The Churning Of The Ocean Of Milk | Dylan Smith #149

From the depths of the cosmic ocean, Dhanvantari arose - radiant and serene, carrying the pot of Amṛta, the nectar of immortality. This is the birth of Ayurveda, the birth of healing itself.

In this special Dhanteras episode, Dylan retells the ancient Vedic story of the Samudra Manthana (the Churning of the Ocean of Milk) and reveals how this timeless myth mirrors the process of transformation within us all. As light and shadow churn together, both poison and nectar emerge, showing that healing is not about escape, but integration.

A meditative and mythic journey through one of the Vedas’ most profound tales, this episode invites you to awaken the Dhanvantari within - the innate intelligence that restores balance, purifies what’s toxic, and reveals the radiant nectar of health and consciousness that lies beneath the surface of all experience.

IN THIS EPISODE WE DISCUSS:
🌿 The Karmakāṇḍa Layer: the outer story of the Samudra Manthana
🌿 The Emergence of Dhanvantari
🌿 The Alchemy of Poison and Nectar
🌿 The Treasures of the Churning
🌿 The 'Inner' Samudra Manthana

RESOURCES:
• Mantra Śāstra Explained: The Ancient Science of Sound | Purnesh #148
• Diwali: Spark Radiance & Supersede Limitations | Acharya Shunya #071
• Marma & Pulse Diagnosis Retreat – Byron Bay, Australia (June 2026)
• Abhyanga Massage Practitioner Training – Ayurvedic Massage Training in Byron Bay & London

Chapters

• 0:00 Welcome And Story Context
• 1:52 Why Samudra Manthan Matters Today
• 3:36 Sources In The Puranas
• 3:58 The Quest For Amrita
• 5:01 Mount Mandara As The Mind
• 6:20 Kurma And The Power Of Saturn
• 8:45 The Poison Emerges And Shiva Acts
• 10:47 Ayurveda’s Alchemy: Poison Or Nectar
• 13:05 Treasures From The Churning
• 16:31 Inner Meanings And Practices
• 20:22 Integrating Shadow To Reveal Nectar
• 22:05 Blessings, Resources, And Courses

