Amrita (potion)

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Amrita ( Sanskrit , n., अमृत, amṛta , immortality, ambrosia ; from mṛ = to die) is in the ancient Indian Vedas a life-extending drink, an elixir of life, which gods and humans need in the same way. Other names in Rigveda for the same divine potion are Soma and Madhu.

Amrita in Hinduism

In Hindu mythology, Amrita is the name of an elixir that brings extraordinary power and the continuation of life or security from danger of death. The best-known myth in connection with Amrita is the whirling of the milk ocean , which is told in the Mahabharata : On Vishnu's and Brahma's command, the serpent Vasuki (Ananta-Shesha) winds around the world mountain Mandara (otherwise Meru in India ), which the god Vishnu in his incarnation as the turtle Kurma takes on his shell. Gods and demons set the mountain in rotating motion by pulling Vasuki at both ends. After a long whisking, the result is Amrita and the white elephant Airavata , which Indra takes possession of.

For the Amrita there is now a battle between the gods ( devas ) and the demons ( asuras ). The former win and now have the life potion. Garuda is made his mount by Vishnu after he has fetched the Amrita.

In addition to its meaning as a life drink, the term Amrita is also used in the actual sense of the word, namely immortality.

In Buddhism

In Tibetan Buddhism , Amrita refers to the elixir of liberation ( Tib . : bdud rtsi ), and Amrita is the name of a wrathful deity (Tib .: bdud rtsi 'khyil ba ) of Mahayoga .

In neo-tantra

Amrita the blessed liquid is identified in Neo-Tantra with the female ejaculate . Different neo-tantric directions see in this feminine secretion the primordial feminine and the primordial maternal.

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