॥ समुद्रमन्थन ॥

Samudra Manthana

the churning of the ocean of milk

risen from the ocean

← then → then ← · alternate, do not hold rub a finger left and right across the ocean
pull one way, then the other — that is churning

॥ समुद्रमन्थन ॥

This piece is a live 3D scene and needs WebGL and JavaScript. The story it tells is this: the gods had lost their vigour, and Viṣṇu told them to churn the ocean of milk — and that they could not do it alone. So gods and demons took the same rope, Vāsuki, wound about the mountain Mandara, and pulled one way and then the other. The poison came up first, and Śiva drank it. Thirteen more things followed, and last of all the physician Dhanvantari, carrying the pot of nectar.

Gods and demons took the same rope — Vāsuki, wound round the mountain Mandara — and churned the ocean of milk. The poison rose first and Śiva drank it; the nectar rose last. This page renders that churning in 3D, and needs JavaScript.