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:00

This time on the Vital Vader podcast. On this story of when the great Milky Ocean was churned up, what birthed is Danvantari. Danvantari is the Adideva of Ayurveda, the primordial teacher, the primordial granter of the science of life. Each of these avatars of Vishnu correlate with the nine planets. In Eruveda, it is known that every substance is composed of the five elements. Therefore, every substance can be amrita, nectar, but it can also be Vishha, poison. This is why the Puranas tell us these stories, not as fantasies, they are mirrors of our own inner work. Welcome to the Vital Veda podcast. My name is Dylan Smith. I'm an Ayurveda practitioner and holistic health educator, and today we're going to explore one of the most well-known stories in the Vedas. This is the story of the Samudra Mantana, which is the churning of the great milky ocean. This is an auspicious day to share this story because involved in this story is the birth of Ayurveda or the birth of healing consciousness, the birth of that consciousness state which emanates at perfect health and massive healing capacity. And that is known as Dhanvantari, which people would say is the god of Air Veda. So on this day, on this story of when the great milky ocean was churned up, what birthed is Dunvantari. So we're going to go into this story today. I'm going to share the story, but also I'm going to share the deeper layers behind the story. So not only the what we call karmakhand or the relative surface layer of the story, but also the Upasana Kanda, which is the more subtle, energetic manifestations and laws of nature that is being played out while this story is being told. After all, the purpose of mythology is to trigger a eureka experience, trigger an experience within those who listen to the story and to trigger certain phenomena in their consciousness. And in this case, to trigger the phenomenon of the birth of Ariveda, but it's more than just the birth of Ariveda. So the story of the Samudra Mantana, which for those uh listening on the day, the anniversary of this story, which is on the day of what we call Danteas, in the year of 2025, as I recall this, is on the 18th of October 2025. And you're probably listening to this after the 18th of October, unless you're a very eager Vital Veda podcast listener. And if so, well done, you know about this. But if not, there's this happens every year, once a year, this anniversary of Ariveda. Or it is known as Danteas. The way you can find out Danteas is it's two days before Diwali. Diwali is the festival of Lakshmi, the great festival of lights. Probably the most well-known festival in the Vedic calendar. So you can just search Diwali. What date is Diwali? And Danteas will be two days before Diwali. So the origin of the Samudra Mantana story. This story comes from the Puranas. The Puranas are the ancient mythocosmological texts of India. And there's a few Puranas where you'll find it. You'll find in Bhagavad Purana, Vishnu Purana, and also the Mahabharata, the great epic, the great war of India. So here is the story of the Samudra Mantana. Once both the Devas, the shining celestial beings, the forces of light, and the Asuras, their darker counterparts, the obstructing forces, they both lost their strength. And they longed for Amritha. Amritha is the nectar of immortality. Amritta. Amrit is where the English word mortality comes from. And Amrit is the nectar of immortality. And this is a significant part of this story. So because the Devas and the Asuras, the celestial beings and the demons wanted this Amrita so bad because they lost their strength, they made a pact. And the pact was they would work together to churn the Ksira Sagra, the ocean of milk, that vast cosmic ocean of unmanifest potential to bring forth hidden treasures. And above all, they really wanted this Amrita, this nectar of immortality. So how do they churn an ocean of milk? Well, for their churning rod, they chose a mountain, mandra parfata, or mount mandara. So this mountain in Sanskrit it carries meaning. Well, the name is Mandra. Manda means gentle or slow or pleasant, and Ara means mountain. So Mandra is the mountain that brings a gentle delight. A mountain that gently and slowly uplifts. So what does this mountain symbolize? It symbolizes the mind, the great axis of awareness. And this mountain, this mind, is something that's not rattled by Vada dosha, but it's a grounded and steady mind. It's steady enough to turn the depth of consciousness. So this is the Mount Mandara. But this Mount Mandara, it's not just a cosmic symbol, there's actually a real mountain in India that links to the story, and it's called Munda Hill. It's in the state of Bihar in eastern India. And even today you can visit it. The hill is covered with ancient temples and stone carvings which depict scenes of the Samudra Mantana. And pilgrims even today climb it, honoring it as a place where the Devas and the Asuras once churned the great ocean of milk to bring forth the treasures, especially Amrita. But back to the story. So they have a churning rod, which is a mountain, and now they need a rope to churn it. So what the Devas and the Asuras got as a rope is Vasukinaga, the great serpent king. And they put this great serpent around the mountain. But when the churning began, the mountain started sinking to the ocean, obviously, because it's a very heavy mountain. So at this point, Vishnu, the great sustainer, the great maintainer, that consciousness aspect which maintains whatever is relevant and that supporting energy, Vishnu incarnated as Kurma, the tortoise. And Kurma held the weight of the mountain upon his back. Now Kurma is an avatar of Vishnu, the tortoise, who is patient, steady, and enduring, just like the planet Saturn, Shani, who carries great burden until the work is done. So the Devas and the Asuras, they have acquired Mount Mandara as the churning rod. They have acquired the great serpent king Vasuki as the rope, and they have put it this mountain upside down on Kuruma, on the tortoises, very capable, patient, steady, and enduring shell. Now let's explore Kurma more because this is a very powerful aspect of consciousness, this tortoise, this incarnation of Vishnu. Which, by the way, Kuruma is one of ten Dasha Maha avatars of Vishnu. And each of these avatars of Vishnu correlate with the nine planets. There are ten, but we're not going to go into this today. And there are nine planets because the tenth avatar of Vishnu has not yet come into the present moment. And Kurma avatar, the TOITUS, is linked with the planet Saturn because Saturn is doing the job without needing to be in the forefront of things. It's in the background carrying all the hard work, carrying the great burden and making sure the work is done. So kurma is