The churning of the ocean

1. 1This describes Mount Meru, a golden, shining mountain so tall it touches the sky. Gods and heavenly singers called Gandharvas live there. Healing herbs grow on it, fierce animals roam it, and people full of wrongdoing cannot reach it.
2. 2The gods gathered on top of Meru, anxious to find amrita, the drink that makes one immortal. Narayana (the god Vishnu) told them to churn the great Ocean together with the Asuras, their demon rivals. He said this would bring up amrita, along with healing medicines and jewels.
3. 3Sauti describes Mount Mandara, a huge mountain with cloud-like peaks, covered in plants, full of birds and wild animals. Gods and heavenly beings visit it. It rises eleven thousand yojanas high and goes just as deep below.
4. 4The gods wanted to pull up Mount Mandara to use as a churning stick, but they could not. So they went to Vishnu and Brahma and asked them to come up with a plan to move it.
5. 5Vishnu and Brahma agreed and gave the job to Ananta, the mighty king of snakes. Ananta tore up the whole mountain with its forests and animals. The gods carried it to the shore and told the Ocean they had come to churn it for nectar.
6. 6The Ocean agreed, as long as it got a share of the nectar, and said it could handle the stirring. The gods then asked the king of tortoises to hold the mountain on his back. He agreed, and Indra, king of the gods, set the mountain on him.
7. 7The gods and Asuras used Mount Mandara as the churning stick and the great snake Vasuki as the rope. The Asuras held his head and the gods held his tail. As they pulled him back and forth, smoke and flames came out of Vasuki's mouth.
8. 8The smoke from Vasuki's mouth became rain clouds that cooled the tired gods. Flowers falling from the spinning mountain also refreshed them.
9. 9A huge roar came from the ocean. Many sea creatures and beings of the underwater world were crushed and killed by the mountain. Trees full of birds were torn off and fell into the water, and fires broke out as they rubbed together.
10. 10The mountain looked like a dark storm cloud full of lightning. Fire spread and burned the lions, elephants and other animals living on it, until Indra put it out with heavy rain.
11. 11As the churning continued, healing saps from trees and herbs mixed into the ocean, and the gods became immortal by drinking that water. The milky sea slowly turned into ghee, or clarified butter. But the real nectar still had not appeared.
12. 12The worn-out gods went to Brahma and said they had no strength left to keep churning. The nectar had still not come, and only Narayana could help them now.
13. 13Brahma then asked Narayana (Vishnu) to give the gods new strength so they could churn again.
14. 14Narayana agreed and gave the gods enough strength. He told them to put the mountain back in place and keep churning.
15. 15With new strength, the gods churned again, and wonderful things rose from the sea: the Moon, Lakshmi the goddess of fortune, Soma, a white horse, and the jewel Kaustubha that Vishnu wears. Last came Dhanwantari, the divine healer, carrying the pot of nectar. The Asuras shouted, 'It is ours!'
16. 16The great white elephant Airavata rose, and Indra took him. Then a terrible poison called Kalakuta came up, blazing like fire and making the whole world faint with its fumes. When Brahma asked, the god Shiva swallowed the poison to save all creation.
17. 17Shiva (also called Maheswara, the great lord) kept the poison in his throat, and from then on he was called Nilakantha, "the blue-throated one." The demons got ready to fight the gods for Lakshmi and the Amrita (the drink that gives eternal life), so Vishnu (Narayana) used his magic power to become a beautiful woman, and the charmed demons handed the Amrita to her.