Vageesh Express
The DASAVATHARAM series
Koorma Avathar – The Turtle Incarnation
manThanaachala Dharanahetho, devasura
paripalana Bho |
koormakaara
Shareera namo, harabhaktham the paripalaya maam ||
By carrying
the mountain Manthara on his back, He protected the Devas!
Lord Vishnu's second incarnation was Koorma meaning - turtle. God wished to create another
creature one that could live in the water and on the land. The turtle can live
in the water and land.So the turtle was his second
creation in this world.
The Purana
(Mythological story about the avathar)
Many years ago there was a war between the devas (gods) and the daityas (demons) and the gods lost this war. They prayed to
Vishnu to rescue them from the oppression of the demons. Vishnu told Brahma and
the other gods that they should have a temporary truce with the demons. The two
sides should get together to churn the ocean. Vishnu would ensure that the devas benefited more from this
churning of the ocean than the daityas did. The truce
was agreed upon and the two sides got ready to churn the ocean.
The mountain Mandara
was used as a churning rod and great sake Vasuki as
the rope for churning. The devas
grasped Vasuki’s tail and the daityas
grasped Vasuki’s head. But as the
churning began, the mountain Mandara which had no
base, started to get immersed in the ocean. What was to be done? Lord
Vishnu came to the rescue. He adopted the form of a turtle and the peak was
balanced on the turtle’s back. As the churning continued, terrible poison named
kalkuta emerged from the depths of the ocean and was
swallowed by Shiva. Shiva’s throat became blue from this poison and he is
therefore known as Nilakantha, blue of throat.
The goddess Varuni,
the goddess of wine (sura), came out next. The gods
readily accepted her and thus they came to be known as suras.
But the demons rejected Varuni and were therefore 
known as asuras. She was
followed by the Parijata tree, a beautiful tree that
came to occupy the pride of place in Indra’s garden.
A jewel named koustubha emerged and was accepted by
Vishnu as his adornment. Three wonderful animals came out next - the cow Kapila, the horse Ucchaishrava
and the elephant Airavata. They were followed by the apsaras, beautiful women who became the dancers of heaven.
They were known as apsaras because they emerged from ap (water). The goddess Lakshmi or Shri came out next and
was united with Vishnu.
Finally, Dhanvantari
emerged with a pot of amrita (the life - giving drink) in his hands. Dhanvantari was the originator of medicine (ayurveda). The daityas led by Jambha gave half of the amrita to the devas and departed with the remaining half. But
Vishnu quickly adopted the form of a beautiful woman. So beautiful was the
woman that the demons were charmed. “Pretty lady,” they said - “take the amrita
and serve it to us. Marry us.” Vishnu accepted the amrita, but he had no
intention of giving it to the demons. He served it to the gods instead. There
was only one demon who was somewhat clever. His name
was Rahu. He adopted the form of Chandra, the
moon-god, and succeeded in drinking some of the amrita. The sun-god and the
moon-god noticed what was happening and reported it to Vishnu. Vishnu thereupon
cut off Rahu’s head with a sword. But Rahu had drunk the amrita, so he could not die. He prayed
to Vishnu and Vishnu granted him a boon. The boon was that occasionally Rahu would be permitted to swallow up the sun. You can see
this happening at the time of the solar and the lunar eclipses.
People who give alms during such eclipses
are blessed. The gods obtained the amrita and the demons did not. Thus, the
gods became more powerful than the demons. They defeated the demons and
regained heaven.
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