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The Amrita

The Nectar of Immortality

minorattestedHinduism

The nectar of immortality, churned out of the Ocean of Milk by gods and demons pulling opposite ends of the same serpent. It rose last, after the poison and the fourteen treasures, in the hands of Dhanvantari the divine physician — and was won not by the arm that pulled hardest but by a single enchanting glance. One demon got one swallow, and the sky pays for it at every eclipse.

Power72

Renown66

Antiquity63

Mystery57

✦Signature powerSealed PowerA force of the sacred world locked into matter.

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Illustrated storyThe Churning of the OceanCursed into weakness, the gods cannot win immortality by force — so they invite their enemies to help churn it out of the Ocean of Milk, with a mountain for a churning-rod, the serpent king for a rope, and Vishnu as the tortoise underneath it all. What rises first is not nectar but Halahala, the poison of everything, and Shiva must drink it and hold it in his throat forever. The nectar comes last, and is won by a single enchanting glance.Begin reading →