Indian Mythology Stories - Page 2

The name "Ravan" was given by Lord Siva because Ravan was once crying at a very high voice. The story follows:-

Ravan became very strong because of boon from Brahma. He defeated gods. He also took away Lanka from Kuber.
One day, Ravan went to Kailash mountain. Lord Siva was living on the top of the mountain. Ravan was so proud of his strength that he tried to uproot and move the mountain. Lord Siva got angry and pressed the mountain with a toe. Ravan's hands were now pinned under the mountain. Siva's people informed Ravan of who he had made angry. Ravan got afraid. He shouted for Siva's forgiveness. He composed and sang hymns praising Siva. Then Lord Siva released him from the bondage. Pleased with his devotion, Siva gave Ravan chandrahas(moon-shaped sword), a very powerful weapon.
When Ravan was pinned under Kailash, he was shouting so much that Siva named him Ravan. The word Ravan means "the one of terrifying roar."

The serial Ravan has shown sage Parasuram in a few episodes. Parasuram was a unique sage in the sense that he always kept weapons with him. Some of other sages also took up weapons on some occasions. But usually, they did not keep weapons with them. In this post, I am writing the story behind the birth of Parasuram. I will also write as to why he kept weapons with him in spite of being a sage.

Source:- Bhagavat Puran
There was a king named Gadhi (pronounced gaadhi). He had a daughter named Satyavati. A sage named Richik wanted to marry Satyavati. But the king did not find Richik as proper husband for Satyavati.

King Gadhi did not want to directly say no. He thought of a plan so that Richik himself felt that he was not a worthy suitor for Satyavati. Gadhi came up with an idea. He decided to put a difficult condition. He asked Richik to bring one thousand horses, each shining as moon, and each having one black ear. Richik had to fulfill this condition in order to marry Satyavati. Gadhi was under impression that Richik would not be able to fulfill the condition. After all he was so poor; how could he bring so many horses?

The sage Richik met god Varuna. Varuna gave Richik one thousand horses of the kind that king Gadhi had asked for. Richik gave the horses to Gadhi. Now Gadhi had no choice. He married Satyavati to Richik.

Once it so happened that Richak's wife satyavati and Satyavati's mother were both to give brith to a child. They requested the sage Richik to prepare an auspicious food so that the children would be good. Richik prepared one food for his wife Satyavati with Brahmana mantra (so that the child could be a brahmana). He prepared another food for his mother in law with kshatriya mantra (so that the child could be a kshatriya, i.e. a warrior). After that Richik went to take bath.

Meanwhile Satyavati's mother started thinking, "My daughter Satyavati is sage Richik's wife. This means that he must have prepared better food for Satyavati. One who ate that food will get a better child."

Thinking thus, Satyavati's mother requested Satyavati to exchange food with her. Satyavat was fine with any of the two foods and she did as her mother said.

Richik came to know about this. By this time the two ladies had already eaten the foods. He said to his wife Satyavat, "You have done a great wrong. I wanted your son to be a brahmana. But now, he will be a fierce kshatriya, able to punish everyone. Your brother, whom your mother will give birth, will be a learned scholar in spiritual science."

Satyavati wanted her son to be a scholar and not a warrior. He pladed with Richik that let her son be a scholar. Richik agreed and said, "Fne, your son will be a scholar in spiritual science. But your grandson will be a warrior."

Satyavati's mother gave birth to Visvamitra. Satyavati gave birth to Jaamadagni.

When Jamadagni grew up, he married Renuka. Their youngest son was named Ram. When he grew up, he was more commonly known as Parasuram because he kept Parasu weapon with him (a weapon in the form of an axe).

One day king Kartviryarjun visited the ashram of Jamadagni. Kartviryarjun had thousand hands and he was very powerful king. He easily defeated his enemies. He roamed over the Earth without opposition.

The sage Jamadagni received the King very well, along with the King's soldiers, ministers and carriers. He provided very tasty meal to his guests.

Kartviryarjun found this surprising. He wondered as to how a poor sage could arrange for so much food in such a short time. He asked Jamadagni the reason for it. Jamadagni told him that it was because of a divine cow that he had. The cow supplied all the food.

