Kshīra Sāgara

Kshīra Sāgara, “the ocean of milk”

The Kshīra Sāgara, also called the Kshīra Samudra, is the ocean of milk. In the Vāmana Purāṇa it is the ocean that surrounds Śāka Dvīpa, the last of the oceans named before Pushkara Dvīpa, and on it Śrī Hari lies on the couch of Śesha. It is the abode of Janārdana, who shines there in four forms. Brahmā went there to Mādhava when the worlds shook; Yama sent the dānava Mura there to meet Bhagavān Vishṇu; Bhagavān Vishṇu returned there with the Sudarśana cakra; and north of it lies the place called Amṛta, where the devas performed tapas to Nārāyaṇa before the birth of Vāmana. The mountain Trikūṭa rose out of it, and it was once churned with Mount Mandara wound round by Vāsuki. In Vena‘s stotra, Bhagavān Śiva is the Kshīra Samudra among oceans.

Among the seven oceans

The rākshasa king Sukeśī asked the maharshis of a forest in Magadha to tell him the dharmas of humans, and they began with the earth and its seven dvīpas, as Pulastya Maharshi told Nārada Maharshi. Like a boat on a great mass of water, the circle of the earth, fifty crore yojanas in extent, rests on the waters of the ocean. Each dvīpa and each ocean is twice the size of the one before:

  • Jambū Dvīpa, in the middle, one lakh yojanas in measure, and around it an ocean twice its extent.
  • Plaksha Dvīpa, twice the size, and around it the ocean of sugarcane juice (ikshu-rasa).
  • Śālmali Dvīpa, twice that, and around it, twice as large, the ocean of surā.
  • Kuśa Dvīpa, twice that, and around it, twice as large, the ocean of ghee.
  • Krauñca Dvīpa, twice the size of the ocean of ghee, and around it, twice as large, the ocean of curd (dadhi).
  • Śāka Dvīpa, twice the size of the ocean of curd, and around it, twice as large, the ocean of milk (kshīra), on which Śrī Hari lies on the couch of Śesha.

From Jambū Dvīpa up to the ocean of milk, all of these together extend forty crore ninety-five lakh yojanas. Beyond them lies Pushkara Dvīpa, with the ocean of sweet water around it, each extending four crore fifty-two lakh yojanas; and one lakh yojanas beyond all these, on every side, spreads the egg-shaped shell of the brahmāṇḍa.

Source: Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapter 11

The abode of Bhagavān Vishṇu

Brahmā comes to Mādhava. When the śāpa of the maharshis made Bhagavān Śiva‘s liṅga fall, it split the earth, pierced the brahmāṇḍa and spread up to the higher worlds, and all the worlds shook. Seeing the worlds in turmoil, Brahmā went in wonder to Mādhava, who lies on the Kshīra Sāgara. There he saw Hṛshīkeśa, praised him with bhakti and asked, “Prabhu Hṛshīkeśa, what is this great calamity?” Śrī Hari told Viriñci that the liṅga of Śarva had fallen because of the maharshis’ śāpa, and that the earth was shaking because it could not bear its weight. Then the two went together to the place where the liṅga had fallen.

Source: Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapter 6

Mura sets out for the ocean of milk. The dānava Mura, who by a vara of Brahmā could kill anyone he touched, drove Indra from Amarāvatī and then marched on Yama. Yama went to Keśava, and Janārdana told him, “Go, and send that rākshasa to me.” So when Mura ordered Yama to stop taking the lives of beings, Yama told him that he was under the command of Vishṇu, who dwells in Śvetadvīpa and bears the cakra and the gadā. “Go to the Kshīra Samudra,” Yama said. “There you will see Bhagavān Vishṇu, who pervades the world, the lord of the worlds.” Boasting loudly, Mura set out for the Kshīra Samudra, the abode of Janārdana, who shines there in four forms on the couch of Śesha. Then Nārada asked why Vishṇu, who is one, is said to have four forms, and Pulastya Maharshi began the teaching of the four forms of Jagannātha.

Source: Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapter 34

Bhagavān Vishṇu returns with the Sudarśana. Bhagavān Śiva gave Bhagavān Vishṇu the divine Sudarśana cakra as a vara for his tapas, and with it Bhagavān Vishṇu cut off the head of the daitya Śrīdāma on Mount Meru. Then Murāri worshipped Śiva Virūpāksha and, with his leave, went with the Sudarśana weapon to the Kshīra Sāgara.

Source: Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapter 56

Amṛta, north of the ocean of milk

When Bali had taken the three worlds, the devas went with Aditi and Kaśyapa to Brahmā. Brahmā told them that a mahātmā who would conquer Bali was to be born, the maker of the universe, whom neither he nor the Vedas know. “In the north, north of the Kshīra Samudra, is the dwelling of that Viśvaprabhu, the master of the universe, called Amṛta. Go there, take up a vrata-dīkshā and perform tapas that is hard to do.” At the end of their vrata, he said, they would hear the voice of the Purushottama, deep as the thunder of the first rain-clouds, granting fearlessness; Nārāyaṇa would ask what vara they wished, and Aditi and Kaśyapa should ask him to be born as their son.

The devas with Aditi and Kaśyapa set out for Śvetadvīpa and in a short time reached the Kshīra Samudra, the lord of rivers. On the way they crossed all the oceans, mountains, forests, rivers and lands, and entered a terrible darkness without sun, without living beings and without end. Reaching the place called Amṛta, Kaśyapa gave all the devatās the dīkshā of a thousand-year vrata, and they performed fierce tapas to Śrīman Nārāyaṇa in silence, keeping brahmacarya and yoga, seated in vīrāsana. To please Śrī Purushottama, Kaśyapa sang a stotra in the manner taught in the Veda.

Source: Vāmana Purāṇa, Saro Māhātmya, Chapter 4

Trikūṭa and the churning

The splendid mountain Trikūṭa, full of every kind of gem, the son of Mount Meru and served by hosts of devarshis, rose out of the Kshīra Sāgara, and the waves of that ocean keep washing its smooth rocks. It is the mountain of the account of Gajendra-mokshaṇa.

Source: Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapter 58

The Purāṇa also recalls the churning of the Kshīra Sāgara, when Mount Mandara was wound round by Vāsuki: it is the likeness Manmatha found for the girdled hips of Urvaśī when he first saw her.

Source: Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapter 7

In Vena’s stotra to Sthāṇu

When Vena was freed by the glory of the Sthāṇu tīrtha, he bowed and sang a stotra to Sthāṇu Bhagavān Śiva. Among its words: among trees you are the Arjuna tree, among mountains Himavat, among animals the tiger, among birds Vainateya, among serpents Ananta, among oceans the Kshīra Samudra, among devices the bow, among weapons the vajra, and among vratas, satya.

Source: Vāmana Purāṇa, Saro Māhātmya, Chapter 26

Sources

  • Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapters 6–7, 11, 34, 56, 58
  • Vāmana Purāṇa, Saro Māhātmya, Chapters 4, 26