The churning of the ocean

1. 1.9. Part 1, Section 9

   1.9.1The sage Parashara begins telling Maitreya how Sri (Lakshmi, goddess of good fortune) came to be lost and found. Durvasa, a wild, hot-tempered sage who was a form of Shiva, was wandering the earth. He saw a heavenly garland in the hand of a Vidyadhari, a female sky-spirit, and asked her for it.
2. 1.9.2The Vidyadhari bowed respectfully and gave Durvasa the garland. He put it on his head and kept wandering. Then he saw Indra, king of the gods and husband of Sachi, riding his huge elephant Airavata with the other gods.
3. 1.9.3Durvasa took the sweet-smelling garland, which drew swarms of bees, and threw it to Indra. Indra did not wear it. He put it on his elephant's head, where it looked like the Ganges river flowing on Mount Kailasa.
4. 1.9.4The elephant was dazed by the strong smell. He sniffed the garland with his trunk and threw it on the ground. Durvasa grew furious and called Indra wicked, proud and drunk on his wealth.
5. 1.9.5Durvasa says Indra should have bowed, thanked him gladly and worn the blessed garland. Because Indra did not, Durvasa curses him to lose his heavenly good fortune. He accuses Indra of thinking himself too great and treating him like any ordinary priest.
6. 1.9.6Durvasa adds that because Indra threw his gift to the ground, all three worlds will lose their good fortune. He reminds Indra that all living things fear him when he is angry, yet Indra insulted him out of pride.
7. 1.9.7Indra quickly got off his elephant and humbly begged Durvasa's pardon. Durvasa refused. He said he was not gentle or forgiving like other sages such as Gautama, whose praise had only made Indra proud.
8. 1.9.8Durvasa says the praise and kindness of sages like Vasishtha made Indra vain enough to insult him. He says nobody can face his angry face and fiery matted hair without fear. He will not forgive, so Indra's pleading is useless.
9. 1.9.9Durvasa left, and Indra rode back to his city, Amaravati. From then on the three worlds lost their good fortune and their glory faded. Sacrifices and healing plants grew weak, and people stopped worshipping, practicing self-discipline and giving to charity.
10. 1.9.10People became weak and were ruled by their desires. They could not control themselves even in small things. The passage explains that strength and prosperity go together. Without them goodness fades, and those without power and wealth are pushed around by everyone.
11. 1.9.11People who are overpowered lose their good sense. With the worlds weakened, the Daityas and Danavas, demon enemies of the gods, were driven by greed. They began to attack the gods.
12. 1.9.12The demons defeated Indra and the other gods. Led by Agni, the fire god, the gods went to Brahma, the creator and grandfather of all, for protection. Brahma answered them.
13. 1.9.13Brahma tells the gods to seek shelter with Vishnu. Vishnu is the supreme Lord who creates, protects and ends all things. He defeats the demons and removes the suffering of the humble. Brahma promises Vishnu will help them.
14. 1.9.14Brahma led all the gods to the northern shore of the Ocean of Milk. There he praised Vishnu, also called Hari, with beautiful words.
15. 1.9.15Brahma praises Vishnu, also called Narayana, as the Lord of everything. He is endless and never born, and he holds up the worlds. He is smaller than the smallest thing and greater than the greatest. All things come from him, and yogis meditate on him to be set free. He is beyond the qualities of nature.
16. 1.9.16Brahma prays for Vishnu's kindness. He calls Vishnu the purest of all and the first Being. He says Vishnu is not limited by time, even its tiniest units. Vishnu is the soul in every body, and he is both the cause and the result of everything.
17. 1.9.17Brahma bows to Vishnu as the cause behind every cause and the result of every result, all the way down. Vishnu is both the maker and what is made.
18. 1.9.18Brahma bows to Vishnu's highest state, which is pure awareness. It is eternal, never decays and has no cause. It is neither large nor tiny and cannot be divided. All the energy of the universe rests in just a tiny fraction of him.
19. 1.9.19Brahma says that not even the gods, the sages, he himself or Shiva (Sankara) fully know Vishnu's highest state. Dedicated yogis glimpse it through the sacred sound Om once their good and bad deeds are used up. Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva are all forms of his power.
20. 1.9.20Brahma begs Vishnu, the refuge of all, to be kind and show himself to his devotees. The gods then bow too. They ask Vishnu to appear and praise him as present in everything, a state even Brahma cannot fully know.
21. 1.9.21After Brahma and the gods finish their prayer, the divine sages led by Vrihaspati (teacher of the gods) also praise Vishnu. They call him the first being, the creator, the one honored in every sacrifice and the lord of past and future. They humbly ask him to show himself to them.
22. 1.9.22The sages point out all the gods who have come to Vishnu: Brahma, Shiva (Trilochana, the three-eyed one) with the Rudras, the Sun, Fire, the Ashvin twins, the Vasus, the Maruts and Indra, king of the gods. They explain that the demons (Daityas) have beaten all these gods, and now they humbly come to Vishnu for shelter.
23. 1.9.23Parashara, telling the story to his student Maitreya, says Vishnu then appeared before the gods, holding his conch, discus and mace and shining with power. The gods, led by Brahma, bowed low, their eyes trembling with awe, and began to praise him as Pundarikaksha, the lotus-eyed one.
24. 1.9.24The gods tell Vishnu that he is everything. He is Brahma, Shiva (holder of the bow Pinaka), Indra, Fire, Wind, Varuna, the Sun and Yama, and all the other gods too. Even the gods standing before him are really part of him, because he is in all things, including sacrifice itself.
25. 1.9.25The gods say Vishnu fills the whole universe, and some of him can be known and some cannot. Beaten by the demons, they ask him for his strength. They say that suffering, worry about enemies, confusion and misery go on only until a person turns to him for protection, so they beg for his grace.
