This story narrates the events that happened after the nectar of immortality came out from the ocean of milk.When the demons saw that all the gods were getting treasures that had come out of the ocean of milk, a fight ensured among them and they seized the pot of nectar. Seeing them celebrating with the pot of nectar, the gods were worried and they prayed to Lord Vishnu to help them regain it.
Lord Vishnu took the form of a beautiful, divine woman named Mohini. Mohini went to the demons and soon they fell in love with her beauty and charm. The foolish demons did not recognize that she was Lord Vishnu’s form.
Mohini charmed the demons and took the pot of nectar from them, claiming that she will distribute it among gods and demons. Both parties sat in separate queues. Mohini started distributing the nectar among gods.
Now a demon, named Rahu, became suspicious of Mohini's motive. Disguising himself as a god, he sat in the gods' queue and drank some nectar. The nectar had just reached his throat when the Sun god Surya and the Moon god Chandrama spied him. They told Mohini about it.
Before the nectar could pass Rahu’s throat, Mohini cut off his head with her divine discus, Sudarshana Chakra. Rahu’s colossal head was torn off his body and flew to the sky with a roar. His headless body dropped to the earth, whereas the head, due to its contact with the nectar, remained immortal. From that day, Rahu became an enemy of the Sun and the Moon.
After the gods drank nectar, Lord Vishnu left the Mohini form and returned to his original form. When demons saw that they had been deceived, they declared a war against gods.
A terrible battle erupted. It was a total bloodshed. The battle ground was covered with violent war cries to kill, maim, run, and follow. As the terrible battle raged on, Lord Vishnu joined the battleground assuming his two forms, Nar and Narayan.
Nar started cutting demons with his divine bow, while Narayan severed heads of countless demons with his divine discus. The demons were defeated and they ran off the battleground. The victorious gods cheered. They presented the pot of nectar to Lord Nar for safe-keeping and returned to their planets.
The legend of Mohini has been told countless times in movies, songs, and other popular media. The concept of beauty is different among different people. Mohini, a form of Vishnu, has been told to be the most beautiful woman form ever. She would have been if she had to charm the pot of nectar from the demons. The story also indicates how mythology has always been a little wary of woman. Lord Vishnu had to assume the form of a woman for seduction and trickery. As a woman, I am both flattered and enraged at this depiction.
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