PLATE FIVE
Appearing like another great mountain, the Lord manifested Himself on the summit of Mount Mandara and held it with one hand. Then the demigods and the demons worked almost madly for the nectar, encouraged by the Lord, who was above and below the mountain and who had entered the demigods, the demons, the mountain itself, and the great thousand-headed serpent, Vāsuki. The entire ocean became turbulent from the violent churning, and the fish, tortoises and snakes became most agitated. While the ocean was being churned in this way, it first produced a fiercely dangerous poison called  hālahala . When that uncontrollable poison was forcefully spreading up and down in all directions, all the demigods, along with the Lord Himself, approached Lord Śiva. Feeling unsheltered and afraid, they sought shelter of him. They pleaded, “O greatest of all demigods, O Supersoul of all living entities and cause of happiness and prosperity, we have come to the shelter of your lotus feet. Now please save us from this fiery poison, which is spreading all over the three worlds.” When Lord Śiva, who is dedicated to auspicious, benevolent work for humanity, saw that the living entities were extremely disturbed by the poison, he became very compassionate. Thus he took the whole quantity of poison in his palm and drank it. The few drops of poison that scattered from Lord Śiva’s hand were drunk by many insects, snakes and plants, who became the first scorpions, cobras, poisonous drugs and other poisonous living entities in the world. ( pp. 252–278 )