Kartviryarjun wanted to possess the cow and asked Jamadagni for it. Jamadagni needed the cow because it provided him with things needed for worship. Therefore, he refused to part with the cow. On the order from Kartaviryarjuna, his soldiers forcibly took away the cow to Mahishmati, Kartaviryarjuna's capital.

At that time Parsuram was not at home. When he came back, then he came to know the incident. Parasuram was very angry. Taking up his weapons, he went to Mahismati. He had got the knowledge of weapons from Lord Siva. He was dressed like a sage but he was holding weapons like a warrior.

Kartviryarjun sent a huge army to fight Parasuram. But Parasuram alone killed the entire army. Now, Kartviryarjun himself came in the battlefield. With his thousand arms, he could shoot arrows from five hundred bows at a time. But Parasuram raised enough arrows from his single bow to cut to pieces all the arrows and the bows of Kartviryarjun. Kartviryarjun uprooted huge trees and huge rocks from hills. He rushed towards Parasuram. Parasuram cut off all the arms of Kartviryarjun with his axe. After that he cut off Kartviryarjun's head.

Having killed Kartviryarjun, Parasuram released the cow and took it to his father's ashram. When Jamadagni heard the entire story, he felt that Parasuram should not have killed the king and should have forgiven him. He also felt that the society needed a powerful king like Kartviryarjun. Jamadagni also thought that, being a sage, Parasuram should do the job of worshipping God and providing knowledge to others. He said all this to Parasuram. He also asked Parasuram to visit holy places. As ordered by his father, Parasuram went on pilgrimage. His brothers also went with him.

One day Jamadagni was performing worship. He was meditating upon God. The sons of Kartviryarjun came and killed him. Jamadagni's wife Renuka cried loudly and took the name of her son Parasuram again and again. Parasuram and his brothers came to the ashram. They saw their father already killed.
 
Parasuram asked his brothers to take care of his father's dead body. He took up his weapons and went to Mahismati. There he killed the sons of Kartviryarjun. It looked as if there was a river of blood.

Parasuram killed many more of warrior class, who were using their power for wrongful deeds. He got the Earth rid of such people twenty one times.

Narasimh(man-lion) incarnation
There was a demon king named Hiranyakashipu. In a previous birth, he was Jaya, a doorkeeper of Vishnu and became demon because of a curse from Kumara brothers. He was brother of Hiranyaksh, whom Vishnu had killed in his Varah(boar) incarnation. His prople caused terror all over Earth.
Hiranyakashipu wanted to be unconquerable, free from effect of old age on his body, wanted mystic powers, wanted to rule all over the universe and also wanted to be deathless. He did very tough tapasya to please Lord Brahma. When Brahma appeared in front of him, then Hiranyakashipu said:-
"Let me not meet death from any of the living beings created by you, humans, animals, snakes, gods, demons. Let me not die either inside a house or outside. Let me not die in the day time or in the night time. Let me not die on the ground or in the sky. Give me sole lordship over all the living beings and deities. Give me all the mystic powers.
Brahma gave him these boons.
Now, Hiranyakashipu defeated everyone and became their king. He occupied Indra's palace and ruled from heaven. Being terrorised by Hiranyakashipu, gods requested Vishnu to do something. Vishnu promised that he would kill Hiranyakashipu.
One of the sons of Hiranyakashipu was Prahlad. Prahlad was of highly good character and he was a great devotee of Lord Vishnu. Hiranyakashipu tried a lot to prevent Prahlad from worshipping Vishnu. He even tortured Prahlad a lot, though Prahlad was his own son. But Prahlad continued to worship Vishnu. Hiranyakashipu became so angry that he ordered that Prahlad be killed. Demons tried all options to kill Prahlad, but Prahlad survived.
One day, Hiranyakashipu said to Prahlad(pointing towards a pillar), "If your God is present everywhere, he should be present in this pillar. I am going to kill you. Let your God come and save you."
Saying this, he hit the pillar hard. Vishnu came out of the pillar in His Narasimh(also called Nrisimh) incarnation. His form was of half man and half lion. He took Hiranyakashipu at the door of the palace. So, it was neither inside nor outside. It was time between day and night, so neither day nor night. Narasimh dev was neither man nor lion; He was not created by Brahma. He kept Hiranyakashipu in His lap(so neither on ground nor in sky) and killed him with His sharp nails.

