Ocean of milk

Kurma Avatar of Vishnu, below Mount Mandara, with Vasuki wrapped around it, during Samudra manthan, the churning of the ocean of milk. ca 1870.

Vishnu and Lakshmi on Shesha Naga over Kshirasagar - Ocean of Milk, ca 1870. painting

In Hindu mythology, the Ocean of Milk (kṣīroda, kṣīradhi or Kshira Sagar) is the place where 13 precious treasures were lost. The gods and demons worked together for a millennium churning the sea to free them.^[1] It is spoken of in the Samudra manthan chapter of the Puranas, a body of ancient Sanskrit legends.

It is also the place where Vishnu reclines over Shesha Naga, along with his consort Lakshmi.

Etymology

"Ocean of Milk" is the English translation of the Sanskrit terms kṣīroda, kṣīradhi or kṣīrasāgara, from kṣīra "milk, curdled milk" and -uda, sāgara "water, ocean" or -dhi "receptacle".

Depiction at Angkor Wat

A bas-relief at the temple of Angkor Wat in Cambodia includes a depiction of devas and asuras working together to stir up the Ocean of Milk in an attempt to free the precious objects lost within, including the elixir of immortality called amrita. The scheme, masterminded by Vishnu, was to wrap the serpent Vasuki around Mount Mandara, and then to rotate the mountain and to churn the surrounding sea in the manner of a gigantic food processor, by alternately pulling on the serpent's head and then on his tail.^[2]

External links

• The story of the churning as told in the epic Mahabharata, here in the online English translation by Kisari Mohan Ganguli at sacred-texts.com.
• The story of the churning as told in the epic Ramayana, here in the online English verse translation by Ralph T.H. Griffith at sacred-texts.com.
• The story of the churning as told in the Vishnu Purana, here in the online English translation by Horace Hayman Wilson at sacred-texts.com.

References

1. ^ "Churning the Ocean of Milk by Michael Buckley". http://www.veloasia.com/library/buckley/churning_milk.html. 
2. ^ "Churning of the Ocean of Milk Travel Guide, Angkor Wat". http://www.asiaexplorers.com/cambodia/angkor/angkorwatmilk.htm. 

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