You speak of a war in heaven, ever know what it was about? That it concluded in 2007? In the Vishnu, Vayu, and Padma Puranas, a curse that Durvasa laid upon Indra is described as the indirect reason for the famous churning of the ocean.[7] The Bhagavata[8][9] and Agni Puranas also mention Durvasas involvement in the episode in passing, without going into the details.[7] Other sources for this story, such as the Ramayana,[10][11] Mahabharata,[12] Harivamsa, and Matsya Purana, do not mention Durvasas involvement at all, and ascribe the incident to other causes, such as the devas and asuras desire for immortality.[7] The story in the Vishnu Purana goes that Durvasa, while wandering the earth in a state of ecstasy due to a vow he was observing, came by a Vidyadhari (a nymph of the air) and demanded of her a heavenly wreath of flowers she was wearing. The nymph respectfully gave the garland to the sage, whereupon he wore it on his brow. Resuming his wanderings, the sage came across Indra riding his elephant, Airavata, attended by the gods. Durvasa, still in his state of frenzy, threw the garland at Indra, who caught it and placed it on Airavatas head. The elephant was irritated by the fragrance of the nectar in the flowers, so it threw the garland to the ground with its trunk. Durvasa was enraged to see his gift treated so callously and cursed Indra that he would be cast down from his position of dominion over the three worlds, just as the garland was cast down. Indra immediately begged Durvasas forgiveness, but the sage refused to retract or even soften his curse, and went on his way. Because of the curse, Indra and the devas were diminished in strength and shorn of their lustre. Seizing this opportunity, the asuras led by Bali waged war against the gods. The gods were routed and turned to Brahma for help. Brahma directed them to seek refuge with Vishnu. Vishnu in turn, advised them to call a truce with the asuras and work together with them to churn the ocean of milk and obtain the amrita (nectar of immortality), on the pretext of sharing it with them. Vishnu promised that he would ensure only the devas drank the Nectar and obtained immortality so they could once again defeat the asuras. The devas took Vishnus advice and called their truce with the asuras, and thus did the gods and demons begin planning their great enterprise.[13]
Posted on: Wed, 05 Nov 2014 15:56:27 +0000
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