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Mohini Avatar

© Harsh Nevatia

Apart from the ten main avatars or incarnations of Vishnu, known as dash avatar, there have been other times when he has appeared on earth in some form to solve a specific problem. One of the better-known occasions is when he transformed himself into the female enchantress, Mohini.

After the demi-gods and demons had churned the oceans to extract the nectar that would give them immortality, a fight over the possession of the urn containing the nectar ensued between them. Vishnu realised that if the squabble continued for long then the nectar would spill out and be lost forever. He also did not want the demons to drink any of the nectar, as that would firmly entrench the forces of evil in the world. Hence he appeared on the scene as Mohini, a woman of breath-taking beauty and allure. Both the demi-gods and the demons stopped fighting and began to ogle at her. Flaunting her charms, Mohini convinced both the demi-gods and the demons that she would distribute the nectar equitably.

She asked the demi-gods to form one line and asked the demons to stand in another. She first gave a drop of the nectar to the demi-god who was foremost in the queue. Then she turned around to serve the demon standing first in line. But as she turned around, she replaced the urn of nectar with a similar urn of water, and gave a drop of water to the demon. The demon was so excited by the oozing sultriness of Mohini, that he did not notice the switch. When Mohini turned to serve the second demi-god, she again divined the urn with the nectar. This way, she fooled the demons into believing that they were drinking the nectar.

However a demon named Rahu saw through the trick and he quietly went and stood in the queue of the demi-gods. Thus he was given a drop of the nectar. But the Sun and Moon Gods recognized him and warned Mohini. Mohini then assumed her true form, that of Vishnu, and before the drop of nectar could go down Rahu's throat, he set loose his Sudarshan chakra (a divine weapon in the form of a disc) and cut off Rahu's head. Hence Rahu's bodiless head was destined to roam around the heavens forever. Because the Sun and Moon Gods had ratted on him, he would from time to time bite of a part of the sun and the moon thus causing the solar and lunar eclipses.

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