The Samudra Manthan is one of the ancient Hindu scriptures’ most holy and important stories. The Samundra Manthan produced some powerful, holy things with some deadly and dangerous things.
The main reason for Samundra Manthan was to obtain a powerful weapon or things that gave power or made Asura and Devas immortal. Many things came out of Samundra Manthan, including in many epics and stories of the Hindu religion.
Both the Asuras and Devas performed the Samundra Manthan, which produced 14 Ratanas that have huge significance for humanity.
In this article, we will discuss the 14 Ratnas of Samundra Manthan and their benefits.
Significance of Samundra Manthan:
The Samundra Manthan has a huge significance for the Hindus as it was one of the main events of earth according to the Hindu Scripture. The Samundra Manthan has a role in almost all stories of the Hindu religion.
The 14 elements that came out of Samundra Manthan were so sacred and powerful which helped Devas to win over the Asura, which marked the victory of good over evil. The Samundra Manthan.
Story of Samundra Manthan:
The story of Samundra Manthan starts with the King of heaven, Indra once he reaches Sage Durvasa who offers him a divine garland that was given to him by a nymph. Indra accepted the garland and placed it in the trunk of his elephant Airavat, Airawat was irritated by some bees in his trunk and threw the garland on the ground.
Seeing this, Sage Durvasa got angry at the pride of Lord Indra and cursed him and other gods to lose all their power, wealth, fortune, and strength. The curse of Sage Durvasa made all gods powerless against the Asuras. All the Gods Lakshmi went to Lord Vishnu for the solution to the curse.
There Lord Vishnu Suggests they perform the Samundra Manthan to get the Amrit( Elixir) so that they can get their power and fortune back and become immortal again to win over the Asura to maintain the peace in the universe.
Who was included in the Samundra Manthan?
Many Gods and Asuras joined the Samaundra Manthan including the three main Gods of Hindus, Shiva, Vishnu, and Brahma. Lord Vishnu took the form of a giant celestial tortoise, the Kurma. The king of serpents, Vasuki, and the mountain Manadara used to perform the divine churning of the great ocean.
Many gods, animals, and celestial beings joined the Samundra Manthan on one side, and Asura, Daitya, Daanawa, and many other evil powers joined it on the other side. The churning of the great ocean Ksheer Sagar took lots of power from both sides of Asuras and Devas.
List of 14 Ratnas and their importance:
The churning of the great ocean Ksheer Sagar produced 14 divinely powerful and important elements, which were crucial to maintaining the balance of the universe. Some of the elements like the Amrit were powerful enough to make anyone immortal and more powerful. If these powerful elements went into the wrong hands it could cause destruction.
Here is the list of 14 Ratna with their importance:
1. Halahal the Poison:
Halahal or Kalakoot was a deadly poison that came first from the churning of the ocean. The Halahal poison was strong enough to kill all the beings from all three realms. No Deva or Asura was able to control the Halahal poison as they were all afraid of it.
Lord Shiva came down from the Kailash Parvat to save the universe from the deadly poison and drank all the poison, Consort of Lord Shiva, Goddess Parvati used her power and stopped the poison in his throat. So that the poison could not enter Shiva’s stomach this gave Lord Shiva a new name of Neelakanth as his throat was completely blue by the poison.
2. Goddess Laxmi:
Laxmi god is the goddess of wealth and prosperity who came out of the Sheer Sagar (the Milky Ocean) during the churning of the ocean. Ashta Laxmi Puja chose Lord Vishnu as his consort and married him.
As Goddess Laxmi came out of the ocean she fulfilled all the Gods with wealth and prosperity and returned the prestige and splendor of heaven.
3. Chandra:
Chandra, the moon god, came out of the Milky Ocean as a precious element that was adorned by Lord Shiva in his hair to free the moon from the curse. During that time the moon was in the crescent form and got its charm back from lord Shiva’s help.
4. Parijat:
Parijat is a tree that came out of the Milky Ocean during the Samundra Manthan. The Prijat tree has white flowers with a small shade of orange in the middle. The flower tree of Prijat had a charming fragrance so King Indra asked to take it to Devlok so he could plant this beautiful tree in his garden.
Later Lord Krishna took the Parijat tree from him telling him that the tree is more needed on earth and planted the tree on earth for his wives Rukmani and Satyabhama. It is prohibited to pluck the flowers from the Prijat tree, one can only take the fallen flowers from the tree.