also akin to the parasympathetic nervous system. This is the rest and digest, or the rest and stabilize aspect that sustains activity without collapse. This is this beautiful, stable tortoise. And just as kurma supports the cosmic churning, this function in our physiology supports the constant churning of sensory input, of thoughts, of digestion, and any transformation. So here, this significant activity of churning, the ocean of consciousness, is resting on a silent foundation of pure consciousness, and that is kurma, that which embodies that substratin, the stillness supporting all activity. And Shani, the planet Saturn, is also that. Shani represents the aspect of natural law that organizes experience through time. Planet Saturn has a very slow maturation of karma and this wonderful, gentle, slow discipline and endurance. Shani is also associated with stabilizing and regulating intelligence within the body. So those processes that move slowly ensure endurance and long-term order rather than quick gratification, that is Saturn. And this mirrors kurma's function: endurance, patience, the ability of consciousness to bear the weight of evolution until harmony is restored. Very righteous is Kurma and Shani. So thank you, Kuruma, for holding up the mountain. Okay, back to the story. So the Devas and the Asuras, they pulled alternately on Vasuki. The serpent twisted, the mountain spun, the ocean of milk began to foam. And as it began to foam, from those depths rose both treasures but also terrors. The first thing that came out of this ocean of milk, which really is symbolizing what comes out of the field of pure awareness, of pure unmanifest, what the first thing which manifested is hallahalla, which is a deadly poison. This poison is so virulent, it threatened to destroy the cosmos. What to do when a poison that's so virulent and going to destroy the whole cosmos comes out? Well, there's only really one answer. There was only one answer, and that's Lord Shiva is the only solution to this. He's the only one who could contain it. So out of compassion, Lord Shiva swallowed the poison and he held it in his throat. Now, when he held it in his throat, his throat turned blue, and that earned him the name Nilakanta, the blue-throated one. Now Shiva's act of swallowing the hallahalla poison has profound echoes in Dravyaguna Vijnana, which is Ayurvedic herbology. In Ayurveda, it is known that every substance, which is every herb, every mineral, every compound, everything can be medicine. Sarvam Dravyam Paunchabhautikam. This is a hymn from the great Shastra, Charaka Samhita, hymning how every substance is composed of the five elements. Therefore, every substance can be amrita, nectar, but it can also be visha, poison, depending on a few things. Number one, how is the substance purified and prepared? Number two, what is the consciousness with which the substance is administered? And number three, what is the consciousness of which the substance is consumed? For example, if you think the medicine or the substance is poison, or do you think the substance is going to heal you and is nectar? Consciousness is king. This is going to have a massive influence on how that substance, whether it is healing or whether it is poison, interacts with you. So in this sense, Lord Shiva is the archetype of the alchemist, the vishadara, the one who holds poison without being consumed by it. He does not reject the toxic, he contains it, transforms, and even sanctifies it. We see this mirrored in Ayurvedic herbs, which also are correlated with Lord Shiva, but I'll go through a few herbs. So one of them is karavira, which is nirium oleanda, which is a holy white and red flowers, which actually teenagers in India sometimes attempt to commit suicide by eating the poisonous leaves. Another flower, another herb, another plant is Datura, which in the West people mispronounce as daitura, but Datura or Datura metal is the botanical name. And that's those upside-down flowers that teenagers in the West consume or they even simply inhale to get high, and probably most times they pass out. That's another plant offered to Lord Shiva, and we're going to go through these in a bit. Arka, calotropis prakera, a weed that grows abundantly throughout India, and it drips a sap, latex sap, that can definitely be very poisonous, but it can also play a very key role in even restoring sight to the blind. Other herbs are bunga, which is cannabis. You know that one, can be poison, can be toxic, can also be healing. Rasa, mercury, the metal with atomic number 80. And even shiligit, this popular sweat of the mountains, of which we have a whole podcast episode on, which is asphaltum. So these substances, which I mentioned above, you'll typically find them listed by environmental and agricultural councils as highly poisonous or invasive species. Yet at the same time, these substances, banga, mercury, shilajit, arka, datura, karavira, these are all offered to Lord Shiva in ceremony. So they're very toxicity, they're all toxic. They embody the principle of Vishabhava, that which, when approached with reverence, with the right and usually occult knowledge and the right purification knowledge, it can transform these toxic plants or substances into medicine. And here we can see what the outer world labels as dangerous, the inner science of Ayurveda recognizes as alchemical. In Ayurveda, there's a crucial process in herbology called Shodana Samskara, which is purification and transformation. The toxic substance is purified in certain substances and certain procedures. And sometimes what the purification procedures do is they cool, they soothe, they stabilize and neutralize the poisonous compounds or constituents of the plant or the substance, just as shivas cooling nature can pacify the cosmic poison. So in this way, the Samudra Mantana is not just a cosmic story, but it's an instruction in alchemy. It shows the act of turning poison into medicine, both in the body and in the mind. So after the poison came out of the Milky Ocean, then came the treasures. Kind of what we've been waiting for. So from the depths of the Kishita saga, the Milky Ocean, the Devas and the Asuras watched as extraordinary beings and blessings arose one after the other. Each of these treasures symbolizes a refined expression of consciousness that surfaces when the inner turbulence is purified. The first treasure which came out of the Milky Ocean was Lakshmi Devi, the goddess of fortune, radiance, and abundance. Lakshmi emerged seated upon a lotus, and Lakshmi represents the blossoming of Shri, inner prosperity, the graceful flow of beauty and harmony. And this arises when consciousness is settled. In the inner world, Lakshmi appears when the mind is clear and when the mind is luminous. Abundance is the natural fragrance of a pure heart.

