men of class..

अद्यापि नोज्झति हरः किल कालकूटं कुर्मो बिभर्ति धरणीं खलु पृष्ठभागे।

अम्भोनिधिर्वहति दुस्तरवादवग्निम्ं अङ्गीकृतं सुकृतिनः परिपालयन्ति॥

समयोचितपद्यमालिकायाम्॥

adyāpi nojjhati haraḥ kila kālakūṭaṁ kurmo bibharti dharaṇīṁ khalu pṛṣṭhabhāge|

ambhonidhirvahati dustaravādavagnimṁ aṅgīkṛtaṁ sukṛtinaḥ paripālayanti||

samayocitapadyamālikāyām||

The really great and gifted persons never fail to protect and keep in good condition whatever they have accepted or adopted as the object of safe custody..

They will ahere to their duties towards such safe custody however difficult such tasks may prove to them in the long run

Lord Shiva took the dangerous venm Kalakootam in his mouth and retained the poison in his neck..

While the Gods and demons churned the Milky ocean to win amrutam, and they used the mountain Manthara as the churning rod and the King of Snakes Vasuki as the rope tied around the rod..

Due to the pressure and strain caused by the intense churning, the snake vomitted venom..

If the venom hit the ground, it would have burned the whole universe..

The ever merciful Lord Shiva took the poison into his mouth, and kept it in his neck for ever, gaining the name Neelakanta..

Sure, it is not a comfortable thing for any person, even if He is God to keep poison in his gullet..

But Shiva had undertaken the duty,.. and hence He keeps the poison where it is..

Lord Vishnu in his incarnation as tortoise, the Adi Koorma, chose to carry the globe of earth on his back so that the sphere could be held straight and steady and the movements of the earth could be regualated in good order..

Carrying such a heavy burden and having the sphere going round and round on ones back is not a comfortable experience, even if it is Vishnu Himself who is experiencing it..

But he never thinks of throwing away the earth from his back..

Sage Aurva, the son of Chyavana and Arushi... was of intense effulgence and he increased his incendiary powers by constant penance, and his whole aim was to annihilat the Kshatriyas on earth, who had done injustice to his clan and forefathers..

The fire generated of such effulgence and intese penance started burning eveything on earh..

The forefathers of Aurva directed Aurva to get the fire Subsided for the welfare of the living world..

Aurva reluctantly agreed. Sarasvathi the river and also the Goddess of muses was commissioned to carry this fire and deposit it in the sea..

For the welfare of the earth, the sea heartily agreed to take the fire within himself..

From that time onward, the Aurva fire lies latent in the womb of the ocean as the Badava Agni..

The intense fire causes evaporation and many disturbances in the ocean.. But the ocean never abandoned such fire

(In earth science, we see Marsh Gas or Methane,, flaring up as occasional fire on the surface of water in marshy areas.. this is perhaps a physical manifestaion of the fire lying in the womb of water..

In Pavamana Suktham we offer pranams to waters as the deities which got pregnant with fire.. Agnim yaa garbham dadhire viroopaah taa na Apah saggm syo na bhavantu.. )

Yes, the great ones may think a lot before undertaking an assignment.. But once they have taken charge, they never quit..