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 Yet what emerges first from within is always the equivalent of the
dark side, the repressed and suppressed aspects of the self and the corrosive anger
that attaches itself to these things. This is known in the myth as Halahala or Kalakuta,
the worst poison known to the universe, liberated from the depths and instantly
wreaking havoc on the unprepared churners. The myth is honest enough to admit that
even Vishnu could not deal with this calamity. It required Shiva to race to the edge
of the ocean and gather up the poison and swallow it. In this he was enacting
his old role as Rudra, the Outsider God, the one who bears the dark side of all
the other divinities (called Devas), and as a consequence of such understanding
and integration of all sides of the psyche rose to become Mahadeva, the Great God.
Rudra did not even get a share of the sacrifices, but somehow he was the one they
would always turn to, when the Dark got too much for them. As always he came through
for them, and the Kalakuta was permanently lodged in his throat, turning the white
skin there a deep blue and giving him one of his famous names, Neelkantha, the 'Blue-throated'.
In yogic terms this means that Shiva, the primal guru, hence all gurus, is present
to handle the consequences of the emergence of the disciples' deep emotional states.
It does not mean that he dispenses with the need for the disciple to honestly examine
the assurgent memories and dark aspects of the psyche that were revealed,
he merely defers them till a more convenient time when the disciple is more capable
and mature enough to look at his flaws without cracking up. That is why they are
stored in the throat, traditionally the center for communication. The guru will
certainly be talking to his disciple about what came up later. But the next thing
that came up is even more meaningful from a psychological perspective.
After the poison, the next to surface was the Goddess of Wine and Intoxicants, Varuni.
This is the dangerous stage in all spiritual practices, you overcome the first level
of cleansing and you feel so pleased with yourself that the sensation is indeed
akin to intoxication. Many aspirants are stuck permanently here, glorifying in a
self-awarded odor of sanctity. Varuni was not claimed by anybody so she spread her
dominion across the entire world. Then came the celestial cow Surabhi, a sort of
bovine horn of plenty, which the great sages took for their religious rites. Parijatha,
the divine wish-fulfilling tree arose and on its own accord took root in heaven.
The Apsaras, the celestial nymphs followed the tree by default, they are one of
the great pleasurable wishes granted by the Parijatha! The Moon came next which
Shiva took to wear as an ornament on his head.
Interestingly another type of poison or, rather, an innumerable variety of poisons
emerged yet again but their power and intensity were nothing compared to the Halahala.
The snakes took this venomous gift as their due and also nobody else wanted it.
The Goddess of Fortune, Shri Laxmi, arose next. While everybody wanted her to choose
him she selected Vishnu and her power was not to be denied. It is interesting that
just before Laxmi emerges, another set of poisons have to be endured. They
are the secondary cleansing that has to be done before Fortune chooses you for her
own. You may have dealt with all the major issues of your life but there remain
innumerable petty ones, not catastrophically powerful but strong enough to cause
damage unless faced down. The instinctive psychological wisdom of the tale is revealed
in this one telling detail.
By now, as may be expected, the demons were muttering and grumbling. So many great
and delightful things were surfacing and they had not got any of it. However, they
still had their eyes on the main chance - Amritha the Nectar of Immortality. If
they got that, then the other gifts of the ocean would not matter. Finally there
arose from the waves, Dhanvantari, destined to become the physician of the devas,
bearing in his hands a jar containing the nectar. The quick-witted demons snatched
it and ran to a corner of the shore to gloat over their prize. It was clear they
had no intention of keeping faith with the devas any more than the latter had planned
on keeping with them. A battle looked imminent when Vishnu appeared in the second
form of this double avatar as Mohini the enchantress. (For details see our
article on Mohini) Struck dumb
by her beauty and captivated by her offer to arbitrate the dispute, with the added
incentive that she would marry one of the demons when her task of dividing the nectar
was over, the bedazzled demons waited in patience. Mohini made sure that the Amritha
was exhausted by the time she came to the last deva. The furious demons took up
arms, but invigorated by the immortal drink, the gods routed them with ease and
drove the survivors into the depths of the ocean.
It seems likely that the jar was one of those which kept replenishing itself, for
in later myths the gods have an elaborate security system to protect the jar containing
Amritha and they periodically take a deep draught. The story was not over here either,
for the Sun and Moon gods found the demon Rahu, having cunningly transformed himself
into a serpent, was licking the few drops of Amritha left in the jar. (This is an
eerie echo of the Epic of Gilgamesh where the Plant of Immortality is brought up
from the depths of Cosmic Waters but the hero falls asleep, allowing a snake to
sniff it and get eternal life, symbolized in the shedding and renewal of skins.)
They at once informed Vishnu of the trick being played on them, and the god, tired
of all his efforts during the course of a very long day, at once cut off the head
of the offender without much ado. However, the Amritha had already rendered his
head immortal and it roams in space, occasionally attacking the sun and moon in
revenge, by swallowing them whole. That is supposed to cause eclipses but since
he does not exist below the neck they slip out in time. Rahu however, keeps up his
futile assaults, angered beyond reason at losing his chance for immortality. It
is a good metaphor for the Dark attempting to overpower the Light; it seems to succeed,
but in the end the light bursts through.
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This myth has entered the consciousness of India in no uncertain terms, and is used
in myriad contexts to "point a moral and adorn a tale", as the saying goes. Strangely
enough, the most spectacular representation of this story is not to be found in India
but in Cambodia, on the great 160 foot relief panel sculpture found in the gigantic
temple of Angkor Vat. The power of the myth is unchanged by the thousands
of kilometers it traveled. The dramatis personae have altered a bit. The gods are
led by Hanuman the Vanara god, who is also one of the great characters in their
version of the Ramayana. The villain of the Ramayana, Ravana, leads the demons.
The rest is more or less the same but the sheer titanic energy the sculpture conveys
is still breathtaking. It is interesting that the kings who built Angkor, worshippers
of Vishnu and indeed supposed to be his literal embodiments on earth, should have
chosen this particular myth out of the countless numbers that were possible to be
displayed. In some corner of the Hindu soul, this particular myth has always resonated
with especial importance and they chose it with instinctive wisdom.
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