The story begins, as most stories of this sort do, a Very Long Time Ago.

It begins with the fiery rage of Lord Shiva, directed upon those who fail to walk the path of righteousness. One day this rage made the other gods flee from Lord Shiva, enraging him further and tempting the Lord to violence. At the behest of the goddess Parvati, the Lord purified himself and deposited his anger into a mortal. He thus created an avatar of himself in the raging sage, Durvasa.

As the mortal sage wandered across the material plane, he came across a celestial nymph who was decorated with a most fragrant garland of flowers. These were no ordinary flowers; indeed, these flowers were cut from the trees of heaven, in full bloom. This garland possessed a divine fragrance, blessed by the supreme goddess Laxmi, which enraptured all those blessed to breathe it. The entranced sage Durvasa admired the garland and demanded the garland for himself. Not wishing to incur the sage’s wrath, the nymph presented the garland with all dignity to the sage, who in turn thanked her and continued with his travels.

As he traveled further he came across Indra, mounted on his white elephant Airavata. He led a magnificent procession of celestial beings dancing, singing, and playing music, along with millions of gods and goddesses. In deference to the mighty king of the gods, the sage offered the blessed garland to the Lord Indra with great reverence. Indra accepted the garland; however, instead of wearing it himself he tossed it around Airavata’s trunk and continued parading with his procession. Aggravated by the scent, the elephant instinctively threw the garland to the ground, and trampled it underfoot. This infuriated the sage, who addressed the king god:

“Vile spirit Indra, you are intoxicated with your power and status. You are a fool to disrespect the garland I gave to you, blessed by Laxmi herself, the very dwelling of Fortune! You did not honor this gift by wearing it, you have offended me, that most wrathful avatar of the Lord Shiva, dreaded by all created things! For losing yourself in pride, straying from the righteous path, I curse you, king of the gods, to wither in strength and thus lose your kingdom!”

Thus spoken to, the king of the gods quickly descended from his elephant and attempted to appease the sage through many prostrations. But the divine sage, burning with the ruthless compassion of the Lord Shiva, informed him:

“Others may relent to you, O Lord. This has rendered you insolent. Others may sing your praises, O Lord. This has rendered you arrogant. But know me to be Durvasa, the one with blazing eyes and fierce brow. No words can undo this curse. Only through your total return to the path of dharma will your kingdom return to you as well.”

And the raging sage traveled on, leaving the gods to their fate.

“See now, what your rage has sown in this world,” the goddess intoned somberly.

This was a time when the devas and the asuras were continually battling for control of the heavens. So far the gods had enjoyed the upper hand, blessed by the Supreme with indomitable strength. With the curse of the sage, this blessing faded into weakness. The gods lost their vitality. Crops failed, plants withered, herds faltered. Humans began to lose faith in the gods, furthering the gods’ spiral of decline. The asuras took advantage of this weakness to wage a renewed war against the devas, claiming the heavens for themselves.

Indra feared the complete destruction of his people and begged the Lord Vishnu for divine intervention. Lord Vishnu smiled favorably on Indra, and advised him. “The curse is to be lifted only through your return to the path of dharma. Thus you must shed your pride and engage your enemies with diplomatic charm to reach a truce. Only by working together will you be able to churn the Ocean of Milk to procure the divine Ambrosia, that will restore your vitality and the strength of all life.”

Even though Indra felt blessed in the presence of the Supreme, he found the plans of the Lord Vishnu difficult to trust. Would both gods and demons would attain immortality, thus continuing their struggle over the heavens for all of eternity?

“Indeed you must make this exact offering to the asuras, dear Indra,” spoke the Lord Vishnu. “In walking with dharma you must also relinquish control over the outcome to the cosmic flow. If you are able to reach a truce with your enemies, and convince them to work with you, then I will ensure that only the gods consume the elixir.”

Indra swallowed his pride and went to bargain with the asuras for peace. How he was mocked and verbally tormented by his enemies! But recalling the curse of the sage, and the path laid forth by the Lord Vishnu, the humbled Indra put forth plans for the gods and demons to work together to retrieve the Amrita elixir that would elevate them all to supremacy. The demons, lusting for the power of invincibility, agreed to set aside their war to acquire this divine gift, their king Viprachitti scheming meanwhile to keep the ambrosia for themselves.

Thus commenced the Samudra Manthana. The snake king Vasuki, enticed into a share of the rewards, allowed himself to be used as a rope, coiled around the mountain Mandara, with the gods pulling at his head and the demons at his tail. Viprachitti, incensed by the insult of holding the snake tail, demanded to be at Vasuki’s head, so Indra agreed and let the demons switch sides. Smiling on Indra’s humility, the Lord Vishnu took the form of a giant tortoise and dove under the ocean to support the mountain.

But as the ocean churned, the deadliest poison Halahala spewed forth from the turbulence. The fumes of its sublimation overwhelmed both gods and demons, whose strength in churning began to fail. The animals of the sea cried out in pain, and the crops and herds of the land failed further. Humans despaired. And the Supreme Lord Vishnu, energy consumed by manifesting as the tortoise, could not intervene. Alone among the dying celestial beings, Vasuki cried for his Lord:

“O Lord Shiva, divine and supreme master, dancer of Destruction and eater of Time, this intense churning has strained my body, and the devas and asuras lie dying under the Halahala fumes. O Lord Shiva, I am your humble bowstring, your loyal servant and companion, please come to my aid.”

Hearing the prayer of the snake king, the Lord Shiva swiftly replied. “All things end with me, and so too will this.”

And the Lord Shiva descended from the Kailash summit, down to the Ocean of Milk, and drew the Halahala into his lips. Even for the Lord Shiva this poison was vicious and toxic. His eyes bulged and brow furrowed under the intense, searing pain. His strength began to falter and fade as he ingested the poison further into his mouth. As he consumed the last drops of the poison from the ocean the Lord prepared to dance the final dance of destruction, as he knew the poison would end him too. Then he swallowed. And as he swallowed, he found his throat pinched, and could not swallow further.

“See now, what your rage has sown in this world.”

Two fingers, firmly pressed on his esophagus, from the goddess Parvati.

“I will not let you swallow this poison and commence the ending of Time. Transmute this rage into love, and return the world to balance!”

And so held by the goddess, while eternities passed, the Lord Shiva meditated on the nature of Rage, and Suffering, and Compassion. He let the poison sit in his throat, and there it remained, slowly transferring into the skin of his throat. The poison did not descend further into his body. For now, the cosmos were spared its final destruction.

With the poison thus cleared, many treasures came forth from the ocean, including the Amrita. Lord Vishnu employed trickery to ensure only the gods drank the elixir, and thus drove the asuras out of heaven and back to the underworld. Lord Vishnu declared Indra to have returned to the path of dharma, and thus lifted the sage’s curse and restored vitality to the mortal world. Finally, observing the poisoned throat of Lord Shiva, the Supreme smiled upon him and bestowed upon him the epithet -

• neelkantha, the blue throated one.