While growing up in a religious Hindu family, I have heard many stories of Devas, Asuras, Devatas and Rakshashas. I have also grown up watching stories from Ramayana, Mahabharata and Vishnu Purana on television. One of those stories made a mark on my mind. The story of Samudra Manthan.
Samudra Manthan or the churning of the ocean is one unique occasion when the Devas and their arch-nemesis, the Asuras, unite for an important reason. Devas and Asuras churned the ocean in pursuit of Amrit.
The churning of the ocean was a result of a curse by Sage Durvasa. Once, he offered a garland to Indra, the king of Devas. Indra accepted the garland and showed his happiness, putting the garland on his elephant, Airavata, as an ornament. Airavata, irritated by the scent of the garland, picked it with his trunk and threw it on the ground. Durvasa was furious and cursed Indra and the Devas to lose their kingdom, power, and glory.
As a result, Indra’s mighty vahana instantly went into oblivion. Lakshmi, the goddess of fortune, could no longer stay in the same realm as the Devas, and parted ways with her consort, Vishnu. She made the depths of Kshir Sagar her new home. Due to Lakshmi’s absence in Devlok, the Devas lost all their riches.
Robbed of their power, the Devas were soon defeated by the Asuras in battle. The defeated Devas approached Lord Vishnu for a solution, who advised them to churn Kshir Sagar, to obtain Amrit. Amrit or the elixir of immortality would help the Devas regain their powers. The Asuras willingly offered to assist their half-brothers since they too wanted immortality and invincible powers by consuming Amrit.
Mount Mandara was used to churn the ocean, which was kept afloat in the ocean by Kurma, Vishnu’s turtle avatar. The Naga king, Vasuki, became the churning rope. Several precious items, ratnas, emerged from the cosmic ocean; which were distributed amongst the Devas, the Asuras and the Sages.
Here, I don’t want to talk about all the Ratnas that were discovered in the churning. Instead I want to talk about the first thing that emerged out of the churning. Halahal, the first thing that came out from the churning.
The Halahal was a deadly poison that had the potential to destroy all beings in the three realms. None amongst the armies of Asuras and Devas stepped in to stop the poison from spreading into the universe as they feared the poison would destroy them too. Lord Shiva descended from Mount Kailash to consume the poison. Goddess Parvati, Shiva’s consort, used her powers to stop the Halahal in Shiva’s throat, and as a result, his throat turned blue. Thus he came to be called Neelkanth.
In modern days, do we ever do Samudra manthan? In our corporate or social organizations, we need to churn out ideas using brainstorming sessions. Is it similar to this Samudra manthan? And what is the first thing that comes out during our brainstorming? The doubts, the negative comments, the questions. All these are not much different from the Halahal that appeared during the Samudra manthan.
Do you even wonder why did Shiva hand to consume the Halahal? Couldn’t they just discard it? No. They couldn’t. Because the Halahal would have destroyed the entire universe. Exactly like the doubts and questions arising through the brainstorming can. You can’t discard or ignore these. You need to consume these doubts, which means understand them. Only when you understand the questions and doubts, is when you can achieve your goals.
But what about the act of keeping Halahal only at throat? Does that give a subtle message about how the doubts need to be tackled? Yes, it does. Even when Shiva consumed the Halahal, Parvati made sure that the Halahal doesn’t affect Shiva’s body. We also need someone on our teams, who can keep the Halahal at bay and does not let it affect the whole company or social organization. We need someone who can help settle these doubts at a point of no damage.
Now the most important question is who is the Shiva in your company or social organization? Who is the one who can consume this Halahal and help everyone else go ahead with churning out the Ratnas from the brainstorming?
In Vishnu Puran, there was only one Shiva who consumed the Halahal. But in today’s scenario, every one of us has to be the Shiva. Because somewhere, every single person needs to understand the doubts rising inside mind, and also those coming from outside.
So, I wish everyone of you to become Nilkanth. Be the Nilkanth of your organization and take it on a path of progress.