Individual verses with meanings
Hari Om.
Let us begin the forty fifth sarga of the bAlakAnDam with offering our prostrations at the lotus feet of SrIrAma and our sathguru.
As sage viSwAmitra continues the history narration as they keep traveling to mithila, in this sarga, he talks about the churning of the milk ocean and the emergence of various beings and entities from that….
Listening to the account of the sacred descent of ganga from the heavens, it’s flow on the earth and the nether world, filling up of the oceans, from the sage viSwAmitra, rAma and lakshmaNa were taken by surprise at the wondrous nature of the events that unfolded. The brothers ruminated on the wonderful and auspicious account given by the great sage viSwAmitra.
The next morning, after the sage had completed his ablutions, rAma prostrated in front of him and expressed his amazement and said “O great ascetic, the glorious night passed out in a jiffy as we kept pondering over the sacred story of ganga worthy of listening as narrated by you. It is time for us to cross this sacred river now. This boat which carries the sages has been brought here upon learning of your advent here”. rAma, lakshmaNa and viSwAmitra accompanied by other sages crossed over to the northern bank of ganga in the boats and paid respect to the sages engaged in sacred asceticism there. Upon crossing the river ganga they beheld the city of viSAla and swiftly entered in to that heavenly city which was delightful and divine! The charming city aroused the curiosity of rAghava and he gently inquired about the history and the royalty which rules over the city.
The eminent sage, repertoire of stories, began narration of the history of the city along with the related legend of indra, the chief of dEvas. He began –
O rAma, in the yore, kRtayuga, diti and aditi had children with different characters. While diti’s children were mighty, those of aditi were righteous and valorous. Both of them began to think of ways to conquer aging, disease and death. In this contemplation, a brainwave flashed in their minds which was to extract immortality-conferring-nectar from the ocean of milk. They collaborated in this effort and using the giant serpent vAsuki as the rope and mountain mandara as the churning rod began churning the ocean of milk. Upon churning for a thousand years, the vAsuki was stressed and started spitting out poison. Soon the deadly poison resembling fire by name hAlahala emerged out of the ocean and began burning down the creation indiscriminately. Neither the sages, nor dEvas nor the demons were spared by it. Soon, the lord of all creation, mahadEva was approached and propitiated by the gods with cries of ‘save us’.
Lord hari appeared there with his characteristic discuss and conch. He led the prayer to trident wielding lord Siva thus – “O lord, you’re the foremost among the dEvas having been present much before any of them were born. Hence, consider accepting the first offering as your right and please accept this venom.” lord Siva was moved by the plight of the dEvas and the words of lord vishNu and partook the deadly poison treating it to be nectar!
As lord Siva returned to his abode, the dEvas and asuras resumed the churning of the milk ocean. Now the churning rod, the majestic mountain mandara sank into the nether worlds. This time dEvas went to lord vishNu and prayed to him to retrieve the mountain and protect them. Lord vishNu responded to their prayers and taking the form of a tortoise held the mountain on his back and enabled further churning. vishNu also stood guard at the mountain among the dEvas and helped churn the ocean of milk.
A thousand more years passed thus. Excellent beings began to emerge from the ocean. First came dhanvantari, the doctor of the gods, carrying a staff (danDa) and kamanDalam (pot carried by ascetics). There after sixty crore beautiful and lustrous women emerged accompanied by innumerable attendants. They were called the apsaras having emerged from waters (called aps) or nymphs (who are experts in dancing). Neither dEvas nor asuras accepted them in marriage. They remained unmarried. Thereafter varuNa’s daughter vAruNi emerged from the ocean carrying the wine and looking for a consort. The dEvas were glad to accept her. Since she carried sura (wine) and dEvas accepted her they came to be known as suras while the demons came to be known as asuras. As the churning continued, the horse uchhaiSrava, jewel koustubha and finally the immortality conferring nectar emerged out of the ocean.
A big fight broke out between suras and asuras for ownership of the nectar. suras vanquished the asuras and the latter grouped together to fight a big war. As the destruction wreaked havoc, lord vishNu took the form of a stunningly charming woman by name mOhini blessed with illusory tricks and swiftly took away the nectar (and gave it away to dEvas rendering them immortal). Those demons who dared oppose vishNu were crushed and the immortal dEvas vanquished the asuras, the children of diti, thus securing the kingdom. indra ruled over the sovereign kingdom of gods in the company of Rshis and gandharvas.
Here we conclude the fortyfifth sarga of the bAlakAnDam of SrImath vAlmiKi rAmAyaNam and humbly offer it at the lotus feet of SrIrAma. Hari: Om!
jAi SrIrAma.
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rAmabhaktisAmrAjyam 