अमृतम्
यन्त्रोपारोपितकोशांशः
[सम्पाद्यताम्]कल्पद्रुमः
[सम्पाद्यताम्]
 पृष्ठभागोऽयं यन्त्रेण केनचित् काले काले मार्जयित्वा यथास्रोतः परिवर्तयिष्यते। तेन मा भूदत्र शोधनसम्भ्रमः। सज्जनैः मूलमेव शोध्यताम्। |
अमृतम्, क्ली, (मृ + भावे क्तः, नास्ति मृतं मरणं यस्मात् तत्, तत्पायिनां मरणाभावात् तस्य तथात्वं ।) समुद्रोद्भवदेवभक्ष्यामरत्वजनकद्रव्यवि- शेषः । यदा पृथुराजभयेन पृथ्वी गौर्भूता तदा देवा इन्द्रं वत्सं कृत्वा हिरण्मयपात्रे अमृतरूप- म्पयोऽदूदुहन् तत्तु दुर्व्वाससः शापात् समुद्रमध्यं गतं पश्चात् समुद्रमथने अमृतपूर्णकलसं मृहीत्वा धन्वन्तरिरुत्थितः । इति भारतभागवते ॥ तत्- पर्य्यायः ॥ पीयूषं २ सुधा ३ । इत्यमरः ॥ पेयूषं ४ । इति तट्टीकासारसुन्दरी ॥ * ॥ निर्जरं ५ । समुद्रनवनीतकं ६ । इति शब्दरत्ना- वली ॥ जलं । धृतं ॥ यज्ञशेषद्रव्यं ॥ अयाचित- वस्तु ॥ मुक्तिः । इति मेदिनी ॥ दुग्धं । औषधं । विषसामान्यं । वत्सनाभः । पारदः । इति राज- निर्घण्टः ॥ अन्नं । धनं । स्वर्णं । भक्षणीयद्रव्यं । हृद्यं । स्वादुद्रव्यं । इति हेमचन्द्रः ॥
Purana index
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पृष्ठभागोऽयं यन्त्रेण केनचित् काले काले मार्जयित्वा यथास्रोतः परिवर्तयिष्यते। तेन मा भूदत्र शोधनसम्भ्रमः। सज्जनैः मूलमेव शोध्यताम्। |
(I)--the juice from medicinal herbs of the Candra hill of प्लक्षद्वीप. Br. II. १९. 8; २४. २७ and ३१.
(II)--nectar arising out of the churning of milk ocean by gods and Asuras. Others that came out of it were curds, liquor, Soma, लक्ष्मी, horse, Kaustubha, पारिजात, and lastly कालकूट. Then appeared Dhanvantari. Distri- bution of अमृतम् by मोहिनी, the form assumed by Hari to delude the Asuras. When राहु was seen, partaking of it, [page१-086+ २८] had his head cut off. Finding themselves deceived, the Asuras began war. M. 1. 9; २४९. १४ to the end; cha. २५० and २५१ (whole); वा. २३. ९०; ५२. ३७; ९२. 9; Vi. I. 9. ८०-111.
Purana Encyclopedia
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पृष्ठभागोऽयं यन्त्रेण केनचित् काले काले मार्जयित्वा यथास्रोतः परिवर्तयिष्यते। तेन मा भूदत्र शोधनसम्भ्रमः। सज्जनैः मूलमेव शोध्यताम्। |
AMṚTAM : (See PRĀMṚTAM).
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*3rd word in left half of page 31 (+offset) in original book.
AMṚTAM : A delicious and precious food obtained from the ocean of Milk when the Devas and Asuras churned it. In Chapter 152 of Agni Purāṇa, the word “Mṛtam” is defined as wealth received by begging and “Amṛtam” as wealth received without begging, and “Prāmṛtam” as another kind of wealth obtained without begging.
1) Cause of Kṣīrābdhi-mathanam. (Churning of the Sea of Milk)--Once when Maharṣi Durvāsas was travelling through a forest, he met the Apsarā woman, Menakā, with a garland of Kalpaka flowers in her hand. The fragrance of the flowers filled the whole forest. Durvāsas approached Menakā and requested her to give the gar- land to him. The Vidyādharī (Apsarā woman) prostrat- ed before the Maharṣi with reverence and presented the garland to him. Wearing that garland on his hair, Durvāsas went to devaloka.
There he saw Indra riding on his elephant, Airāvata, accompanied by his retinue of Devas. The Maharṣi took the rare garland from his head and presented it to Indra, the King of Devas. Indra received the garland and placed it on Airāvata's head. The elephant was attracted by the fragrance of the garland and took it in its trunk, examined it by smelling it and then threw it on the ground.