Narasimh was looking so terrible that nobody dared to go near Him. Even goddess Laxmi was afraid to go near Him. Then, Lord Brahma asked Prahlad to go near. Prahlad went to Narasimh and bowed to Him. Narasimh took Prahlad in lap and showered affections on him. His anger melted after hearing Prahlad's sweet words.

Matsya(Fish) Incarnation
There was a king named Satyavrat. One day, he was doing worship by offering water on the bank of a river. He took some water in his palms. He saw a small fish in that water.
The fish said, "My dear King, why are you throwing me in the water of the river, where there are other aquatics who can kill me? I am very much afraid of them."

The merciful king Satyavrat decided to give protection to the fish. He put the fish in his kamandal(a small round shaped vessel) and brought it to his residence. But in one night that fish grew so much that the kamandal was very small for it.

He put the fish in a large well. Within a moment, the fish became so big that the well was too small for the fish's comfortable stay.

He put the fish in a lake. But the fish became so big that it excedded the extent of the lake water.

He tried one water reservoir after another, each lake bigger than the previous one. But all of them proved to be very small for the fish.

Finally Styavrat put the fish in ocean. The fish said, "In the ocean, there are many powerful and dangerous sharks that will eat me. Therefore you should not throw me in this place."

After hearing these sweet words from the fish, Satyavrat could understand that the fish was none other than Lord Vishnu. He propitiated the matsya(fish) incarnation of Vishnu again and again.

Fish(God) said, "O king, on the seventh day from today, the world will be submerged in water. er of inundation. A large boat sent by me will appear before you. Then you should collect all types of herbs and seeds and load them on that boat. Then, accompanied by the seven rishis and by all kinds of living beings, get aboard that boat. The body luster of the great rishis will show you light. Attach the boat to My horn using great serpent Vasuki. I will pull the boat so long the flood continues. During the journey, you will learn Vedic knowledge from Me."

After saying this, the fish disappeared. After seven days, gigantic clouds pouring water swelled the ocean more and more. Thus the ocean began to overflow onto the land and flood the entire world. Satyavrata saw a boat coming near. He collected herbs and seeds, and, accompanied by saintly rishis and all kinds of beings, he got aboard the boat. A large golden fish appeared. It has a very huge horn.

Following the instructions formerly given by God, the King anchored the boat to the fish's horn, using the serpent Vasuki as a rope. While moving, God, in the form of a fish, explained to Satyavrat the Vedic knowledge.

In the current birth, Satyavrat has been reborn as king Shraddhadev. He is also known as Vaivast because he is the son of Sun god Vivasvan. He has got the post of Manu. He is the seventh Manu.
The story given above happened in the time of sixth Manu, who was known as Chakshus Manu. The fish incarnation also happened at the beginning of the time of first Manu, Swyambhuv Manu. Then God, in the form of fish, killed a demon named Haygriv, who had stolen Vedic knowledge from Brahma and was using this knowledge for wrong purposes.

Buddha Incarnation
Puranas call Buddh as an incarnation of Vishnu. But Buddhists often reject this claim. Many believe Gautam Buddh as the Buddh incarnation mentioned in Puranas, but some say that Buddh incarnation is yet to come. Here I am writing about the famous Buddh called Gautam Buddh.

When Gautam Buddh was born, his name was Siddharth. Gautam was his family name. Therefore, he was called Siddharth Gautam. His father was Shoddhodan. Shoddhodan was the chief of a tribe called Shakya in Kapilvastu city in Kosal state. Siddharth's mother was Mahamaya devi.

Being king of a tribe, Shuddhodan provided luxurious life to Siddharth. He even tried his best to keep Siddharth safe from the worries of life. But, having seen various worries like old age, disease and death, Siddharth was convinced that material weath should not be the ultimate goal of life.

Siddharth was born in Lumbini(now in Nepal). When his mother Mahamaya devi was pregnant, as per tradition, she went to his parents place to give birth. But she gave birth to Siddharth on the way in Lumbini. She passed away soon after giving birth. Suddharth's mausi(mother's sister) Mahapajapati raised Siddharth.

