Puranic Encyclopaedia: A Comprehensive Dictionary with Special Reference to the Epic and Puranic Literature c8.1296

c8.1296

3) Keeper of Amṛta (Ambrosia). The Devas (gods) and the asuras (demons) together churned the sea of milk and obtained Ambrosia (the celestial nectar of immortality). Mahāviṣṇu took the guise of a fascinating woman and obtained the Amṛta by stealth from the asuras and gave it to the devas. The asuras waged a terrible war with the devas. At that time, at the request of the devas, Nara and Nārāyaṇa took sides with the devas, and fought against the asuras as a consequence of which the asuras were defeated. In Mahābhārata, Ādi Parva, Chapter 19, Stanza 31, it is stated that from that day onwards Indra entrusted the keeping of the celestial Nectar with the hermit named Nara.