26. 1.9.26Pleased, Vishnu (also called Hari) promises to make the gods strong again. He tells them to work with the demons to bring healing herbs to the Ocean of Milk. They should use Mount Mandara as a churning stick and the serpent Vasuki as the rope, and churn the ocean for amrita, the drink of immortality, with his help.
27. 1.9.27Vishnu tells the gods to make peace with the demons and ask for their help, promising them a share of the reward. The amrita will make the gods strong and immortal. But Vishnu says he will make sure the demons do the hard work and do not get the amrita.
28. 1.9.28The gods followed Vishnu's advice and made peace with the demons. Together they threw healing herbs into the white Ocean of Milk. Using Mount Mandara as the stick and Vasuki the serpent as the rope, they began to churn.
29. 1.9.29On Krishna's (Vishnu's) advice, the gods held the serpent's tail and the demons held its head. The fiery breath from Vasuki's head made the demons weak. Clouds blown by his breath rained on the tail end and refreshed the gods.
30. 1.9.30Vishnu took the form of a giant tortoise and held up the mountain from below in the middle of the ocean. He also took one form among the gods and another among the demons to help pull the serpent. In yet another huge form, which no one could see, he held the mountain from above.
31. 1.9.31Vishnu gave strength to the serpent and to the gods. As the churning went on, the first thing to rise was Surabhi, the holy cow who gives butter for offerings. Gods and demons alike were thrilled and stared at her.
32. 1.9.32Next came Varuni, goddess of wine, her eyes rolling as if drunk. Then rose the Parijata tree, filling the world with fragrance, followed by many beautiful Apsaras (heavenly dancers). Then the Moon came up, and Shiva (Maheshwara) took him.
33. 1.9.33The serpents took the poison that came up from the ocean. Then Dhanvantari, the divine healer, rose dressed in white, carrying a water pot full of amrita, and everyone was overjoyed. Then the goddess Sri (Lakshmi, goddess of fortune) rose, sitting on an open lotus and holding a lotus.
34. 1.9.34The great sages joyfully sang the Sri Sukta hymn to Lakshmi, and heavenly musicians sang before her. Heavenly dancers danced, the sacred rivers like the Ganga brought water to bathe her, and a great elephant poured water over her from golden pots.
35. 1.9.35The Ocean of Milk took a body and gave Lakshmi a garland of lotuses that never fade, and Vishwakarma, the divine craftsman, gave her jewels. Dressed and adorned, she went to Vishnu (Hari) in front of everyone and rested on his chest. When she looked at the gods, they suddenly felt great joy.
36. 1.9.36Lakshmi did not look at the demons, who always ignored Vishnu, and they grew very worried. The demons grabbed Dhanvantari's pot of amrita. Then Vishnu took the form of a beautiful woman, charmed them, got the pot back and gave it to the gods.
37. 1.9.37Indra (Sakra) and the gods drank the amrita. The demons attacked them with swords, but the gods, now strong, beat them back, and the demons fled to the underworld. Bowing to Vishnu, the gods again ruled the heavens.
38. 1.9.38After this, the Sun moved on its proper path again, and the stars and planets went back to their orbits. Fire burned brightly, and all creatures began to care about doing right. The three worlds were blessed again, and Indra shone with glory once more.
39. 1.9.39Back on his throne, Indra praised Lakshmi, the lotus-born mother of all beings who rests on Vishnu's chest. He said she is success, nectar, the sacred offering words, dawn and dusk, light, wealth, intelligence, faith and Saraswati, goddess of learning.
40. 1.9.40Indra goes on saying Lakshmi is every kind of knowledge: knowledge of sacrifice, of the soul, of God, logic, the three Vedas, farming and trade, and the rules of government. She gives freedom from rebirth, and the whole world is full of her gentle and fierce forms.
41. 1.9.41Indra keeps praising Sri (Lakshmi, goddess of fortune and Vishnu's wife). He says only she can live with Vishnu. When she left, the three worlds almost fell apart, and her return saved them. Every good thing people have, like family, friends, homes, food and money, comes from her kind look.
42. 1.9.42Indra says that health, wealth, victory over enemies and happiness come easily to people Sri looks upon. She is the mother of all beings, just as Vishnu (Hari) is their father. Together they have filled the whole universe from the start.
43. 1.9.43Indra admits that without Sri nothing is safe: not money, animals, houses, clothes, bodies, family or friends. He says a person she abandons also loses goodness, truth, purity and good character.
44. 1.9.44Indra says that people Sri looks upon become respected, wise, brave and admired, even if they had no special qualities before. People she turns away from lose their good qualities at once. Even the gods cannot describe all her greatness. He ends by begging her never to leave him.
45. 1.9.45The sage Parashara tells how Sri, pleased with Indra's hymn, offered him any wish. Indra (also called Satakratu) asked first that she never leave the three worlds again.
46. 1.9.46Indra's second wish is that Sri never abandon anyone who praises her with this same hymn. Sri agrees to both wishes. She promises never to leave the three worlds and never to be displeased with anyone who chants the hymn.
47. 1.9.47Parashara explains to his student Maitreya that Sri was first born as the daughter of the sage Bhrigu and his wife Khyati. Later she came up out of the ocean when the gods churned it. Whenever Vishnu (Janardana) is born in a new form on earth, Sri is also born to help him.
48. 1.9.48Sri always takes a form that matches Vishnu's. When he came as the dwarf Vamana, she came as a lotus. With Parasurama she was the Earth, with Rama she was Sita, and with Krishna she was Rukmini. If he is a god she is a goddess, and if he is human she is human.