When Siddharth became young, he was tall and very handsome. His face was calm. He was given military training. Since he was the son of the chief of a tribe, military training was a must for him. Moreover, he also had to show his military skills to prove his worthiness for marriage. When he was 16 year old, then he married Yashoda (roughly of the same age). They had a son named Rahul.

Siddhartha left house at the age of 29 and became a mendicant. He first went to Rajgir. King Bimbisar of Magadh was so impressed with Siddharth that he wanted to make Siddharth a king. Siddharth had still not attained enlightenment. He rejected Bimbisar's offer but promised to visit Magadh after gaining enlightenment.

Five more young men, who were also looking for enlightenment joined Siddharth. For 5 to 6 years, they studied under many teachers. Siddharth learnt many things but was not completely satisfied with what he learnt. Initially he tried to gain enlightenment by starving. He became very weak. He felt that this was only making him weak and not giving him any knowledge. Then, he started eating moderately. He gave the knowledge called as the middle way, a path which is between self-indulgence and self-mortification.

Later, his five companions felt that Siddharth was not going on correct path and they left him. He decided to gain knowledge by meditation. He ate a little milk and rice given by a village girl named Sujata. After that he started meditation under a peepal tree in a place, which is now called as Bodh Gaya. After 49 days, he got enlightenment. He was 35 year old then.

On gaining enlightenment, Siddharth was called as Buddh(i.e. enlightened). Since any enlightened person can be called as Buddh, therefore Siddharth is distinguished from others by calling him as the Buddh, Gautam Buddh, Shakyamuni Buddh(because he was born in Shakya clan).

After gaining enlightenment, Gautam Buddh went to Varanasi and gave first teaching to his five previous companions. They together formed a group i.e. Sangh. In time, more people joined that group. From Varanasi he went to Rajgir(capital of Magadh) to meet King Bimbisar. Bimbisar donated him a place for monastery, where Buddh taught for a few months.

King Suddhodan sent delegations to Buddh with message that Buddh should come back to Kapilvastu. First nine delegations joined Buddh's sangh and did not deliver the message. The tenth delegation gave the message and then joined the sangh. Buddh then decided to visit Kapilvastu. He went to Kapilvastu by foot. It took 2 months. He preached Dharma on the way.

In Kapilvastu, Buddh's cousins, son Rahul(who was 7) and many others joined the sangh.

After a few years king, Buddha heard that his father Shuddhodan was not well. Shuddhodan wanted to learn whatever Buddha had found. Buddha went to his father and explained to him his teachings. After King Suddhodan passed away, then Buddh's mausi Mahapajapati, wife Yashoda and some other women met Buddh because they wanted to join the sangh. Initially Buddh was reluctant but later agreed.

Buddh's cousin Devdatt tried to kill Buddh many times but failed.

When Buddh was 55, he made Anand his chief attendant. Buddh died at around 80. Before his death, he told his disciples that he was going to leave his body. His passing away is called as Parinirvan - also Mahanirvan. His final words were "All composite things are temporary."

Origin of Tulsi
The story of Tulsi posted here is taken from Brahm Vaivart Puran.
In Golok Krishn, Radha, gopas(cowherd boys) and gopis(cowherd girls) are always engaged in raas leela. Gopas are partial expansions of Krishna and gopis and partial expansion of Radha. Krishna and Vishnu are same. Krishn has two-handed form and lives in Golok; Vishnu has four-handed form and lives in Vaikunth. Radha and Laxmi are same. Radha lives with Krishn in Golok and Laxmi lives with Vishnu in Vaikunth. Therefore, any part of Krishn is part of Vishnu and any part of Radha is part of Laxmi. Therefore, gopas can also be called as partial expansions of Vishnu and gopis can also be called as partial expansions of Laxmi.