unknown: 16:26

J.

SPEAKER_00: 16:27

Lakshmi Devi. And that's what Diwali is all about, two days after Danteas. The next thing that came out of the ocean was Kama Denu, which is the wish-fulfilling cow. Now, the cow in the Vedas is considered holy. It is considered to contain many Devas, many celestial divine beings. But the cow really is the embodiment of nourishment, of generosity, and also fulfillment of righteous desires. In the human system, this cow represents the capacity to manifest from pure intention, where every wish aligns with dharma. Because the cow is pure sattva, it's pure purity, pure unconditional love. The cow also symbolizes soma, which is the essence that nourishes the body, mind, and spirit. Next out of the Milky Ocean came Uchhasravas. This is the celestial horse of boundless strength and brilliance. This represents the power of prana, the life force energy that carries us forward on our spiritual and worldly journeys. The horse, again, like the cow, it's pure sattva in motion, pure, pure unconditional love in motion. It's energy, it's a powerful strength guided by wisdom rather than impulse. Next came Chandra, the moon. The moon brings coolness, rhythm, and also emotional clarity. The moon symbolizes manas, the mind, the reflective feeling aspect of the mind. It also reminds us that luminosity does not come from self-generated fire, but it comes from reflecting the light of consciousness. Next came Ratnas, the jewels. They surfaced and they were shimmering out of the ocean with every color. They represent the refinement of the elements, they represent clarity of perception, purity of speech, the crystallization of insight that comes after deep internal alchemy. And in Ayurveda language, they are like ojas, the vital, subtle essence that gives brilliance to the body and the mind. Then came oshari. These are the plant intelligences that restore balance in the organism and also in the cosmos. They are the living embodiments of compassion in physical form. From the inner perspective, these medicines represent jnana oshari, the medicine of wisdom, which heals ignorance at the root cause of suffering. And finally, the moment we've all been waiting for, out of the Milky Ocean came Danvantari, the celestial physician, and he rose out of the ocean holding the golden pot of Amrita, the nectar of immortality. Danvantari is the Adhedeva Vivera, the primordial teacher, the primordial granter of the science of life. He emerged last because immortality or amrita is the ultimate fruit of the churning. When all the poisons have been integrated and all the energies balanced and all the treasures recognized and utilized, the nectar of Amritattva, the experience of one's own internal nature, naturally arises. So this is the story of the Samudra Mantana, the churning of the great ocean of milk. And I would just like to recap a few inner meanings within this story. The Ksira Sagra, the ocean of milk, it's the unified field. It's the unmanifest field of pure being, of pure potential, where all possibilities lie latent. We just got to churn them out. The devas and the asuras, the celestial beings and the demons, they're when they pull the serpent, it's like they're opposing forces. They're opposing physiological and mental forces. We have excitation and inhibition. We have sympathetic and parasympathetic. We have expansion and contraction. So there's always opposing forces in nature. And this opposing forces, this luminous and shadow aspects within us is that which maintains homeostasis and evolution. And we need both to work together in order for transformation. The Mandara Mountain, it's the mind, the central axis of awareness, but it's also the spinal column. And this is the channel, the mind, the central nervous system of the brain connecting with the central nervous system in the spine. This is also where the snake wraps around, and that's a channel for the snake or the creative spiritual energy to spiral up. The Vasuki, the serpent, is the kundalini shakti, which is the coiled energy of consciousness. It rets at the base of the spine, and as the devas and the asuras pull alternately on the serpent, it churns this ocean within us. The churning begins. And this is like a movement of what we call in Aveda prana and apana, the ascending and descending currents of life force are churned, and this creates the Samudra Mantana within us, the churning of the Milky Ocean. Now, this churning is also beautifully reflected in the practice of japa, which is a rhythmic recitation of mantra with usually a mala or a chain of beads. As the beads move back and forth through the fingers, it mirrors the devas and the asuras pulling on Vasukhi. And each repetition stirs the depths of the inner ocean of consciousness, awakening Kundalini Shakti. It's said in this story that there are 54 asuras and 54 devas, and which equals 108. And this is similar to the mala, which has 108 beads. Each bead of the mala represents a single act of churning. So the metal bead, you'll find on a mala a big bead. They call it the metal bead, or what's also known as the guru bead. This is a big bead, which when you feel the big bead, you indicated that the mala has finished. The 108 repetitions have finished. And what you do when you get to the guru bead or the metal bead, you turn, you reverse the direction. And this reversing corresponds to churning, right? It's the same process, back and forth, back and forth. Japa is like the churning of the ocean. So japa is an inner samudramantana. It's the rhythmic stirring of awareness that draws up any latent energy from the ocean of consciousness. And