Week 11 Reading Diary: The Churning of the Ocean

For this week’s reading guide I am going to study a variety sources in order to learn more about the god Vishnu. Kurma is Vishnu’s turtle avatar who happens to be the main character of my storybook.

I started out my research on Vishnu by watching Vishnu’s Secret, the 6th video in the series 7 Secrets of Hindu Calendar Art by Devdutt Pattanaik. The main idea of Vishnu’s Secret is that detached engagement brings order.

Next, I read the guide to The Churning of the Ocean, which provides the story behind Vishnu’s avatar Kurma. As the story goes, Durvasa received a floral garland from an apsara, which is some kind of feminine spirit similar to an angel. Durvasa gifts this garland to Indra, king of gods. Indra then gives the garland to his elephant Airavata who tramples it (see Indra and Airavata in the image below). Known for his short temper, Durvasa is enraged by Indra and Airavata’s lack of reverence for the ethereal garland and dispels the strength of the gods. This causes the natural world to grow weak.

Indra on his mythological white elephant, Airavata. Source: Wikipedia. 

The natural world is occupied by both devtas, or gods, and asuras, or demons. Because Durvasa has taken away much of the gods’ strength, the asuras are able to take control of the natural world. Amrita, the nectar of immortality, makes the devtas immortal and comes from the “ocean of milk.” Likewise, Sanjivani Vidya allows the asuras to wake the dead. This makes their powers equal but opposite – thus, detached engagement brings order. Vishnu and the devtas repair the world by churning the “ocean of milk,” but Mount Mandara begins to sink. Vishnu turns into his turtle avatar Kurma, who becomes the base of the mountain on which the world sits.