One day, during raas dance in Golok, Krishn and a gopi named Tulsi became intimate. Radha did not like this. She cursed Tulsi to be born on Earth as human.
Krishn said to Tulsi, "Go and take birth on Earth. Pray to Lord Brahma there. With Brahma's blessings you will get Lord Narayan as your husband. Narayan is my own form."
On another occasion, Radha talked very angrily with Krishn. Krishn was smiling. But a gop kumar named Sudama did not like Radha talking like this to Krishn. He got angry at Radha. Radha cursed Sudama to go to Earth and be born as demon. When Sudama started going, then Radha felt that she should not have been so angry. She requested Sudama not to go. But curse had to take its effect. Krishn said that Sudama will go and immediately come back thus fulfilling the curse. That way, Sudama had to be out of Golok for a very short time. But short time in Golok is many years on Earth.

On Earth, there was a king named Vrishdhwaj. He was a devotee of Lord Shiv and ridiculed other gods. Sun god got angry and cursed Vrishdhwaj that he would lose his wealth. Lord Shiv was very angry that Sun had cursed Vrishdhwaj. He took his trident and ran after Sun god. Sun god went his father Kashyap. Sun and Kashyap went to Brahma. Brahma, Kashyap and Sun god went to Vishnu in Vaikunth. Vishnu asked them not to worry. Lord Shiv came there. He explained to Lord Vishnu that Sun god had cursed Shiv's devotee Vrishdhwaj.

Vishnu replied, "You all are in Vaikunth. Therefore, you feel that very short time has elapsed. But on Earth many yugas have elapsed. By now, your devotee Vrishdhwaj is dead. His descendants Dharmdhwaj and Kushdhwaj are alive. Sun god's curse have affected them also. Therefore, they are very poor. They are worshipping goddess Laxmi. Goddess Laxmi will shower her blessings on them. Therefore, you all go to your respective places."
Shiv, Brahma, Kashyap and Sun went to their abodes.

On Earth Dharmdhwaj and Kushdhwaj were praying to Laxmi. Laxmi got pleased with them. Because of Laxm's blessings Dharmdhwaj and Kushdhwaj became prosperous. Dharmdhwaj's wife Madhwi gave birth to a girl, who was a partial incarnation of Laxmi. She was exceptionally beautiful Sages named her Tulsi because the word "tulsi" means "one of incomparable beauty". This Tulsi was the same as the Tulsi in Golok and had been born on Earth because of a curse by Radha.

There was a demon named Dambh. He prayed to Lord Vishnu because he wanted Vishnu as his son. A partial incarnation of Vishnu was born as Dambh's son. His name was Shankhchud. This Shankhchud was Sudama of Golok who had been born on Earth because of a curse by Radha. Shankhchud prayed to Lord Brahma because he wanted to marry Tulsi and also he wanted to be so strong that gods could not defeat him. Brahma granted him these two boons.

Tulsi performed austerities to please Lord Brahma. One day Lord Brahma asked her to ask for a boon.
Tulsi replied, "My name is Tulsi. In previous birth, I was a gopi in Golok. One day during raas leela, Krishn and I were very intimate. Radha did not like it. She cursed me that I should be born as a human being. After Radha cursed me, Krishn suggested me to worship you(Brahma) after taking birth on Earth. He said that you would grant me blessing to marry Lord Narayan."

Lord Brahma replied, "In Golok, one gop-kumar was Sudama. He wanted to marry you but he did not say it. As a result of a curse by Radha, he is born among demons. His name is Shankhchud. He is very energetic and strong. You remember your previous birth. Shankhchud also remembers his previous birth. He has performed austerities to get you as wife. I want to fulfill his desire. Therefore, please agree to marry him. Later on, you will be able to marry Lord Narayan."
Lord Brahma also gave Tulsi a mantra by which she could make Radha happy. Tulsi did the recitation of that mantra.

Shankhchud and Tulsi got married. Lord Brahma granted Shankhchud a boon that he will be killed only if his wife Tulsi becomes unchaste.
Lord Vishnu gave an amulet (talisman) to Shankhchud and gave boon that nobody could kill him so long he was wearing that amulet.

