WHAT IS NECTAR?

The Little One of five and half yrs+ was too expressive, too attentive, oft questioning and very much learning every bit in the process.. The grandma decided to instill certain Cultural Values in the Little One's mind by narrating some of the epic stories to him..

That evening, she decided upon to tell the boy the story of Samudra Manthan carried out by the Devas and the Asuras.. She said,

• "Dear! Once you know what had happened? Due to a curse from a Great Sage, the Devas lost all their strength!"

"Grandma, who are Devas?"

The boy asked with all curiosity.

• "They are the Celestial Gods who do good to the world!"

"Okay.. What happened next?"

The grandma picked up the tempo of the story seeing the boy's interest. She continued..

• "Lord Vishnu wanted to help Devas and so He asked them to churn the Ocean of Milk along with Asuras and get Nectar!"

"Who are Asuras?"

The Little One asked again wide eyed.

• "They are like demons.. Do bad to world!"

"Then why did Lord Visnu ask Devas to join bad people?"

Grandma searched a min for the answer and said diplomatically..

• "Dear! Asuras had great strength and Devas lost that.. So without Asura's help, Devas can't churn the Ocean!"

"Okay.. What happened next?"

• "They brought a huge Mountain called Mandara and a big snake called Vasuki and started churning the Ocean of Milk.. The Devas one side and the Asuras on the other side.. A big job you know!"

"Yes!"

• "Many things came in the process, all were taken away by different people for their use and for good of the world!"

"What happened next?"

• "A huge fire of Poison came up.. Lord Shiva swallowed it, kept in His throat and saved the world!"

"You mean.. Lord Ganesha's dad?"

• "Oh! You remember that.. Great! And they went on churning for many days.. Finally the Nectar came up in a Pot and the next moment, the Asuras took away the Pot for them!"

"That's not fair!"

• "Yes.. They are bad and if they take the Nectar, they become still strong and trouble the world more!"

"Then what happened?"

• "The Devas became sad and went to Lord Vishnu and asked for help. Lord Vishnu slowly mesmerized the Asuras and gave away all the Nectar to Devas and Devas again became strong!"

"Didn't Asuras become angry?"

• "They became angry.. But by that time Devas became equally stronger and they could do nothing!"

"A good job done by Lord Vishnu!"

The grandma by that time was totally lost to her story seeing the boy's interest..

• "Yes dear.. Lord Vishnu is a Great God. He always helps those who are good and pray to him.. You can also pray to Him daily.. Now say with me..

'shaanta kaaram bhujaga shayanam padma naabham suresham

viswaa dharam gagana sadrisham megha varnam subhaangam

lakshi kaantam kamala nayanam yogi bhi dhyaana agamyam

vande vishnum bhava bhaya haram sarva lokaika naatham'"

The boy repeated what all the grandma said keeping his hands together fully closing his eyes.. The grandma became too emotional, hugged the Little One and blessed him in her heart saying..

• "And if you do good, God Vishnu gives you too whatever you want!"

"Yes.. I'll do good.. Okay, grandma! You said Nectar? What's Nectar?"

• "Dear! It's one food when taken a person becomes strong and best.. But no one will get it easily.. It's called Amrit in our Books!"

"Oh! it's Amrit? For that why to churn an ocean? It's available in our shop!"

• "What? Amrit is available in our shop?"

"Yes! Yesterday, grandpa purchased it from our shop!"

• "What are you saying? Show me that!"

The child with great excitement instantly took her to kitchen..

• "It's there!"

He said with smile on his face pointing his tiny finger towards

The jar of brown sugar neatly stocked on the Top Rack of the kitchen cup board with 'Amrit' written on top of it in a corner!

Keyword: Nectar