that will transform the poison and manifest the nectar. Kurma is beautiful, powerful, very humble, tortoise, is the stable support beneath all of this. It's a Vishnu sustaining presence and it's the patience of Saturn, the planet Shani. The poison, hallahallah, it represents the painful karmas and the toxic residues that arise when we stir the depths. And Shiva's act of containing it is the supreme yogic act to be able to hold the fire of poison within, not by suppression, but through vast capacity. It is the power to sustain cosmic turbulence without collapse, to absorb and transmute what would otherwise destroy. So he's transforming poison into protection. The treasures, lakshmi, the jewels, the medicines, the nectar, these are the gifts of inner transformation, not gifts from outside, but revelations and manifestations from within the ocean of our own consciousness. And Amrita, the nectar of immortality, is the unveiling of Amritattva, that timeless, indestructible current of being which flows beneath birth and death. So this is the Samudramantana. It shows us that evolution is not just about banishing shadow or the devas need the asuras. We don't want to just reject these negative thoughts and negative things that go on in our mind. We need the asuras. Both the light and the dark must pull together, must work together to churn the unmanifest and bring forth nectar. So face the poison, we need to contain it and integrate it and deal with it. And only then will the treasures arise. This is why the Puranas tell us these stories, not as fantasies, they are mirrors of our own inner work. That, my friends, is the Samudra Mantana. A tale from the Puranas, a tale of gods and demons, and at the same time, a tale of us. I wish you happy Danteras. I wish you perfect health, and I wish your family perfect health and those around you, your community. I wish that you have the ability and the processes to be able to enliven Dan Vantari, not just on this day, but always and emanate that throughout your community for greater healing of the collective and to ultimately create a disease-free society. I hope you enjoyed this podcast. If you did, there's another episode that I think you will like, and that's episode 148, 148 of the Vital Veda podcast, with the very wise, with the expert in mantra. His name is Purinesh. And that episode is called Mantra Shastra Explained, the Ancient Science of Sound. There's many other episodes. There's episodes on Lakshmi, on Diwali. So with Acharya Shunya, have a look at the Vital Veda podcast. There's so much goodness there as we approach episode 150. And if you'd like to go deeper into Ayurveda and you'd like to enliven Danvantari in you, enliven this aspect which heals and purifies any poisons and ultimately restores Amritta, nectar of immortality. That not that you're going to be immortal, but that that consciousness state, when it's enlivened, it supports health, it supports that feeling of absolute radiance. There are so many ways you can do that. You just check out Ayurveda knowledge. Look at our website on Vital Veda. We have so many knowledge bases, but we're offering some really, I guess, more deeper, more advanced, more refined, more subtle classes and programs to enliven Danvantari. One is a marma retreat, learning pulse and marama. Marama is the vital points within the body. Pulse diagnosis is feeling the radial pulse. And these two sciences within Ayurveda are enlivening Danvantari, perfect health through the sense of touch specifically. So through your fingers, how can you enliven perfect health within yourself and within others if that's what you want to do? If you want to be a healer or if you are a healer or you're a practitioner, clinical physician, whatever it is, we have an annual course with my teachers, the Raju family, in Byron Bay, Australia, happening in June 2026. And it may be the last course before we move on to the next level. We're not sure. It depends on the collective. But this is a very profound eight-day retreat where we go deep in enhancing the sense of touch, enlivening our ability to give through our sense of touch. To how, to what capacity can we exchange prana through our own hands within our own biology, but also on other people's biology, on other people's physiology? How can we heal through the sense of touch? How can we restore our own inner healing rather than relying on outside things like herbs or treatments with other people? How can we just do it with just our hands? And this is what Marma and Pulse Retreat is about. And that's happening in the gorgeous location of Byron Bay, Australia. If you've international what a good what a good reason to come to Australia. And we have more, I guess, less subtle other ways to heal through touch, and that's our Abyunga course. We teach Ayurvedic Massage. And this is particularly for professionals to offer to other people whether the Pulsar Marma course is really enlivening your own healing capacity for yourself. And this Abyanga course, how to give treatments to other people, particularly in a very exceptional type of Ayurvedic massage, we'll be doing that in Byron Bay as well in 2026, as well as London, UK in 2026. You can find information about all our offerings of the more advanced, more in-depth courses of Ayurveda on Vitalveda.com.au forward slash courses. Again, I wish you a happy Danteas. I wish you a happy diwali. And if there's anything you need or you want to reach out, please send us an email, contact us on our website, send us an Instagram DM, share this episode with someone that would like it. And until next time, Jay Dunfandadi.