The Churning of the Ocean
Devas and asuras pulled together for amrita — and learned that poison surfaces before nectar.
Weakened by a sage’s curse, the devas struck an unlikely bargain with the asuras: together they would churn the ocean of milk and share the amrita, the nectar of immortality, that lay hidden in its depths.
Mount Mandara became the churning rod and the serpent Vasuki the rope. Vishnu took the form of a tortoise, Kurma, and bore the sinking mountain on his back so the work could continue.
For ages they pulled. The first thing to rise was not nectar but halahala, a poison so fierce it threatened every world. Shiva drank it and held it in his throat, which turned blue — and so he is called Nilakantha.
Then came the treasures: the wish-cow Kamadhenu, the moon, the celestial physician Dhanvantari holding the pot of amrita, and Lakshmi herself, rising on a lotus. The asuras seized the pot; Vishnu appeared as Mohini and, with grace rather than war, returned it to the devas.