In Chinese and Japanese mythology, the serpent Vasuki is known as one of the Eight Great Dragon Kings. The Gods regained their immortality, and the Universe went rolling along. Within the wink of a Kohl lined eye, Mohini was gone.
So Mohini goes to the Demons, does a little nudge-nudge wink-wink, and while the Demons are watching her, they take their eyes of the Elixir. In this form, (S)he is known as Mohini, and while this is the only female Avatar of Vishnu, it’s one that He uses many times again – even using this form to seduce Shiva – but that’s another story.
Vishnu took on a new form that of the most beautiful woman imaginable. As a result, many images of Shiva depict Him with a blue spot on His throat.Īs they continued churning, the mountain began to sink at this point, Vishnu assumed His second Avatar, that of a giant tortoise, and dove beneath the ocean to hold the mountain up on His back.įinally, the Elixir of Immortality was brought forth. At one point, a world consuming poison rose from the foam Shiva swallowed it, and froze it in His neck. Many splendors, and just as many horrors came from the water. Using a sacred mountain as a churning rod, and Shiva’s (the God of Destruction) serpent Vasuki, the King of the Snakes, as a rope, the Gods joined forces with their Demon kin, each aligned on either side of the mountain, and proceeded to churn. Vishnu’s advice: churn the Ocean of Milk, a vast cosmic sea that contained the gifts of both life and death.
Not wanting to die, they went to Vishnu, the Hindu God of Preservation. As a result of a perceived slight, the sage in question cursed the Gods to mortality. Now, Vedic sages were more than seekers of knowledge they were quasi-magical in their powers, especially in their curses. Once upon a time, the King of the Gods enraged a sage. As we saw in a prior post, Vishnu’s first manifestation was a fish named Matsya that was a flood tale, where as in many a flood tale, one good man was instructed to build an ark.įor the second Avatar of Vishnu, the story is centered on Gods and Demons.