During the Samudra Manthan, the toxic poison ‘halahal’ emerged out of the ocean of milk. The devtas requested Lord Shiva to help them, else the poison would disrupt the three worlds—Heaven, Earth, and Netherworld. Shiva appeared on the scene and saw that the toxic poison was spreading all over the ocean. He gulped the poison and placed it in his throat thereby preventing it from descending into his stomach. The poison was so potent that it changed the color of his throat thus he got the name “Neelkantha”.
At this situation, Goddess Ganga – the source of purity, cooled him down by her fresh fall of water.
Lord Shiva drank the halahala.
Halahala was the poison extracted along with the potion of immortality. It had the potential to destroy the entire universe hence it somehow had to be destroyed. Lord Shiva drank it to absorb the negativities in himself. On drinking the poison he turned blue and it settled down in his throat. It created an intolerable burning sensation which was not cured even after Goddess Parvati’s touch.
Brahma promised that Ganga would descend upon earth
This is when Lord Brahma came up with a solution. He mentioned that the chilled and pure nature of Ganga can only cool Lord Shiva’s pain.
The head of Shiva received Ganga’s stream
Goddess Ganga happily accepted the proposal and surrendered herself to the God of all Gods.
Lord Shiva opened his hair locks to let Ganga fall on earth.
As suggested by Brahma, Lord Shiva’s agony and suffering came to an end. Happy and impressed by the unique nature of Goddess Ganga he opened his hair locks to let the Ganga flow to earth. He wanted normal human beings to get the purity and blessings of this unbelievable pure existence.
And so, in a mighty fall, Ganga came down from the heaven-world.
This is how we have got the boon of Goddess Ganga flowing among us.
The Hindu scriptures are filled with numerous miracles of Lord Shiva. But among these many miracles, drinking of the poison is extremely significant for all human beings. It is not just a story of how Lord Shiva protects us in every way but also a lesson for us. The blue-throat of Shiva signifies that we do not always need to suppress or react to the vices. We sometimes need to modify the negativity and make them ineffective.