Srimadbhagavatham- skandha 8-chapter 8- Amrthamathana continued

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Chapter8- Emergence of amrtha

 

After

Siva drank the halahala the devas and asuras churned the ocean and first thing

that came out was Kamadhenu, the celestial cow. The rshis took her for use in yajnas. The Airavatha,

the white elephant, Ucchaisravas the horse , kousthubha gem and parijatha the wish

giving tree and the apsara damsels came out in succession.

 

Then

came Lakshmi.

 

thathaSchaavirabhooth saakshaath Sreeramaa

bhagavathparaa

 

ranjayanthee dhisaH kaanthyaa vidhyuthsoudhaamanee

yaThaa

 

Then

manifested Lakshmee herself, Sree Ramaa, with her mind engrossed in the Lord,

and making all the directions shining with her luster like a lightning amidst

the clouds. All were attracted by her and they performed abhisheka for her with

water in golden vessels. Each gave her the best they had and she was adorned

with garments and ornaments and with lotus garland in hand she searched for a

fitting bridegroom. She looked around and found everyone with some defect or

other. In sages like Durvasas the thapas was there but no

victory over anger. When one had wisdom he was not detached, like Sukra . The

devas like Moon were great but they had not conquered desire. One who is the

master of all is still dependent on others

like Indra who always resorted to Brahma or Siva or Vishnu when he was

in trouble. One who has no such defects lives in cremation ground, meaning

Siva.

 

Thus

Lakshmi found that only Lord Narayana was suitable in all respects but He did not

show any interest in her. Thus reasoning, Lakshmi chose Narayana because he was

sadhguNaih varaH, the best due to

His auspicious qualities, He was endowed with all merits yet He was not

desirous of anything. When Mahalakshmi placed the garland on the neck of Lord

Hari He gave her His chest as the residing place. From there she blessed the

devas and the prajapathis along with their progeny and the whole world of

people became blessed by her.

 

Yamunacharya

in his sthothra rathna says that the Lord went into so much trouble in churning

the ocean during the amrthamaThana and in bridging it in Ramavathara only for

the sake of her to whom He offered His chest as her abode and made her father's

house His abode!

 

Then

VaaruNee , appeared out of the ocean, who personified the intoxicating liquor

and asuras took her with the permission of the Lord.

 

At

last came Dhanvanthari, of wonderful form , who was an amsa of the Lord and who

was qualified to partake the havirbhaga

from the yajnas and also had the knowledge of aayurvedha, with the vessel of

amtrtha in his hand. T he asuras

grabbed it from his hand and ran away while the disappointed devas were looking

on helplessly. They appealed to the Lord Hari as usual and He promised to help

them and disappeared. Then among the

asuras a fight ensued for the amritha when Lord Narayana taking the form

of Mohini appeared on the scene. Her

form is described in Srimadbhagavatham thus:

 

prekshaNeeyothpalaSyaamam

sarvaayavasundaram

savreeda smitha

vikshipthabhroovilaasaavalokanaiH

dhithyayooThapachethassu kaamam

uddheepayan muhuH

 

The

Mohini form of the Lord was attractive having a hue of blue lotus, and

beautiful in all her limbs, and looked bashful, smiling and kindling the desire

among the leaders of asuras, again and again, with her arched eyebrows and her

looks.