Maha Shivaratri: Honoring the Blue-Throated One



Churning the Ocean of Milk

Lord Shiva’s Great Night, Maha Shivaratri, honors his many

legendary feats.  One story that will surely be remembered

during this holy event is the Samudra Manthan, which tells of the time that Shiva drank the dreaded Halahala poison in order to save all of creation.

This ancient saga began when Indra, King of the Devatas

(guardian-angel type beings), was cursed by a sage named

Durvasa.  Durvasa was angry because Indra’s elephant had

thrown a holy garland to the ground.  Because of this curse,

the Devas lost a lot of their power and were defeated by the

Asuras (demons).  Lord Vishnu advised the defeated Devas

to act diplomatically toward the Asuras in order to throw them off guard.  Vishnu then assisted the Devas to regain control of the universe by helping them to find Amrit, the nectar of immortality.

Amrit could be obtained by churning the primeval Ocean of Milk.  This Ocean is described in the Puranas, ancient texts which tell the history of the universe.  Vishnu encouraged the Devas and Asuras to work together to churn this Ocean.  They did so, using the Serpent King, Vasuki, for their churning rope.  Vishnu, in his turtle (Kurma) avatar form, also assisted by steadying the churning staff (Mount Mandara) on his back.

Unfortunately, this also stirred up trouble – in the form of a deadly blue poison known as Halahala.  As this poison surfaced from their churning efforts, its fumes threatened to destroy all that exists.  At this crucial point of cosmic history, Vishnu called upon Shiva for help.  Shiva gathered all of the poison into his own palm, and then gulped it down.  His consort, Parvati, was horrified.  She was sure that Shiva would be poisoned if she didn’t act quickly.

Parvati clasped Shiva’s throat firmly enough so that the poison couldn’t travel any farther.  As the Halahala pooled within that sacred space, Shiva’s throat turned blue.  He has been known as Nilakantha (the One with the Blue Throat) ever since.

Moral of the story:  Before you can get Amrit, you have to ingest poison.  (from a Hindi proverb)

Resources

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halahala

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amrita

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ocean_of_Milk

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samudra_manthan

http://www.mahashivratri.org/mahashivaratri-festival.html

http://www.sanatansociety.org/hindu_gods_and_goddesses/shiva.htm

Copyright March 3, 2011 by Linda Van Slyke