The deity Vishnu's second avatar or incarnation.
The Tortoise avatar, like all of Vishnu's avatars, was born
at a period of crisis and was tasked with restoring cosmic balance that had
been thrown out of whack.
The philosopher Durvasas, who had cursed the gods to become
human and their celestial lustre to fade, was the root of difficulty in this instance.
To counter this, the gods and demons agreed to jointly churn
the Ocean of Milk in order to acquire the nectar of immortality, which would be
distributed evenly.
The churning picture above is based on ancient dairy
procedures, in which the person churning rotates a churning paddle with a
string.
The churning, on the other hand, is on a cosmic scale in
this case: Mount Mandara, the earth's center mountain, is the churning stick;
the celestial snake Vasuki, who encircles the globe, is the churning string;
and Vishnu himself, in the shape of a tortoise, descends to the ocean's depths
to provide a secure basis for the churning stick.
Vasuki is dragged back and forth by the gods and demons,
spinning the mountain and churning the Ocean of Milk.
The Ocean of Milk is separated into numerous components,
both good and negative, as a result of the churning.
The deadly halahala poison, for example, is neutralized by Shiva
holding it in his throat.
The Kaustubha gem, the wishing cow Surabhi, the goddess Lakshmi,
and eventually the god's physician, Dhanvantari, who comes from the sea with
the jug carrying the nectar of immortality, are among the other items.
The demons seize the pot of nectar and attempt to flee, but
Vishnu disguises himself as the enchantress Mohini and tricks the demons into
returning the jug to her.
She hands the pot over to the gods, who flee with the demons
hard on their tails.
According to more recent traditions, the gods stop at four
different holy places on earth during their flight—Allabad, Haridwar, Ujjain,
and Nasik—over the course of a twelve-day (divine) period; this latter incident
is cited as the charter myth for the twelve-year celebration of the Kumbha Mela
at these sites (because a divine day is believed to equal a human year).
The gods eventually escape their pursuers and divide the
nectar among themselves, but they are unaware that the demon Sainhikeya has
disguised himself among them.
The sun and moon alert Vishnu, who uses his discus to chop
off the demon's head as the monster starts to drink.
Because they have come into touch with the nectar,
Sainhikeya's two parts become eternal, and both half are regarded malicious
celestial beings: the head as Rahu, the body as Ketu.
Rahu has a special dislike for the sun and moon, whom he
blames for his death, and wants to devour them anytime he encounters them in
the heavens.
He always succeeds, but they escape unhurt through Rahu's
severed neck since he no longer has a body to digest them.
This is, of course, the traditional explanation for solar
and lunar eclipses; the malevolent Rahu's relationship with eclipses has led to
eclipses being regarded as particularly unfavorable occasions.
See also churning of the ocean.