Shankhchud defeated gods and took their kingdom.
Gods were dejected. Lord Shiv agreed to help gods in fight against demons. Once again there was fight between gods and demons. Lord Shiv, Bhadrakali and Kartikeya, fighting on the side of gods, killed many demons.
In the middle of the war, Vishnu took the form of a Brahman and went to Shankhchud. He requested Shankhchud to give him alms. Shankhchud said, "Ask whatever you want. You will get that." Vishnu asked Shankhchud for the amulet. Shankhchud, true to his words, gave it to Vishnu. After that Vishnu went to Tulsi. Vishnu had taken the form of Shankhchud. Tulsi thought that war was over and her husband had come back. Vishnu and Tulsi slept together. Thus Tulsi's chastity was violated. Also, Shankhchud had already parted from amulet. Therefore now he could be killed without violating any boon. Lord Shiv killed Shankhchud. Shankhchud went back to Golok.
Tulsi realized that the person sleeping with her was not her husband because her husband behaved differently. She asked Vishnu to tell who he was. Vishnu showed his four-handed form. Tulsi started crying. She understood that Vishnu played this trick so that her husband Shankhchud could be killed. She cursed Vishnu, "You should become stone."

Vishnu replied, "You wanted me as your husband. Therefore I did this. Leave this physical body. Your body will become a very sacred river. It will be known as Gandaki. Your hair will become a plant, which will be called as tulsi. Tulsi leaves will be auspicious for puja. With your spiritual body, you will be in Vaikunth with me and will be my wife the way Laxmi is my wife. I accept your curse. With one form of mine, I will become shaligram stone. People will worship me in my form as Shaligram. In the worship, tulsi leaves will be used."

This is how Tulsi became a plant. Tulsi leaves are recommended to be used in the worship of any form of Vishnu(shaligram stone or any other form).

Nar-Narayan incarnation
Narayan creates apsara Urvashi
Nar and Narayan are incarnations of Vishnu. They are brothers. They are the sons of Dharm and his wife Murti. It is said that they are still living like hermits in a holy place called Badrinath (also called Badrikashram).
One day Nar and Narayan were doing meditation. The king of gods Indra got alarmed. He did not realize that Nar and Narayan were incarnations of Vishnu. He thought that by doing askesis, Nar and Narayan wanted to become very powerful and take his place. He decided to disturb them so that they break their askesis. He sent Kamdev(Cupid, the god of love) and his companions to disturb Nar and Narayan.

Kamdev and his associates went to Nar and Narayan. Gentle breeze blew. Apsaras danced. Melodious music played. Flowers blossomed. Kamdev and his friends caused all these things to lure Nar and Narayan so that they stop askesis.

Narayan created some new apsaras. They were far more beautiful than the apsaras who were in Indra's court. Of the new apsaras, Urvashi was the most beautiful. Narayan said to Kamdev, "Do not go empty-handed from this ashram. Take an apsara with you." Kamdev felt ashamed. He realized the greatness of the two sages and went back to heaven with all apsaras and other associates. He also took Urvashi along with him. Urvashi became one of the apsaras in Indra's court.

Nar curbed the pride of king Dambodhav
There was a king named Dambodhav. He was proud of his strength. He used to ask everybody if there was anybody more powerful than him. Some brahmanas said to him, "There are two great sages Nar and Narayan. You can never defeat them. You are nowhere in comparison to them."

Dambodhav came to know from the brahmanas the whereabouts of Nar and Narayan. He went to the ashram of Nar and Narayan with this large army. Before starting war, as part of cortesy, he touched the feet of the two sages and enquired about their welfare. The two sages recived the king by offering him fruits and water. After that the king told them the purpose of his visit.

Nar and Narayan said, "This is not a place for any war. This is a peaceful place. There is no use of weapons here. How can war be possible here? There are many great warriors on this Earth. Seek battle with them." But Dambodhav kept on insisting for a war.

Then Nar plucked some grass and became ready to fight. The king and his army attacked Nar from all sides. Nar converted the grass into weapons and defeated the king. King Dambodhav fell on the feet of Nar and asked for forgiveness. Nar forgive him by saying that he should not do any such thing again and also taught him good conduct.

Ajit, Kurma and Mohini incarnations
Churning of Ocean
One day sage Durvasa was walking. He saw an apsara. The apsara greeted Durvasa. She had a necklace of very pleasant smelling flowers. Durvasa asked for it. The apsara gave the necklace to him. Durvasa took the necklace and moved ahead. He saw Lord Indra on elephant Airawat. Durvasa gave the necklace to Indra. Indra, very arrogantly, threw the necklace on Airawat's head. Airawat became excited by the smell of the flowers. It caught hold of the necklace in its trunk and brought it on the ground. Durvasa felt insulted. He cursed Indra that Laxmi would forsake Indra. Since Laxmi is the goddess of fortune, the curse meant that Indra would lose everything. Indra realized his mistake and begged Durvasa for forgiveness again and again. Then Durvasa calmed down and said that Lord Vishnu would help Indra.

