Shloka 9
Rudra-Śiva: Names, Two Natures, and the Logic of Epithets (रुद्रनाम-बहुरूपत्व-प्रकरणम्)
(पुरा युगान्तरे यत्नादमृतार्थ सुरासुरै: । बलवद्धिविमथितश्चिरकालं महोदधि: ।।
purā yugāntare yatnād amṛtārthaṁ surāsuraiḥ | balavaddhi vimathitaś cirakālaṁ mahodadhiḥ ||
Mahādeva said: “In a former age-cycle, the gods and the asuras, exerting themselves with great effort to obtain amṛta—the nectar of immortality—churned the vast ocean for a long time. When the great sea was churned with Mount Mandara as the churning-staff and Vāsuki, king of serpents, as the rope, a dreadful poison arose, able to destroy all the worlds. Seeing it, all the gods grew despondent. O Goddess, for the welfare of the three worlds I myself drank that poison. Because of it, a blue mark like a peacock’s plume appeared upon my throat; from that time I have been remembered as Nīlakaṇṭha. All this I have told you—what more do you wish to hear?”
श्रीमहेश्वर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames a moral pattern: great attainments (amṛta) require sustained effort and may demand cooperation even between opponents; yet the pursuit of a lofty goal can first release dangers, implying the need for guardianship and self-sacrifice to protect the common good.
Mahādeva begins recounting the ancient episode of the churning of the ocean: devas and asuras jointly churn the great ocean for a long time to obtain amṛta, setting up the later emergence of poison and Śiva’s protective act.