The Churning of the Ocean

by Anant Pai

The three worlds of the universe were reeling from shock: the asuras had taken control! Even the plants were withering away. Only the great Lord Vishnu could make things right again. He got both devas and asuras to churn up life-giving nectar from the ocean of milk and then ensured that the asuras were kept away from this gift of immortality.

Genres: Comics, Mythology, Religion

32 pages, Paperback

First published December 31, 2007

About the author

Anant Pai popularly known as Uncle Pai, was an Indian educationalist and creator of Indian comics, in particular the Amar Chitra Katha series in 1967, along with the India Book House publishers, and which retold traditional Indian folk tales, mythological stories, and biographies of historical characters. In 1980, he launched Tinkle, a children's anthology, which was started under Rang Rekha Features, India's first comic and cartoon syndicate, that lasted till 1998, with him as the Managing Director.

Today, Amar Chitra Katha sells about three million comic books a year, in English and more than 20 Indian languages, and has sold about 100 million copies since it inception in 1967 by Anant Pai, and in 2007 was taken over by ACK Media.

Reviews

[Jon Nakapalau · Rating 5 out of 5]

Devas and Asuras must work with each other to churn the ocean of milk to gain the nectar of immortality - a cautionary tale of trust and betrayal that everyone can learn from. I can't help seeing a similarity in this tale and the modern relationship between India and Pakistan; just my very uneducated perspective.

[Bhavya Prasad · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another 5 stared story (I swear i love the Indian mythological stories so much, these books have inspired me to write my own book). Many people say these stories are real which happened long ago. The Churning of the Ocean is a very famous mythological story. Every Indian knows this and must have seen it many statues and stories as this story was a turning factor to whom the power should go to- either to the devas or asuras. It all started with Indra as usual. Durvasa grew furious and cursed him for his bad behavior saying that, "Your power will crumble to the ground." All hell broke in heaven and devas began feeling weak. The asuras took advantage of this and defeated them. Brahma gave them the idea to go visit Lord Vishnu for help. The lord tells them that to churn the ocean of milk and retrieve the immortal nectar but for that they have to befriend the asuras. But I didn't understand why were the asuras needed? They could do it all by themselves. The asuras agreed to help them. They both began churning and Vishnu helped both asuras and devas when any mishap occurred during churning. I really liked how Vishnu tricked the asuras in the end and his presence of mind was really great. You will come to know that the planet Pluto is in actual the demon Rahu who Vishnu killed him with his chakra and the origin of Neelkanth. New findings. My favourite lines by Lord Vishnu were:
1. It is better to make peace with enemies, even as a serpent will make friends with a mouse if necessary.
2. Women aren't steady in friendship, so why do you follow? (This line made me giggle.)
Read this book to know where to find this all.

[Khayma · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it to bits. ACK will always be a part of me. And yes, I am an adult who enjoys this.

[Ravi Kumar Dandapani]

nice

[Diana Zheng · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love this tale! One of my favorite a Hindu tale!

[Anjalica · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love it.