The story of Amritamanthana

The Devas (good people) and the Asuras (wicked people) once churned the ocean of milk to get the various treasures from it. They used the Mandara mountain as the rod and the serpent king, Vasuki, as the rope to churn. First came the Kamadhenu (the wish fulfilling cow), then the Kalpavriksha (the wish fulfilling tree), Lakshmi (the Goddess of wealth and plenty) and also the deadly Halahala poison.

The poison was so strong, that even a drop of it would have burnt the whole world. Now the problem was how to get rid of it! Where to keep such a deadly thing? The people prayed to Lord Shiva to save them.

In response to their prayers, Shiva who is “Karunya Sindhu”, Ocean of Mercy and Compassion, with one gulp, he swallowed the poison. There it started going down His throat. But Shiva knew that, if the poison got mixed with His blood, then with the contact of His feet to the earth, the whole world would burn to ashes. So he did not allow the poison to go down the throat. He kept it in His throat. The poison scorched Him so much that he tried all remedies to cool the burning effect of the poison. The heat of the fumes was unbearable even for Him. First, he kept the moon to cool it, but it could not reduce the burning. He then put Ganga upon his matter hair, yet it had no effect. At last, Lord Shiva began to chant ‘Rama Nama’, and at once it cooled the scorching of the poison. That is why the Lord has the moon on His forehead. He is the ocean of mercy, because he took mercy upon His devotees and swallowed the poison for them.

[Illustrations by Shyam, Sri Sathya Sai Balvikas Student]
[Source: Sri Sathya Sai Balvikas Guru Handbook and SSS – V1]