Verse 1
Who will take the tail· Verses 1–7
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1They called on Vasuki, king of snakes, offering him a share of the fruit, and wound him round that mountain for the churning cord; and full of gladness, at the sea, 2the gods set to work for the nectar's sake, holding hard, best of the Kurus. Hari took the front first, and the gods took their place behind him. 3The lords of the Daityas would not have it, this doing of the great Person. We do not take the tail, they said, the snake's limb, which is inauspicious. 4We are men filled with our own recitation and with what we have heard, well known by our birth and our deeds. Seeing the Daityas so, standing silent, the best of Persons smiled, let go of the front and took the tail, and the immortals with him.
5So, with their places parted out among them, the sons of Kasyapa churned the sea of milk for the nectar, holding as hard as ever. 6As the ocean was being churned, that mountain, with nothing to rest on, went down into the water by its own weight, son of Pandu, though strong men held it up. 7Their minds were emptied out and the beauty went from their faces, their own manhood undone by a fate far stronger than they were.