Durvāsas, who became angry at the way in which his garland was slighted by Indra said to him: “Since you have treated my garland with disrespect, the glory and prosperity of devaloka will perish!” On hearing the curse, Indra alighted from the elephant, frightened. He begged pardon of the Maharṣi. The furious Muni continued: “I am not soft-hearted; nor am I of a for- giving nature. Other Munis may forgive. Remember, I am Durvāsas. You have become so haughty because other Munis like Vasiṣṭha and Gautama have been flat- tering you too much.” Having said this Durvāsas went his way. Indra returned to Amarāvatī.
From that day the glory of devaloka began to decline. The three worlds became dull. Even the plants and shrubs began to wither. The performance of yāgas came to an end. The Devas began to be affected by the infirmities of old age. Taking advantage of this situation, the Asuras started preparations for opposing the Devas. Under the oppression of the Asuras, the Devas groaned in distress. Led by Agni Deva they sought refuge under Brahmā. Brahmā led them to Mahāviṣṇu. They all join- ed in praising Viṣṇu who appeared and told them like this: “O Gods! I shall enhance your glory. Do as I tell you. Along with the Asuras bring all kinds of medi- cinal herbs and deposit them in the ocean of Milk. Obtain Amṛtam from it by churning it with Mahāmeru as the churning staff and Vāsuki as the rope. The Amṛtam (Amṛta) which will be produced by churning the Milk sea, will make you strong and deathless. I shall see that the Asuras will share in your troubles but not in enjoying Amṛtam.”
2) Churning of the Milk Sea. After Viṣṇu had vanished, the Devas made a treaty with the Asuras and began to work for getting Amṛtam. All of them joined together in bringing various kinds of medicinal herbs and after putting them in the Milk sea which was as clear as the cloudless sky, began to churn it, using Manthara Moun- tain as the churning staff and snake Vāsuki as the rope. The party of Devas was posted at the tail-end of Vāsuki while the Asuras took their stand at the head. The Asuras became enervated by the fiery breath coming out of Vāsuki's mouth. The clouds which were blown by that breath invigorated the Devas.
Mahāviṣṇu transformed himself into a tortoise, and sitting in the middle of the Milk Sea served as the foundation for the Manthara Mountain, the churning staff. Assuming another form, invisible both to Devas and Asuras, Mahāviṣṇu pressed down the Manthara Mountain from above.
While churning the Milk Sea like this, the first object that rose to the surface was Kāmadhenu. Both Devas and Asuras were strongly attracted towards Kāmadhenu While all were standing spellbound, Vāruṇīdevī with her enchanting dreamy eyes next appeared on the sur- face. Pārijātam was the third to appear. Fourth, a group of Apsarā women of marvellous beauty floated up. The Moon appeared as the fifth. Śiva received the Moon. The venom which came out of the Milk Sea as the sixth item, was absorbed by Nāgas. After that arose Bhagavān Dhanvantari, dressed in pure white robes and carrying a Kamaṇḍalu in his hand filled with Amṛtam. All were delighted at this sight. Next Mahā- lakṣmī made her appearance in all her glory with a lotus in her hand and seated in an open lotus flower. Gandharvas sang celestial songs in her presence; Apsarā women danced. For her bath, the Gaṅgā river arrived there with her tributaries. The Milk Sea itself took on physical form and offered her a garland of ever- fresh lotus flowers. Brahmā bedecked her with orna- ments. After that Lakṣmīdevī, fully adorned in all her magnificent jewels, in the presence of all Devas, joined the bosom of Mahāviṣṇu. The Asuras were displeased at it. They snatched the pot of Amṛtam from Dhan- vantari and fled away.
3) How Amṛtam was recovered. With the loss of Amṛtam, the Devas were in a fix. They began to consider how the pot of Amṛtam could be recovered. Accordingly Mahāviṣṇu transformed himself into a celestial virgin, Mohinī, of extraordinary beauty. She approached the Asuras as a shy girl. The Asuras were enchanted by her surpassing beauty. They asked her, “Who are you?” Looking down on the ground, Mohinī replied: “I am the little sister of Dhanvantari. By the time I came out of the Milk Sea, the Devas and Asuras had already gone. Being lonely I am going about in search of a suitable mate.”
On hearing her words, the Asuras began to make friends with her one by one, determined not to waste this opportunity. They told her that she should distri- bute Amṛtam to all of them and in the end she should marry one of them. Mohinī agreed, but added: “All of you should close your eyes. I shall serve Amṛtam to all. He who opens his eyes last, must serve Amṛtam to me and he will marry me”.
All of them accepted this condition. They sat in front of Mohinī with closed eyes. In a moment Mohinī left the place with the pot of Amṛtam and went to deva- loka.
