Kurma

The Story of Kurma Hinduism teaches that whenever humanity is threatened by extreme social disorder and wickedness, God will descend into the world as an avatar to restore righteousness, establish cosmic order, and redeem humanity from danger. as shown through Kurma

The Story… The gods and the asuras (demons, or titans) cooperated in the churning to obtain amrita, the elixir of immortality. The great serpent Vasuki offered himself as a rope, and Mount Mandara was torn out for use as a churning stick. A firm foundation was required to steady the mountain, so Vishnu took the form of a tortoise and supported the churning stick on his back. 

The Churning of the Ocean Milk… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Yy7BaBtXM8

The Morals of the Story The story represents the endeavours of man gaining immortality through concentration of the mind, withdrawal of the senses, control of desires and practice of austerities.

The God represents the pleasure principle in ourselves and our senses and the demons represent the pain within ourselves and negative impulses.

The ocean of milk is the mind or human conscious The ocean of milk is the mind or human conscious. The mind is always compared to the ocean while the thoughts and emotions to the waves.  

Mandhara, the mountain, stands for concentration Mandhara, the mountain, stands for concentration. Madhara stands for 'man' (mind) and 'dhara' (single line) which means holding the mind in one line - mental concentration.

The mountain being held up by kurma stands for the withdrawal of the senses as in the practises of meditation with the suggestion that the mind should freely surrender itself to divine will.

The great serpent Vasuki stands for desire, in the story Vasuki is representing the demons desire to seek immortality, this symbolises the idea of being able to control your own desires

Lord Shiva represents the destroyer of illusion showing that he can deal with the early problems in spiritual life like instability.

The various objects that come out of the ocean represent the spiritual powers that is gained from spirituality from stage to stage.

Lord Vishnu in the form of Mohini stands for delusion of the mind in the form of pride.