A Classical Dictionary of Hindu Mythology and Religion, Geography, History, and Literature c5.76

c5.76

AMRITA. ‘Immortal.’ A god. The water of life. The term was known to the Vedas, and seems to have been applied to various things offered in sacrifice, but more especially to the Soma juice. It is also called Nir-jara and Pīyūsha. In later times it was the water of life produced at the churning of the ocean by the gods and demons, the legend of which is told with some variations in the Rāmāyana, the Mahā-bhārata, and the Purānas. The gods, feeling their weakness, having been worsted by the demons, and being, according to one authority, under the ban of a holy sage, repaired to Vishnu, beseeching him for renewed vigour and the gift of immortality. He directed them to churn the ocean for the Amrita and other precious things which had been lost. The story as told in the Vishnu Purāna has been rendered into verse by Professor Williams thus:—