Jaya Guru Datta Here is an excerpt on the Churning and Kurma incarnation of Lord Vishnu: http://www.dattapeetham.com/india/bhaktimala/Jan97/Incarnations.html
Next is Kurma Avatara. The incarnation as a tortoise. God came and got Amrita for the Devatas. The demons were deprived of it. God did it in a very wise manner. Feelings are important. Scold somebody in a foul temper. He will be hurt. But smilingly correcting someone will be taken in a light manner. If wisdom and gentleness are there, it is not enough. The Rakshashas [demons] had strength. So to take Amrita out of the ocean, He needed the help of the demons [for strength]. Then the Devatas went and surrendered to the demons. The demons became happy. The Angels served the demons. Right from Indra, all the angels served. It is said that to get work done, one has to pray evento a donkey if necessary. After some time passed, the angels submitted a plan to the demons. If we together, churn the milky ocean, Amrita will come out and by consuming it, we all can become immortal. They accepted. Mandara mountain was brought and placed in the ocean. Since there was no support for the mountain to float, it sank. Then the Devatas prayed to Vishnu to help them. He took a special incarnation as Kurma, i.e. the tortoise. When the Lord supported in the form of a tortoise, the mountain floated. Vasuki, the celestial snake became the churning rope. The mountain became the churning stick. Have you ever churned anything? At least seen anybody churning? "No", I presume. The tortoise is a special animal. It is mild, soft, shy and slow. Vasuki became tired and started to throw out poison. It enveloped the whole world and became a potential danger. Then Lord Shiva drank the poison and protected the world. When you do seva, confusion comes. There will be so many obstacles. We almost become fed up. Only when we crave for something do we understand its importancet. Go to Tirupati. Stand in the queue and have Darshan. You will be craving for the Lord by the time you come to the Sanctum Sanctorium for Darshan. Going there as VIP for special Darshan has no value. Devotion comes only in the hard way. During the development of devotion, confusions do come. Do not worry. It is a good sign. Bad must intervene to make the good more valuable. The churning continued with a great sound. A small churning in a house makes so much sound. Imagine this celestial churning. So much activity...so much sound. All activities have methods. If you sit before milk and beg the butter to come out, will it come out? No. Churning is necessary. The churning continued. Several objects came out. The celestial elephant, Goddess Lakshmi, etc. etc.,came out. Lakshmi went straight in to the heart of Lord Vishnu. The churning continued. Then Dhanvantari, the celestial doctor, appeared from the ocean, holding the pot of Amrita. Dhanvantari appeared. He had four hands. Two visible, and two invisible. The invisible hands have secret mudras. Meditating on them brings good health. He had a Mala -the Vana Maala. Of the two visible hands, one had the pot of Amrita and the other hand showed Abhaya [Protection]. He is the god of herbs. Seeing Dhanvantari, both Devathas and Rakshasaas rushed to him. The demons, by virtue of sheer strength overpowered the angels and grabbed the pot away. The dejected angels prayed to Vishnu "O' Swami, come now. We are in distress. You gave us the idea of churning to produce Amrita. You came as a tortoise and ensured that the churning took place. Please come now." Dhanvantari gave the Amrita and disappeared. Vishnu came in the form of a damsel [Mohini]. That damsel was so immensely beautiful. The demons, seeing her, left the Amrita and went to her. She charmed them. The demons became her servants and submitted themselves to her. Attraction or desire is dangerous. One who is lustful has no fear or shyness. It was Vishnu who was Mohini. So you can imagine her beauty. Mohini got the pot of Amrita and promised to share it among the angels and demons. The demons readily agreed. Amrita was given only to the Devatas and the demons did not get it. Our Antaraatma is the ocean. Viveka is the Mandara mountain. The Praana Vaayu, i.e. our uchchvaasa and Nishshvaasa are the hissing of Vaasuki (the snake). The Dushta Bhavana (evil thought) is Rakshasha and Sadbhaavana (good thought) is the Devata. Vichara charcha, i.e., the process of thinking, is the churning. The answer or reply to our thinking is the Amrita. Constantly thinking about a problem generally gives answers by itself. The Lord will give an answer. The Lord never deprives you of what you deserve. You many times think "He [Lord] has deserted me ". You speak as if he owes you something. He will give you out of compassion. Just because he has compassion, it does not mean that you will get it free. You have to earn it with hard work, good thoughts, good deeds and Satsang. This is said in the Datta Darshana. 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