Week 10 Storytelling: Shiva's Sacrifice

Long ago, there were many battles between the gods and asuras for power over the universe. These battles usually ended in stalemates, but occasionally, the gods would pull out a victory that further established their place as rulers of the cosmos. After countless battles, the asuras finally started to win some conflicts and began to truly challenge the gods for dominance. Many gods and asuras lost their lives to this eternal war, but the gods had a plan to ensure that they would never lose to the asuras again.

                Following many consecutive defeats, Vishnu approached the king of asuras, King Bali, and proposed a peace treaty on the conditions that the gods would relinquish control of the universe to the asuras. King Bali was ecstatic with this proposition and immediately signed the treaty. Vishnu then went on to suggest that they should purify the nectar of immortality from the Ocean of Milk so that both the asuras and gods would live forever. Of course King Bali agreed, seeing that if the asuras were immortal they would never have to worry about the gods rising up again.

                Now, Vishnu knew that in order to purify the nectar of immortality he would need the help of the asuras, but he had no plans of sharing the nectar with them. There were many dangers associated with churning the Ocean of Milk, such as the production of a deadly poison that accompanied the purification process and Vishnu was going to use this poison to his advantage.

                In order to churn the Ocean of Milk, Vasuki, the serpent king that resided around the neck of Shiva, was wrapped around a mountain and pulled back and forth to mix the ocean. The asuras demanded to hold the head of Vasuki, while the gods took the tail. After many hours of churning, poisonous fumes started to arise from the surface. Vishnu instructed all of the gods to hold their breath, but the asuras did not know of the dangerous fumes and they continued to breathe normally. The poison killed a vast majority of the asuras and the survivors ran for their lives.

Wikimedia: The Churning of the Ocean of Milk

                With the asuras out of the picture, the gods were able to collect the nectar and separate the poison from it. All the gods knew that this was the most powerful poison ever created and even the nectar was not able to counteract its effects. If this poison was not destroyed, it would destroy the universe that the gods had just regained back from the asuras. Knowing that the cosmos were in great peril, Vishnu sought out the assistance of Shiva.

                Being told of the danger, Shiva took it upon himself to consume the poison to protect the universe. He took all of the poison and began to swallow, but his wife, Parvati, grabbed his throat in an effort to prevent him from ingesting the harmful liquid. Parvati held her hands tight on Shiva’s neck for many years until the poison had harmlessly evaporated. During this time, Shiva’s throat had turned blue and he was dubbed Neelakantha, the blue-throated one. Shiva’s blue throat now serves as a reminder of his great sacrifice for the preservation of the universe.

Bibliography:

Shiva's Secret Part 2 from Pattanaik's Seven Secrets of Hindu Calendar Art (2009)

Sumadra Manthan from Wikipedia

Author's Note:

I was really intrigued by a short segment from Shiva's Secret Part 2, where it touched on a story about how Shiva swallowed a poison to save the universe. I then went back to the reading guide and found a link to a Wikipedia page that explained the story a little more thoroughly. I kept the plot from the original story the same, but it is important to note that in some versions of this story, the poison is emitted from Vasuki and not formed from the churning of the ocean.