Of Gods and Asuras

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Of Gods and Asuras

 

Once upon a time, the Gods and Asuras decided to churn the divine

Shir Sagar to obtain the nectar of immortality. Though blood

brothers, they had been fighting each other since the dawn of

history, and hoped that by obtaining the divine nectar, they could

end their wars forever.

 

With great effort, they convinced other great powerful beings to help

them in their enterprise. Mount Meru offered himself as the churning

rod, the great serpent Vasuki became the rope and Lord Vishnu himself

came to support mount Meru, least it should sink to the bottom of the

ocean.

 

The gods and asuras churned the divine ocean of milk with great

effort. The great ocean yielded fourteen different things to the

brothers. Unfortunately, the first thing to come of the oceans was

the deadly poison Halahal. After which came bewitchingly beautiful

nymphs, intoxicating drinks, great and speedy horse, auspicious

elephant, wish granting trees etc. Finally came the great goddess

Lakshmi and the nectar of immortality. Even than, the fighting did

not stop !

 

It was a long and arduous process. It was a long and painful journey

of discovery, both for the gods and the Asuras.

 

India's recent history is nothing less than a mirror of its great

Puranic past. After much soul searching, India and its masses fought

for independence from its colonial masters. With great effort and

diligence, they sought the goodwill of many powers-to-be and

eventually won the right to free themselves from the shackles of

imperial slavery. With Herculean effort, they managed to move the

than greatest power on Earth - the British Government to recognize

the rights of the Indians.

 

Satyagrah of Mahatma Gandhi and his monumental efforts to free India

and all its inhabitants from its Imperial overlords is the stuff of

future Puranas. His insistence on winning through non-violence is no

less a feat than the great feats of the sages of ancient India.

 

Unfortunately, like the ancient story, the blood brothers of India

divided into two camps. This time, not gods vs. Asuras, but Hindus

vs. Muslims. Born of the same soil, sharing a unique heritage, the

sons of Bharat fought each other with greater vehemence than their

mythological counter parts. Both parties wanted the ultimate prize of

freedom, peace and prosperity. Both saw theirs as the just and

ultimate cause. As in our ancient history, the two sides churned the

minds and souls of the masses for the nectar of "ultimate peace".

Alas, first poured forth the poison of partition. The sages who

originally wrote the great Puranas would have been shocked and

embarrassed by the atrocities brothers performed upon brothers. Even

the gods and Asuras did not fight with such cruelty ! Yet, this was

but the first thing that came out of this "churning of India".

 

Since that monumental day in August when we won our independence, we

have churned the ocean of time incessantly. Apart from the horrid

poison of partition, we have since obtained various "gifts" as reward

for our efforts. We are self-sufficient in most things. We have made

huge strides in achieving a better standard of living for the masses.

Boundaries between caste and creed are blurring and people are

finding it easier to improve their own situations.

 

Yet, we are unable to live in peace. With all the great things that

we have and will have, we can never live in peace until we can learn

to live with each other. The Asuras and Devas are one and the same.

They were brothers. Yet, they did not learn to live in peace. If we

want to live in peace, we need to learn to live with each other -

otherwise, like the Devas and Asuras, we too will fight till each of

us till we are utterly exhausted.

 

Let us learn from our past. These sages did not write the scriptures

to while-away the time in the forest. They wrote these to teach

humanity how to live. They wrote these to teach us the consequences

of our actions - positive and negative. Let us learn from this - for

our sake - our children's sake.

 

– Bhagwat K Shah

October 12, 2000