, ‘May you continue with renewed strength.’

“And they continued with renewed strength, thickening and churning the nectar.

"unusual creations arose."

 And with this, miraculous things transpired. As they continued churning the nectar, the moon emerged from the ocean and took its place in the heavens. And after further churning Lakshmi dressed in white appeared, and then Soma, and then the white steed Uchaishravas. 

And in this way, many unusual creations arose from that primordial liquid including at last the divine Dhanvantari himself, carrying a white vessel of nectar in his hands."

" Airavata the great elephant of huge body and white tusks appeared and took Indra the thunder-god on his shoulders."

Airavata

            “But as the churning continued, a terrible posion began to exude from  the coagulation of those potent herbs. This poison is known as Kalakuta. This toxic mass blazed up with a hideous green fire and noxious fumes. And with the fumes from this poison, the three worlds were stunned."

Origin of the Snake Species

            “At once Lord Shiva, having been called by Brahma cupped his hands and swallowed the poison, skimming it off the top of the waters.

Shiva drank off the poison from the divine liquid, catching it in his throat.

  "The great Lord, Shiva caught this poison in his throat so as not to digest it. And as he caught it in his throat he is called Nila-kantha, or blue throated.  But some of the poison escaped his mouth and where it fell on the ground it created the venomous snakes and serpents who form part of our family, the Nagas. While we, of course, are not all venomous, yet myriads of vipers and terrible snakes were created at that time. Some of these snake species are inauspicious and their extinction was foretold. It is the snake sacrifice of Janamejaya that is extinguishing their kind even as we speak.”

The Curse of the Nagas

"You mentioned a curse?"

“You mentioned a curse,” said Astika.

“Yes. I shall explain about the curse,” said his mother Jaratkaru

“But first tell me about the nectar. What happened between the gods and demons and who drank the immortal nectar?”

Jaratkaru explained the curse to her son...

Jaratkaru continued, “When Shiva had swallowed the poision for the safety of creation, the asuras, the demons, could see that the gods had the advantage. They prepared themselves for battle, thinking that they would have to fight for the nectar. "

"They were determined to possess both Lakshmi, the goddess of fortune and the amrita nectar that flowed from the churning of the milk ocean. At this time Narayana employed his mayic power of illusion  and assuming the form of a seductive goddess hypnotized the demons. The demons flirted with the lovely goddess who instructed them to be patient. Charmed with the goddess Mohini, they offered their share of nectar to her, sure that later they would receive more than their share.

Mohini

“Mohini delivered all the nectar to the gods who mocked the demons. But in the confusion a demon named Rahu had slipped amongst them. He managed to drink a sip of nectar, but as soon as he was detected his head was cut off by Narayana’s disk-chakra. Unfortunately the nectar had touched his lips preserving his head forever. The discus of Narayana hurled Rahu’s head into the sky, where ever greedy, it sometimes swallows the sun itself only to see the sun pass out again from its hollow neck which is why we have eclipses today.”

“But the curse?” said Astika.

“The curse came from a dispute that arose during the churning. A great curse was laid upon the race of Nagas by one of our ancestors, Vinata. She cursed all the Naga line born from her sister Kudra to be burned in the great Snake Sacrifice of Janamejaya.”

“Why did she curse her own race, if she too was a Naga.”

“The two sisters were envious. During the churning of the milk ocean, many mystical beasts appeared from that divine liquid. One of them was the horse, Uchaisrava. The mother of Nagas,  Kudra made a bet with her sister on the color of the horses tail.  Kudra bet that the horse's tail was black, while Vinata bet that it was white. But Kudra cheated.”

“How did she cheat? Could she change the color of the horse's tail by divine power?”

“Kudra had help. She sent thousands of her sons, tiny black snakes, to mingle with the horses white tail. When the horse appeared his tail appeared to be black, but when her sister Vinata found out, she cursed the future generations of snakes born in the line of Kudra to die in the snake sacrifice of King Janamejaya.”

“What have I to do with this curse?”

"What have I do to with a curse?'

“It's a long history, my child. But when the time of Janamejaya approached the all the naga kings, snakes, serpent men and cobra women held a convention. It was decided that I would marry a brahman and raise a child who could stop the sacrifice. So I met your father, a great saintly brahmana, and we had you. You are the son of both brahmana and naga. As such, you have special powers.”

“How can you stop the sacrifice?” said the boy.

"Janamejaya is kind to brahmanas." said his mother.  "If a brahman asks him for a boon he will be forced to stop the sacrifice. You are the only brahman who will ask this boon. The king will never think that you want to stop the killing of the snakes. No other brahman will give support ending the snake sacrifice. But you are innocent and kind. The king will not refuse you."

" I was married to your father Jaratkaru only with this purpose in mind: to save our people, the snake families of the Naga. You have been raised as a perfect and honest brahmana. But remember, you are the son of a Naga-born snake-woman. And your uncle is the great Vasuki. Even now, Vasuki is feeling the pangs of fire as the sacred mantras are drawing him towards the sacrifice of Janamejaya."

Krishna dances on the head of Kaliya Naga, while the Naga women pray