Because of Durvasa's curse, all the gods(headed by Indra) became weak. Demons (whose king was Bali) attacked gods. There was huge fight between gods and demons in which Demons won. Bali took Indra's throne. Demons took all the wealth of gods. Gods went to Lord Brahma to find a solution. Lord Brahma, Lord Shiv and all the gods went to the bank of Kshirsagar(milk ocean). Lord Vishnu lives in an island named Shwet dvip inside this ocean. Brahma and all the gods prayed Lord Vishnu by standing at the shore of Kshirsagar. Pleased with their devotion, Lord Vishnu appeared before them in his incarnation. This incarnation is named Lord Ajit.

Lord Ajit said, "Make truce with demons. Convince them to help you in churning ocean, which would produce amrit(nectar). Whoever will drink nectar will become immortal. Put into this ocean all kinds of vegetables, grass, herbs. Making Mandar mountain as churning rod and serpent king Vasuki as rope, churn the ocean. Nectar will be produced out of the churning. I will make sure that you gods get the nectar. Before nectar, many other things will be produced. You should not be anxious to obtain those."
Saying this, Lord Ajit disappeared.

All the gods met demon king Bali. Deomns wanted to kill gods. But when Bali saw that gods had come there without any militant attitude, he stopped demons from killing gods. Indra sumbitted the proposal of churning the ocean in front of Bali. Bali accepted the proposal.

Applying great strength, all the gods and the demons uprooted Mandar mountain. They tried to bring the mountain to the milk ocean. The mountain was very heavy. Gods and demons got tired and could not carry the mountain any further. The mountain fell and killed many gods and demons and injured many.

Lord Ajit appeared there on his bird-carrier Garud. He brought to life all the demons and the gods, who had been crushed to death under the weight of the mountain. He also cured them who had been injured. He did this just by his glance on gods and demons.

Lord Ajit very easily lifted Mandar mountain, put it on the back of Garud and reached the milk ocean.Gods and demons also reached there. They called serpent Vasuki. Vasuki came there and they coiled him around Mandar. Lord Ajit and gods caught the front portion of Vasuki. Demons considered it against their dignity to catch the tail portion. They protested. Lord Ajit happily agreed to hold the tail of Vasuki. All the gods did the same. The churning began.

Since Mandar mountain had no support and it was very heavy, it sank into water. Lord Vishnu took tortoise incarnation, entered into water and lifted the mountain on his back. Lord Ajit assumed thousand handed-form, moved up and near the peak of Mandar and started rotating Mandar with one hand. Gods and demons churned the ocean by moving Vasuki. Since serpent Vasuki was moved continuously, he breathed out fire and smoke. Demons who were holding Vasuki near mouth were burnt by the fire and hence became weak.Fire made them black. But they continued the churning. Many things were produced because of churning, some of which are mentioned below.

The first product of churning was fierecely dangerous poison called Kaalkut (also called Halaahal). Gods and demons were very afraid of that poison. Lord Shiv came there and drank the poison. Because of the effect of the poison, his throat became blue. Therefore, Lord Shiv is called as Neelkanth(i.e. blue-throated). Poisonous creatures like scorpions, snakes and other poisonous creatures drank whatever little poison dropped from Lord Shiv's palm.

Caw Surbhi came out of the ocean. Great sages took the cow. A white horse named Uchchaihsharava came out. Indra wanted the horse but Bali also wanted it. As had been previously advised by Lord Ajit, Indra did not press for the horse and the horse became Bali's. Elephant Airawat came out and Indra took it. Some gems came out and Lord Ajit took those. Apsaras came out and it was decided that they will live in heaven.

Goddess Laxmi came out. She glanced at gods because of which gods again became cheerful. Her glance meant that fortune would return to gods.

Vaaruni(goddess of intoxication) came out of the ocean. Demons took her.

