Why there is lightning and thunder?

May 13, 2012 at 7:51pm

Many thousands of years ago, when not only humans but also Devas and Asuras inhabited this world freely, there was a great event that took place called Samudra Manthan. TheAsuras and Devas were sworn enemies and constantly were at war to rule the three worlds,Swargaloka, Bhuloka and Naraka. Amrit was the nectar of immortality that both the Devasand Asuras desired the most. This Amrit was stored in the Ocean of Milk and had to be retrieved to the surface. The Devas realized that this was a feat that they could not achieve alone but would need help to retrieve it from the depths of the Ocean. Lord Narayana orVishnu advised them to take the help of their arch rivals the Asuras and at the end would ensure that only the Devas would get it.

So the Devas and Asuras together teamed up to churn the Ocean of Milk to retrieve the Amrit and consume it together. To churn the Ocean, like how butter milk is churned to extract Ghee, they needed a churning rod and a rope. Mount Mandhara was used as the churning rod and Vasuki the king of snakes was used as the churning rope. Vasuki wound himself around Mt Mandhara and the Devas held the tail while the Asuras held the head. Lord Narayana assumed the form of Kurma the tortoise to support Mt Mandhara at the bottom of the ocean and it was on the tortoise’s shell that the churning took place. Initially fire, smoke, poison and a number of frightening things came from the ocean. The poison was consumed by Lord Shiva which turned his neck blue and hence the name ‘Nilakantha-or Blue throat’ and the Devas and Asuras continued churning. At last Dhanvantari the celestial physician emerged carrying the pot which contained Amrit. The moment he emerged there was a great fight to get the nectar and both the Asuras and the Devas fought each other.

Lord Vishnu appeared in the form a beautiful maiden, ‘Mohini’ and commanded the Devasand Asuras to stop fighting. She then suggested that there was no need to fight and there was enough nectar for everyone. So she commanded the Asuras and Devas to sit in a line facing each other and she would distribute the nectar to all. The Asuras and Devas readily agreed and Mohini started distributing the nectar. Mohini however tricked the Asuras. She kept giving the Amrit only to the Devas while she kept throwing loving and mesmerising glances at the Asuras which fooled them. In the end only the Devas got the nectar and became immortal.

The Asuras were enraged and fought the Devas with all their might. Till this day whenever the Asuras and the Devas fight in the heavens, the sound of their fighting is heard by us as thunder and when Indra, the leader of the Devas uses his weapon, Vajra the thunderbolt, there is lightning. Once the fight is over it is easy to see that the Devas always win because Good will always win over Evil and the clouds vanish and there is clear skies and bright sunlight thereafter.