5. Airavata:
Airavata was the king of elephants who had four tusks, seven trunks, and a white complexion which made him look so powerful and elegant. Airawat was a celestial elephant who had the power to dig deep by his trunk to reach the groundwater. He considered bringing the monsoon to earth by showering water from his trunk.
Airavata came out of the Samudra Manthan and one of the divine14 Ratna. He chose to serve King Indra by becoming his loyal Vahana and also helped him in many great wars between Deva and Asuras.
6. Kamdhenu:
Surabhi was a divine cow, one of the most precious Ratna that came out of the Samudra Manthan. Kamdhenu had the power to fulfil the wish or demand for milk and products at any amount.
After Samundra Manthan, Lord Vishnu took Kamdhenu to Vaikunth and later handed her to the Sage Saptarishi Jamadagni to make the best use of it by receiving products to perform yagya every day.
7. Uchchaihshravas:
A divine seven-headed white horse emerged from the Milky Ocean during Samudra Manthan, capable of flying at high speeds. Uchchaihshravas is said to be the king of horses which was taken by the King Indra and later acquired by the Asura king Bali.
8. Apsaras:
Apsaras, the beautiful divine ladies skilled in fine arts like music, singing, and dancing, emerged from the Sheer Sagar during the churning of the ocean. The Apsaras were too elegant and beautiful and could control any male easily.
King Indra wants them in Devlok for his entertainment to distract many sages from the meditation to make his throne safe. But the Apsaras choose to marry Gandharava(Males who are devoid of art like music and dance etc.). The most popular Apsaras are Meneka, Rambha, Urvashi, and Tilottama.
9. Varuni or Madeira:
Varuni was the goddess of wine who was chosen by the Asuras because of its toxic taste and bad effect on the mind. The Varurni made the Asuras more evil through its hangover effect. Vauni could easily prepare a huge amount of wine for the Asura in less time. Varuni is said to be Varuna’s daughter.
10. Kaustubha:
Kaustubhas, a precious gem, radiated divine beauty and a sun-like shine, making it incredibly attractive. Kaustubha Mani was worn by Lord Vishnu as an ornament on his chest. Goddess Laxmi used to see her reflection in the Kaustubha Mani as she was in the heart of Lord Vishnu.
11. Panchajanya:
Panchajanya was a precious conch that came out of Samudra Manthan. A conch was a symbol of the beginning of a war. Lord Vishnu always holds the Panchajanya conch as he incarnates on earth multiple times to start a new war and vanquish evil.
12. Sharanga:
Kodanda was a celestial bow crafted by the master of divine weapons Vishwakarma. Sharanga is one of the 14 Ratnas that came out of Samudra Manthan. Lord Bhagwan Vishnu ke 10 Avatar and his incarnations—Parshuram, Ram, and Krishna—used the Saranga to win mankind’s greatest battle.
13. Dhanvantari:
Dhanvantri and Amrita were the last things that came out of the churning of the great milky ocean during the Samundra Manthan. Dhanvantri is the god of Ayurveda who made many divine and powerful medicines for gods and humans.
14. Amrita:
Dhanvantri was holding a pot of Amrit in his hand when he came out of Samudra Manthan. Amrit, the powerful nectar from Samudra Manthan, sparked the Devas and Asuras’ war for its immortality-granting properties.
Conclusion:
The Samundra Manthan story has a very significance in many other stories and scriptures of Hindus. The reason for Samudra Manthan was the curse of sage Durvasa which made all the devas powerless to fight against the Asuras.
The Samundra Manthan was performed by both god and Asuras to get the Amrit out of the Milky Ocean. The Amrit was the most important Ratna of Samundra Manthan which was divinely powerful to make anyone immortal.
The 14 Ratnas distributed their powers among Devas and Asuras based on their needs and characteristics in later Hindu scriptures.
Hope this article helps you get a brief about Samudra Manthan 14 Ratna and their importance.
Frequently Asked Questions
Samundra Manthan was the process of churning the great Milky Ocean to get the precious Ratna out of it.
Many gods, Asuras, king of serpents Vasuki, Mount Mandara, and Lord Vishnu in the form of giant Tortoise included in the process of Samudra Manthan.
Halahal poison was the most deadly substance that came out of Samudra Manthan who had the power to destroy the three realms of the universe.
The Asuras chose the Varuni, the goddess of wine because of their evil mind and bad characteristics.
The Amrit was the most important and powerful Ratna that came out of Samudra Manthan as it had the power to make anyone immortal.
Dhanvantari, the god of Ayurveda brought the Amrit in his hand during the Samudra Manthan.