Mandalam Musings Day 19- Redemption from Sage Durvasa's Curse

 

Mandalam Musings Day 19-

Redemption from Sage Durvasa's Curse

Indra was terrified thinking about the future of heaven and the Devas. He was going to be affected the most by the curse. His power and influence would be gone and Asuras, the rival cousins who are ruthless and adharmic, are going to take over!  He apologized and begged for the sage’s forgiveness. Finally, the Sage gave him the concession to redeem the Devas from the curse he had bestowed upon them. “Ok, if you churn the milky ocean and get the nectar of immortality, Amrut, from it, it will save you from old age and decay. By drinking the nectar, you can be young and beautiful as you were. However, please know that no one is free from the karmic consequences. You will end up suffering for some time, as this moment is for the Asuras to reign. You had your turn for a long time, and you blew the opportunity at the end.”

The Devas (gods) are not very active physically and they have a hard time with manual labor. They are known as connoisseurs of music and dances and their natural tendencies are more intellectual in nature. They convened and strategized a way to accomplish the task at hand that requires quite an effort.  Obviously, it is not easy to churn the milky ocean.

For any activity to be successful, there must be proper materials and implements to do the job, and there must be enough muscle power.  So, they invited Asuras (demons), their arch enemies, to help in the venture. Devas and Asuras had fought many a war and usually, they end up taking turns in governing the universe for a certain duration. Some eons were under Devas’ rule and other periods were controlled by Asuras. They do not trust each other and always looked at each other with suspicion.

Naturally, during the negotiation talks, the Asuras asked, “What is there in it for us?”

“We will share the nectar of immortality, Amrut, equally. Devas said. “So, you can also live forever and be equally happy as we are.”

The Asuras agreed and together they gathered all the materials required to start the project. To churn the ocean, they needed a big churner – jointly they lifted and moved the Mantara hill and installed it at the center of the ocean.  They needed a long and strong rope to wind around the hill to turn it. The serpent Vasuki was approached for this and she agreed to be the rope because it was for a good cause, a joint venture effort by two quarreling factions!

Asuras were enthusiastic in the project work as their scheme was to steal the nectar for themselves once the Amrut appears at the end of the churning process. They had schemed for it and obviously, they wanted to become immortal, more powerful, and more intelligent than the Devas. The Devas were also not very pious in their plans; they too had a thing up their sleeves.