Finally Dhanvantri came out carrying a container full of nectar. Dhanvantri is mentioned in scriptures as expert in medicines. Demons snatched the container of nectar and ran from there. All the demons started fighting among themselves. Each of them wanted to drink the nectar first.

Lord Vishnu took the incarnation of a very beautiful lady. This incarnation is called Mohini. Mohini went to demons. Demons praised her beauty, gave her the container of nectar and requested her to settle the dispute. Mohini seated gods and demons separately. Thinking that giving nectar to demons will be like giving milk to snake, she went to demons, talked to them very sweetly and did not give them any nectar. Demons did not feel bad because they were very much captivated by Mohini's beauty. They did not want to disturb their friendship with her. Therefore, they kept quiet thinking that they will get nectar after some time. Mohini distributed nectar to gods. One demon named Rahu dressed up like a god and sat among gods. Thus, he also got the nectar. He was pointed out by Sun god and Moon god. Lord Vishnu cut off Rahu's head. By now, the nectar had reached upto Rahu's throat. Therefore, even after being cut off, Rahu's head survived and became immortal. The rest of his body died.

A fierce battle ensued between gods and demons. Gods won in this war and Indra got his kingdom back.

Vaman(dwarf) Incarnation
After churning of ocean, there was huge fight between gods and demons. Gods were very powerful at that time because Laxmi had showered her blessings on them and also because they had drunk nectar. Gods won the war. Many demons were killed. Demon king Bali was one of them.
Demon guru Shukracharya brought dead demons back to life using a knowledge called Mrit-Sanjivani. Shukracharya and some oher brahmanas performed a yagya. From the fire of the yagya, a chariot covered with gold and silk appeared. There were yellow horses attached to the chariot. The flag of the chariot had a lion emblem. A bow, two quivers full of arrows and armor also appeared.
Bali took the weapons, put the protective armor and and sat on the chariot. He and his fellow demons were ready to fight. They went towards the kingdom of Indra. Brihaspati(the guru of gods) told Indra that demons could not be defeated at that time and advised him to accept defeat for the time being. Gods accepted Brihaspati's advice. They left heaven without being noticed by demons. Bali became the king of heaven.
Aditi(mother of gods) was very sad to see the condition of her children. She asked her husband sage Kashyap to suggest some solution. Kashyap explained to her a method to worship Vishnu and ask him to become her son. Aditi did the same. Pleased with her devotion, Lord Vishnu appeared before her and gave her boon that he will incarnate as her son.

In time, Vishnu incarated as Aditi's son. This was his Vaman(dwarf) incarnation. He went to meet Bali. He was carrying a rod, an umbrella and a waterpot full of water. He was dressed like a brahman boy. At that time Bali was performing ashvamedh sacrifice. Bali welcomed Lord Vaman. Vaman asked Bali for three steps of land measured by his(Vaman's steps). Bali thought that three steps of land measured by a person of such a short height will be too small. He wanted to give much bigger land. But Vaman insisted on having only three steps of land. Finally Bali agreed to give him whatever he desired. Guru Shukracharya understood that Vaman was none other than Vishnu. He could also understand that Vaman had come there to get everything from Bali and give to Indra. He said this to Bali and warned him against the charity. But Bali had already promised three steps of land to Vaman and he did not want to break his promise. He was ready to give three steps of land to Vaman.

Lord Vaman increased his size. Demons did not want Vaman to take everything from their master Bali. They rushed towards Vaman to attack him. The associates of Vaman started killing the demons. Bali asked demons not to fight. Then the fight stopped. Lord Vaman covered entire universe with his two steps. This gigantic form of Lord Vishnu is called as Trivikram incarnation. He asked Bali where to put the third step. Bali put his head ahead and asked Vaman to put the third step on his head. This meant that Bali would always be in service of Lord Vaman.

Pleased with Bali's truthfulness, Vaman gave him boon that he will hold the post of Indra in the time of next Manu. Till then he made Bali the king of very beautiful Sutal loka. He also promised that his Sudarshan chakra(discus weapon) will protect Bali, his friends and relatives in Sutal loka. Indra once again became the king of the three worlds(Earth, heaven, intermediate space) and Bali became the king of Sutal.