Shloka 13
उच्चैःश्रवसः वर्णविपणः तथा नागशापः
Uccaiḥśravas Color-Wager and the Nāga Curse
मन्थानं मन्दरं कृत्वा तथा नेत्र च वासुकिम् । देवा मथितुमारब्धा: समुद्र निधिमम्भसाम्
manthānaṃ mandaraṃ kṛtvā tathā netra ca vāsukim | devā mathitum ārabdhāḥ samudra-nidhim ambhasām ||
Śaunaka sprach: Den Berg Mandara machten die Götter zum Quirlstab und Vāsuki zur Quirlschnur; so begannen sie, den Ozean zu quirlen—den weiten Schatz der Wasser—um in geeinter Anstrengung seine verborgenen Reichtümer zu gewinnen.
शौनक उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights purposeful, collective effort: great gains are drawn forth from a vast source only when proper means are employed and participants act in coordinated resolve.
Śaunaka describes the start of the ocean-churning: the gods use Mount Mandara as the churning staff and the serpent Vāsuki as the rope to churn the ocean, the repository of waters, to obtain its treasures.