नारायणं नमस्कृत्य नरं चैव नरोत्तमम्
देवीं सरस्वतीं चैव ततो जयम् उदीरयेत्
महाभरत
महाभरत
Mahābharata
As retold by
Michael Dolan, B.V. Mahāyogi
THE STORY OF THE NAGAS
“Because
you asked me, my son, I will now tell you of the origin of our species, and how
we snakes came to be. A long time ago, before the snakes existed, there was a battle between the Suras and the
Asuras or the gods and the demons.”
| Modern version of a Naga-woman |
“What you say mystifies my mind. Where did this battle take place
and why did they fight?” said Astika.
“Lisren, my
son, and I shall tell you. At the edge of the worlds there is a golden mountain
called Meru. Mount Meru is the most powerful mountain at the crux of the worlds. It is the home of gods and Gandharvas. Insurmountable and
impossible to approach by impious men.
 |
| Mount Meru: a powerful mountain at the crux of the worlds. |
This Mount Meru is guarded by dreadful
beasts and its foothills covered with precious medicinal herbs and flowers. Its
summits kiss the heavens. Common men never think of climbing its heights. Fine
trees grace Mount Meru whose streams and rivulets provide ample pure water
where heavenly angels sing. There the gods would gather. And one day they
approached Narayana and asked for the immortal life-giving nectar called
amrita. And Narayana told Brahma, “If you but churn the ocean of milk you shall
have all the nectar you want.”
“And so the
gods descended Meru in search of a means to churn the milk ocean. In their
quest for an instrument for churning the milk ocean they came upon another
mountain and this was Mandara. Mandara
was covered with snow-peaks and clouds, high in the Himalayas. This best of
mountains was blessed with life-giving herbs. Bears and monkeys roamed freely
in peace with one another. Great tigers protected the mountain from intruders.
It was known to the celestial apsaras and kinnaras as a place for their
pleasure pastimes. Its majestic peaks soared thousands of feet. And with the
help of Vishnu and Brahma, the gods headed by Indra enlisted the mighty Ananta,
prince of snakes to dislodge this tall mountain from its very roots to use as a
churning rod.
 |
| Vishnu with Ananta |
“So it was
that Ananta coiled himself around the mountain, tearing it from its roots and
followed the gods to the shore of the mighty milk ocean. And the ocean replied,
“So be it. I shall bear the agitation of my waters for the purpose of producing
the nectar called amrita.”
 |
| Ananta |
“And the
gods went to the king of tortoises, Kurma, and said, “O Tortoise King, you must
hold the mountain on your back to steady our churning rod.” And Kurma said, “So
be it.” So it was that the gods and demons made a churning rod of Mount
Mandara, steadying it on the back of the giant turtle Kurma, using the prince
of snakes Vasuki as their cord.
 |
| Vasuki, the prince of snakes,helps in churning the ocean of milk |
“With gods
on one side and demons on the other they set about churning the milk ocean. The
demons held Vasuki by the hood and the gods held that great serpent, your
uncle, by the tail. And Ananta who was on the side of the gods, at intervals
raised the snake’s hood and then lowered it.
By the twists and turns that dragon-king Vasuki received at the hands of
the gods and demons black fumes issued from his massive snake-like nostrils and
smoke and flames belched forth from his giant mouth, scorching the demons who
held him.
 |
| Churning of the milk ocean |
And as the demons grunted and
sweated under the weary load of the great snake, tormented by his poisonous
fumes, those same vapours formed clouds charged with lightning that poured
showers of cool water that refreshed the gods who held his tail. And seeing all
this, the celestials showered flowers from above as they rode through the skies
in their airships.
| What were the chariots of the gods? |
“At that
time, O brahmana, a fearsome roar belched out of the deep, like the sound of
the cataclysm at the time of universal dissolution. All kinds of sea monsters
and aquatic dragons bellowed up from the deep, crushed by the weight of the
mighty mountain. Unusual dinosaur-like fish were devastated by the churning.
 |
| Unusual dinosaur-like fish were devastated by the churning. |
Huge trees with strange gigantic birds fell into the liquid of the milk ocean.
The trees were torn with such violence from their roots that their friction
produced blazes of forest fires.
 |
| Strange gigantic birds fell into the liquid of the milk ocean |
The mountain-churning rod was covered with
black smoke and lightning that charged the clouds and brought down fierce
bolts. This fire spread throughout the
entire mountain torching trees and consuming lions and elephants in its flames.
The rain-god Indra extinguished the fire by pouring heavy rain showers and
hurricanes upon that mountain.
 |
| Indra extinguished the fire... |
“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.
 |
| Devas and Asuras churning milk ocean and producing various by-products |
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.’