4) Rāhu's neck is cut. When the Asuras opened their eyes, Mohinī was not to be seen. Finding that they were betrayed, they were in great perplexity. All of them pursued Mohinī to devaloka. Devas had put the Sun and Moon gods on guard duty at the gates of devaloka. At the instance of the Asuras, Rāhu in disguise entered the divine assembly chamber. The Sun and Moon gods detected him and Viṣṇu with his weapon, Sudarśana Cakra cut open his neck. Swearing that he would wreak vengeance on the Sun and Moon Rāhu returned. In the 8th Skandha of Bhāgavata it is said that even now from time to time Rāhu swallows the Sun and Moon, but they escape through the open gash in his neck and this is known as solar eclipse and lunar eclipse.
5) Defeat of the Asuras. Indra and all other gods took Amṛtam. The enraged Asuras attacked the gods, who had gained strength and vigour by taking Amṛtam. The Asuras were driven away in all directions. All the three worlds began to enjoy glory and prosperity again.
6) Kalakūṭa. The story of how the deadly poison, Kālakūṭa arose at the churning of the ocean of Milk, is given in M.B., Ādi Parva, Chapter 18, Verses 42-45, as follows: After many precious things had come up Kālakūṭa poison with fumes and flames, appeared on the surface of the ocean. Its strong smell caused a stupor in all the three worlds. Fearing that the world will perish, Brahmā requested Śiva to swallow that poison. Śiva gulped it down, but stopped it in his throat. From that day he became “Nīlakaṇṭha”.
7) The story of Airāvata. Indra's tusker Airāvata was responsible for the churning of the ocean of Milk. But in the Mahābhārata, Ādi Parva, Chapter 18, Verse 42 it is said that a white elephant with four tusks arose during the churning of the ocean of Milk and that Devendra caught and tamed it. This is an obvious contradiction. Besides, in Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa, Araṇya- kāṇḍa, 14th Sarga, the wounded Jaṭāyu describing his family history to Śrī Rāma, gives the following account about the origin of Airāvata:
Kaśyapa, one of the Prajāpatis, married the eight daughters of Dakṣa. One of them named Krodhavaśā had ten daughters by Kaśyapa. They were: Mṛgī, Mrga- madā, Hari, Bhadramadā, Mātaṅgī, Śārdūli, Śvetā, Surabhi, Surasā and Kadru. Of them Bhadramadā gave birth to a daughter, Irāvati. The tusker Airāvata is Irāvatī's son.
An explanation for this discrepancy may be seen in Viṣṇu Purāṇa, 3rd Section, Chapter 1. Now six Manvantaras have passed (See ‘MANVANTARA’). This is the seventh Manvantara. Each Manvantara has a new Indra. According to this, different Indras have their own Airāvatas. This is the only explanation for this apparent contradiction.
8) Amṛtam and Garuḍa. There is another story about Amṛtam which says that Garuḍa once went to deva- loka and brought Amṛtam from there to be given to the Nāgas, but Devendra came down and took it back. This story is given in Mahābhārata from Chapter 27 onwards. Vinatā, a wife of Kaśyapa gave birth to Garuḍa and Kadru and her sister gave birth to the Nāgas. Once there was a dispute between Vinatā and Kadru. Vinatā said that the hairs on the tail of Uccai- śravas, Devendra's horse, were white but Kadru asserted that they were black. To settle the dispute they made a bet. The condition was that the loser must become the servant maid of the winner. As instructed by Kadru, some of the Nāgas went in advance and hung down from the tail of Uccaiśśravas, thus giving the false appearance of a tail with black hairs. By this trick Vinatā lost the bet and had to become Kadru's servant maid. As a result of it, the task of looking after Kadru's children became Garuḍa's duty. Kadru told him that if he fetched Amṛtam from devaloka and gave it to the Nāgas, she was prepared to release him from the bond- age. So Garuḍa flew up to devaloka, fought with the gods and defeated them. He returned with the pot of Amṛtam and gave it to the Nāgas. The Nāgas went to take their bath after placing the pot on darbha grass spread on the floor. Just then Devendra swooped down and carried away the pot of Amṛtam to devaloka. When the Nāgas returned after their purifying bath, the pot was not to be seen. In their greed they began to lick the darbha grass on which the pot was placed. The sharp edge of the grass cut their tongues into two. This is why the Nāgas (snakes) came to have forked tongues.
Amṛtam which has been thus recovered after many such adventures, is still preserved carefully in devaloka. [(1) M.B., Ādi Parva, Chapter 17. (2) M.B., Ādi Parva, Chapter 27, verse 16. (3) M.B., Ādī Parva, Chapter 30, Verse 2. (4) Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa, Araṇya Kāṇḍa, 35th Sarga. (5) Viṣṇu Purāṇa, Section 1, Chapter 9. (6) Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 152. (7) Bhāga- vata, 8th Skandha. (8) Uttara Rāmāyaṇa.]
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*4th word in left half of page 31 (+offset) in original book.