The Churning of the Ocean : The deeper

symbolism and the Inner Psychological

Interpretation

Most Hindus are familiar with the story of sagar manthan or the churning

of the ocean. The story goes like this. Once Indra - thye king of the demigods

- lost his kingdom due to a curse owing to the disrespect shown to a sage -

Durvasa. Indra approached Lord Vishnu who advised him to seek the help

of the demons to churn the ocean of milk (ksheera sagar) so that he and the

devas can partake the amrita (ambrosia) which would make them immortal

and help them regain their lost kingdom. Heeding the advise, the devas

approached the demons and they all agreed in the end to churn the ocean of

milk. They sought the help of mount Mandhara and the great snake Vasuki

for this purpose.

Vasuki, the snake god, was used as the rope andMandhara, the mountain,

as the churning stick to churn the ocean. While they were churning this great

ocean Lord Vishnu assumed the form of a tortoise and held the Mandhara

from sinking. While the churning was going on several wonderful objects

came out of the ocean. The �rst to come out was halahal, the deadly poison,

which threatened to engulf the worlds and destroy them. While no one was

willing to accept the poison, Lord Shiva came forward to accept it.

He swallowed it and Parvathi who was standing besides him pressed his

neck as he swallowed it and prevented it from going into his stomach. Thus

the poison remained stuck for ever in his neck - neither going up into his

mind nor going down into his stomach. Then came Kamadhenu (the wish

ful�lling cow), the Ucchaisrava (the white horse), Airavata (the white ele-

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Fig. 1:

phant), Kaustubhamani ( a rare diamond), Kalpavriksha (the wish ful�lling

tree), Lakshmi (the goddess of wealth), Sura or Varuni (the goddess of wine),

and �nally Dhanvantari (the divine physician) with the vessel of Amrita in

his skilful hands. These objects except the last one were divided between

the devas and the demons. The nectar of immortality was of course �nally

denied to the demons and was distributed among the gods only, through a

�ne act of trickery enacted by Lord Vishnu, who assumed the form of Mohini

to delude the demons and make them forget temporarily all about the amrit,

while he went on distributing it among the gods who took it. Because of

the e�ects of amrit, they not only became immortal but also defeated the

demons summarily. This is the story of churning of the oceans in brief.

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Now to the Richer symbolism hidden in this story - Like all

of Indian Vedic and Puranic literature speaking to us simultaneously across

multiple planes - The story represents the spiritual endeavor of man for

gaining immortality through the e�orts of concentration of the mind, the

withdrawal of senses, the control of desires and practice of austerities and

asceticism. The gods represent the pleasure principle in ourselves. The

demons represent the pain principle. The gods also represent the senses,

while the demons the evil and negative thoughts and impulses. The partic-

ipation of both the devas and the demons signify the fact that when one is

seeking immortality through the spiritual practice one has to integrate and

harmonize both the positive and negative aspects of ones personality and put

both the energies for the common goal. The ocean of milk is the mind or

the human consciousness. The mind is always compared to an ocean (mano

sagaram) while the thoughts and emotions to the waves. The mind as an

ocean is in fact a universal symbol, known to other religions and cultures

also Mandhara, the mountain stands for concentration. The word �mand-

hara� contains two words �man� (mind) and �dhara�; (a single line) which

means holding the mind in one line. This is possible only during mental

e�orts of concentration.

The mountain mandhara was upheld by Lord Vishnu as a Tortoise. The

tortoise here stands for the withdrawal of the senses into one self as one

practices mental concentration and meditation or contemplation. It also

suggests that the mind should rest itself upon or freely surrender itself to

the divine will. The great serpent Vasuki stands for desire. The desire is

always compared to a thousand hooded serpent. The Vasuki used in the

churning of the ocean denotes that the devas and the demons held desire

(to seek immortality) as a rope and churned the mind with the help of

concentration and withdrawal of the senses. You can hold desire in your

hands and manipulate it only when you have control over your desires. So -

control of desires is suggested through this symbolism.

The halahal represents su�ering and pain we undergo at the beginning

of spiritual sadhana. When the mind is subjected to intense churning by op-

posing forces, the �rst thing that comes out of the process is intense su�ering

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and great inner turmoil. We are told by many that when an initiate starts

his spiritual sadhana he faces a number of di�culties. The problems become

intensi�ed because of inner con�icts, where one part yearns to pursue the

spiritual path while the other opposes it. In the initial stages of sadhana

a seeker's mind throws out all kinds of reactions, negative thoughts, desires

and impulses out into open so that he can deal with them appropriately.

These problems comprise all forms of both physical and mental su�ering

- any further spiritual progress is not possible without resolution of these.

In short we can say that halahal is the instability of the body and the mind

that arise as a counter reaction against one's spiritual practice.

Lord Shiva represents the ascetic principle. He is the destroyer of illu-

sion, one who is innerly detached, pure and austere. His role in this story

as the consumer of poison suggests that one can deal with the early prob-

lems of spiritual life, such as the instability of the mind and its restlessness,

by cultivating the qualities of Lord Shiva, namely, courage, initiative, will-

ingness, discipline, simplicity, austerity, detachment compassion, pure love

and asceticism. Alternatively it also means gaining control over the mind

through breath control. Lord Shiva is controller of breath. He is prananath,

or praneshwar, Lord of the Breath. In spiritual sadhana, it is essential that

one gains complete mastery over ones breathing pattern. Many spiritually

advanced souls have the capacity to hold their breath in their throat, near

the palate, as they meditate

The various objects that came out of the ocean during the churning stand

for the psychic or spiritual powers (siddhis) which one gains as he progresses

spiritually from stage to stage. These siddhis are spiritual powes which come

to a seeker as he progresses on the spiritual path. We are told that a seeker

is to be careful about these powers as they can hamper his progress unless

he uses them judiciously, not for his sel�sh gains but for welfare of others.

This is the reason why the gods and demons distributed these powers among

others without keeping anything for themselves as they did not want to lose

sight of their original aim which was to gain immortality.

Dhanvantarari stands for health. The vessel containing the amrit was

brought before the gods and the demons by Dhanvantari, the divine physi-

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cian. This signi�es that immortality can be achieved only when the body

and the mind are in a perfect state of health. Spiritual success is not possible

in case of a person who is mentally or physically sick or whose gross body is

not �t for receiving divine illumination. Lord Vishnu in the form of Mohini

stands for delusion of the mind in the form of pride. It is the pride of achieve-

ment to which the asuras or the demons succumbed and thus lost their right

to enter into the world of immortality. Pride and Ego are the last hurdles

one has to overcome in spiritual life before experiencing self-realization.

Adapted from source : http://www.hinduwebsite.com/churning.asp